The Tide-The Spill Canvas

Adventuretime with Kristen and Christiana, Episode 3: Ushaka and Beach Fun

Don't you just want to say Ushaka three times in a row like they say Mufasa in Lion King? Or maybe that's just me... Moving on...

One of the days that we were in Durban, Kristen and I went with the other 4 international girls in Durban from Rhodes to Ushaka Marine World/Water Park. Did I mention that it wasn't just the two of us all week? Four other Americans who are on exchange at Rhodes for the semester had decided to go to Durban, and it worked out that we spent a lot of time with them... we both stayed at the same hostel in Morningside from Sunday night till we left (on different buses) the next Sunday. It was nice to have some people to make plans and do things together at night with, but the two of us could go off and do our own thing as well...we were at hole in the wall indian restaurants and markets while they were shopping at Mr. Price and eating at Wimpy's (Mr. Price=Target, Wimpy's=Wendy's, more or less).

Anyway, Ushaka is a huge complex, complete with a water slides, an aquarium, dolphin and seal shows, shark cage diving, snorkeling, scuba diving, surfing, a dangerous animals exhibit, plenty of shops and stuff to keep everyone entertained, from the schoolchildren on class field trips to the families there for the day and tourists like us. We went and played for awhile on the water slides, although we did not go on the "highest slide in Africa" because a drop that steep without a tube just looked like it would be painful at the bottom. Afterwards, we went to the marine world part of the park and went snorkeling with sharks. The aquarium at Ushaka is the 5th largest in the world, but unlike the Baltimore Aquarium, you can get in it :) Obviously, they don't let you go snorkeling with the ragged tooth sharks, you have to go cage diving to do that. However, since you can go cage diving off the coast in areas like Cape Town, we decided to forgo the cage diving. Instead, we went to a different part of the aquarium where the tanks are partially outside, with viewing windows that people can see from the inside of the aquarium. We got to snorkel in one of these areas, and it was really fun. We weren't supposed to actually touch the fish or dive down to the bottom (where the sharks were hanging out), but it was super cool to be so close to all of the pretty, tropical fish. 

(The fishes we were swimming with. I was most excited about the Dori-fish... er, Palette surgeon)

(This is a picture I took from the inside of the aquarium of where we had been snorkeling before. There are some people in the background scuba diving, but they are really just doing some training/safety before going for a dive in the ocean, which Ushaka is right next to) 

The aquarium was cute (it had a finding Nemo exhibit, with all of the species of fish in the movie, minus the shark, in a tank) and I loved the dolphin show. I don't know if I was just exhausted at the time, but the 'majestic, intelligent creatures that we share this world with' were making me emotional, which was very entertaining. What can I say, dolphins are so much like us, we are all connected, etc. (cue "Circle of Life" in the background...)

While I am on the subject of ocean creatures... we spent quite a bit of time at the beach while we were in Durban. It was sunny most of the week, although it was windy enough that I don't think you could categorize us as ocean creatures. Intertidal for sure, though. Other than feet at the edge of the water, I didn't really get in until the last day we were there, when the wind died down and the weather was gorgeous. Most of the time, Kristen and I spent our time at a part of the beach that was the closest walk from our hostel... we just turned left at the end of our road and walked straight for 20 minutes (over a bridge by the stadium they built for the soccer world cup last year, which was cool looking...)

Anyway, the last day we were there, we went with one of the other guys who was staying at the hostel (he was on break from University of Liverpool, and was working with some other british students at a program for street children in Durban for about a month) to North Beach, where he typically went to surf. The ocean is definitely much rougher along the coast here than on the East Coast at home, which means two things: Surfing is big here (although I am not sure that I will take advantage of this while I am here; surf boards do not appear to be compatible with my balance), and swimming at the beach is really restricted. There are small areas where you are allowed to swim (they go out and measure the rip-tides and currents on a regular basis, and these swim areas appeared to move around a bit), which are vigilantly watched by several lifeguards. The section that we were in was super crowded, and I couldn't go out to the deeper water where I would have liked because I didn't have a buddy (we couldn't just all leave our stuff and go in the water, so I would hang out with the stuff while Kristen and Yassin went out). Guys did tend to approach me and offer to take me into the deep water, but I did not want to be taken anywhere, thank you very much, so I remained firmly where I was. I tended to draw attention to myself at the beach where we were, which could be annoying but also meant that the life guards could easily pick me out of the crowd, so I was unlikely to be swept away unnoticed :) I don't have the time or space to go into SA race relations here, but I will just mention that the beach sections were pretty sharply divided, which was why I stood out so much (My curves fit right in, though, which I found amusing).

Its like an easy version of Where's Waldo... 

Thus ends my report on Durban adventures, not because there isn't more to say (I can always find more to say) but because there are other adventures to tell. Later! 

