A South African Dream

The three days in Uganda was just not a long enough vacation. So I took a weeklong trip to South Africa to visit some of my friends from my semester abroad. I flew into Johannesburg and meet up with a friend before I headed to my destination. Walking into the airport from the plane was very overwhelming. There were shops and restaurants everywhere and people of every race. I didn’t know where or how to even begin. There were so many things I could get here that I cannot get in Rwanda, choosing something on a menu at this point was too much for me. I sat down at Mugg and Bean where I was to meet my friend and told the server to bring me anything cold because I could not decide. He brought me a delicious strawberry cheesecake milkshake and I was in heaven. It only took an hour to get out of culture shock and enjoy South Africa and all it had to offer. After chatting for hours with Sarah my Johannesburg friend it was time to travel to Durban, the home town of my best South African friend Kirstin. I had been here before during my semester abroad, I spent a week here during a vacation from university. Durban is South Africa’s third largest city on the east coast with a population of 3.5 million people. Durban also has the largest concentration of Indian people making it the best place to get bunny chow a south African Indian specialty involving a half loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with beans, meat and curry stew. One day one my friend and I and her cousins drove around Durban to a small not well known Lion Park. It was a short drive around safari where we were able to pet huge elephants. We also saw a dozen lions trying to catch a monkey that was in the top of a tree. This is the first and only time I will probably every see a full grown lion climb a tree. Sadly the lions did not succeed in catching the monkey. He was too quick for them and jumped from tree to tree. It was very entertaining for the tourists though. I also saw a lager, a mix between a lion and a tiger. Yes, they really do exist! The next day we went shopping in a 3 story mall! It was crazy and amazing! Then it was time for some wave surfing. At one of the malls in Durban there is a wave machine. So for one hour we bungee boarded and surfed on a wave machine. It was more fun than can ever be explained here but I do believe I have a video from it that would win on America’s Funniest Home Video’s of a complete wipeout by me. Another day we went to the new Moses Mabhiba Stadium which was built for the 2010 world cup. Now they have a lift you can take to the top to see a great view of all of Durban. The rest of the time was spent relaxing, catching up on GLEE episodes, and eating amazing food!