Durban South Africa.

Princess Cruises Durban South Africa.

We spend another full day at sea after leaving Port Elizabeth before we reach are next port of call Durban. As usual we are up by 6am - dressed and up on deck for the sunrise and sail into Durban. The pilot (who usually arrives by boat) is expected to be on board by 6am and then he will guide the Sun Princess into the Port of Durban for us to be docked by 7am.

But unfortunately by 7am our ship has come to a dead stop (with the Port of Durban in sight) and we are going nowhere as no pilot boat (let alone pilot) has appeared. A large car transport ship – which  was travelling in front of us - has had to complete a full circle turn from in front of us around behind us and is now sitting to our left also waiting for a pilot. The Captain announces that there is a problem and that we will be late docking - as they do not know where the pilot is or when he will arrive.

The helicopter with our pilot on board circles the ship.

 

The pilot drops down from the helicopter onto the deck of the Sun Princess.

 Then literally out of the blue, at great speed, comes a helicopter - which circles the Sun Princess and we see that there are three people sitting legs hanging out of its doorway. (This is quite ironical as we had a pilot arrive via helicopter in Richards Bay and for safety reasons we were all instructed to vacate our cabins, stay off the open decks and stay away from open areas for 30 minutes while the pilot was being winched aboard.) We now have a situation where there are about 25 of us passengers being waved back by a pilot who is just about to come in on a cable and be dropped right where we are standing at the front of the ship on level 14. It was very exciting and over very quickly – he just dropped in. The helicopter then headed for the other ship and dropped another pilot off in the same manner. He then made an impressive fly past and just left.

The Port of Durban is the biggest in South Africa.

View of people on the beach as we enter the port of Durban.

 By 9am we were docked and we were off the ship soon after anxious to catch a shuttle bus to take us to an area called the Golden Mile. We intended having a day to ourselves exploring some of the sights of Durban. We have heard many stories about being very careful whilst walking the streets. Unemployment is extremely high in this area and even though locals might not hurt you they might try and take your possessions.

The Golden Mile stretch of beach in Durban.

 

A Zulu Rickshaw on the Golden Mile.

 

Housing Units along the beach in Durban.

 The area that the shuttle bus takes us to is very disappointing. The shops are very uneventful and there is no African market as promised. The Golden Mile is just a path beside the beach and it is very hot and not very interesting. We try and find a taxi but they now all booked by passengers from the Sun Princess for the day and none are available. With another couple we decide to catch the shuttle bus back to the dock and get a taxi from there. We have decided to go into the city centre to the Victoria Street Market.

Back at the dock the four of us pile into this small dilapidated car, negotiate our price and off we head with an African lady called Princess as our driver. Durban is a real eye opener. Very busy with lots of old cars, people everywhere and not a white person in sight. Eventually we get to the Victoria Street Market and Princess drops us off at the main entrance saying she well come back at 2pm to pick us up. We made this arrangement as we did not want to be left without return transport.

 

Inside the Victoria Street Market.

 

We purchased some goods from this delightful young man and his sister.

 

An African man making a beaded necklace.

 



The Indian Spice Shop.

Inside the market is totally different from outside. It is definitely a tourist destination with mainly people from India selling African goods in neat little shops. It is very peaceful with no hustle and buzzle and it was a great place to shop. We spend every last Rand (South African money) we have left keeping only 50 rand to pay for the taxi back.

At 2pm the four of us are standing on the steps watching the happenings in the busy street and waiting for Princess. After 15minutes and our little taxi not returning we take a ride with another taxi driver - George who has been watching us and I think knew that Princess was not going to return.

We had enjoyed our shopping time at the market and interacting with the stall holders. Durban was not really what we had expected. There are white people living in Durban but they do not come into the city centre, they spend their time at the Malls. In all the other ports we have visited I have felt welcome and very safe - that feeling was not same here. We had no interaction with any of the Africans.