In the morning we spent a few hours in the centre of Durban seeing the City Hall and the area around it and then went to the Victoria Street Market in (what seems to be) the Indian quarter and a (for me as a vegetarian) horrendous meat market across the street.
The meat was bad enough, but with heads of dead animals etc plus the smell that made me gagging I just wanted to get out there asap.
The meat was bad enough, but with heads of dead animals etc plus the smell that made me gagging I just wanted to get out there asap.
The Victoria Street Market is certainly a most touristy place though one of the shops we went to selling spices was entertaining as the Indian guy running the shop speaks pretty good German and was very funny.
On our way to the Drakensberge we made a stop in Howick for the Howick Falls. Not very spectacular, seen more impressive waterfalls, but still lovely and scenic!
We got to our hotel, the Drakensberg Sun Resort, in the early afternoon, rooms were ready which were wonderful having a amazing view over the mountains (you just have to be careful with opening the doors to your balcony with monkeys living around the hotel - hotel guests (including some in my group) not being careful get regular visits from them nicking sugar, milk and other stuff).
Soon after we were on the road though again to visit the weekly concert of the Drakensberg Boys' Choir school, which is just down the road from our hotel.
The boarding school has around 120 boys between 9 - 15 enrolled is set in a quite big estate with the school itself, boarding houses where the boys etc live, plus a 600 seater auditorium - something you would not expect in such a picturesque country side.
We got a short introduction from one of the teachers outside the auditorium before let into the venue.
The concert was quite an experience. I must say I hadn't expected much as never heard of them before (but then am not really a classical concert buff, but the concerts of the choir are certainly worth a visit.
Seeing around 50 young boys singing in such beautiful harmonies was really beautiful.
Act 1 were Christmas songs as a try out for their then upcoming Christmas concert and act 2 were African music, not only well sung but also well choreographed. Time flew by so quickly.
Back to the hotel, I explored the big estate of the hotel. Whoever designed this hotel complex did a great job with everything of it nestling in so well in the area. There is even a lake when you can do a boat journey!
Dinner was buffet style with a decent choice for a vegetarian. There was pizza, so my food was easily sorted as I do not need much more!
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| that made me gag so much.... |