(Footnote on Durban Adventures: I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Kristen and I went to a swanky revolving restaurant that was at the top of a high rise in the center of downtown. It was sort of an accident; we had intended to go to the BAT center, which by all accounts was a cool cultural center with stuff going on at night, but when we got there, there was nothing much going on. Since we had already taken a taxi there, we decided to salvage the evening by going to Roma's Italian Restaurant, where we split a three course special for like 300 rand, which isn't bad for two people but was outside our usual budget. It was super fun, though... all cities look cool when they are lit up at night, and the food (including the best stuffed mushrooms I have ever had, some really tasty veal and amazing dessert) was fantastic. Also, it was just funny to be eating in an Italian restaurant in the middle of a South African city. Good times were had all around ;)

Control-Shawn McDonald

Happy Spring!

… Or you can enjoy the stiflingly hot, sticky, humid time of year at the summer just before fall comes. Or possibly torrential downpours for days. You know, whichever you prefer. As for me, I am so pleased that spring is here and warmer times are ahead. August 1st was officially the first day of spring, although Friday was just weird… sunny, then windy, then rainy, then sunny but also rainy, then just really windy. This week has been warmer, enough so that I wore shorts Tuesday and Wednesday. And there you have my very official weather report. :)

In other news, I spent some more time at the Rafael Centre this past week (I suppose I should spell it properly, although I am not handling this American to British English switch very well, and will probably blame that when I can never spell properly ever again. Of course, 'again' implies that I could spell anything properly in the first place…).  Aya and I are getting on well—I asked him if he played any sports and he told me that he didn’t, but that he liked to read novels and write poetry. Also, he really likes life sciences/biology, and when I asked him what he wants to do later in life, he told me he was considering being a psychologist or a lawyer. Could there be a better mentor/mentee pair? Granted, he writes most of his poetry in Xhosa, so I can’t understand it at all, and I do have difficulty understanding his accent some times, but hopefully that will improve as we go. On Thursday when we met, he asked if I had extra time to meet this week, so I went in again Monday and we worked on his projects a bit. Honesty, so there wasn’t a lot that we could do except for some brainstorming before he does his research for the papers, so we mostly just hung out and chatted.  He is graduating at the end of this year, provided that he passes his examinations, and then in December he is going ‘into the bush’.

This is sort of a coming of age thing for Xhosa guys that has survived over time and is still a part of the culture in this area. As far as I can gather, some older men take a bunch of guys (all around the same age, although there are not really structured age-groups in society the way there used to be) out into the surrounding countryside and leave them there to survive on their own for 3 or 4 weeks. While I can imagine that this would actually be quite difficult (I have no idea what you would eat… it’s a good thing no one is leaving me out in the bush), I can’t help but think that this is also an excuse for male bonding time. But no man-dates at Servo or Saturday morning brunches here… this is serious. Anyway, after the older men go out and bring them back, there is a big celebration that involves lots of beer, gifts, and possibly slaughtering a cow. I am a little fuzzy on the details, but it sounds like a big deal. When I took my tour to the township shortly after I got here, we saw some guys coming back from the bush, as well as a party with tons of neighbors and a cow… there’s just a difference between knowing that it happens, and Aya telling me that he is doing it himself.

This week has just been a mash of trying to get work done while planning for vac. I finally have plans… well, a rough sketch, anyway. I am definitely going to Durban with Kristen. We are going to leave Saturday morning (for a 12 hour bus ride) and are coming home the following Sunday overnight, so that we should arrive back in Grahamstown around 5:30 in the morning. Hopefully, we are going to rent a car in Durban (I don’t know if the 21 age requirement is nationwide, or just in Grahamstown… we were able to book a car through Economy Car Rentals, so hopefully everything will work out in Durban and we will just possibly pay an underage insurance fee), which will allow us to drive up to Kruger National Park with a stop in Swaziland. The plan is to drive to Swaziland on Wednesday and get to Nelspruit (just outside of Kruger) by Thursday night, do some drives on Friday and Saturday, and take a shuttle/minibus back to Durban on Sunday. There is still a part of my mind that is panicking and saying that the rental car isn’t going to work out, but if not, we will just stay in Durban for the week. I am sure we can find something to do… I mean, there is a beach, so it wouldn’t be that terrible.

Anyway, in the meantime, I am just constantly being reminded that God is has been taking care of me, is taking care of me, and will take care of me in the future regardless of how much time I spend panicking and trying to control things in my life. So, the real plan is: I am going on a trip over vac. I will explore new places and see new things. I might not go everywhere I planned, but I will find a place to sleep at night, food when I am hungry, and I will get back to Grahamstown more or less in time for classes to start (although will I really want to go to class when I get home 3 hours before it starts?) I was in the dining hall yesterday, taking a break from stressing over bus and car bookings, and a girl was making toast with her back to me so that I could read Jeremiah 29:11 written on her shirt. God knows the plans he has for me! And then today my dear Melissa sent me Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand."

It has just been so helpful to be told over and over again (because I can forget very quickly… as soon as I get back to my laptop and open up travel booking pages or something) that God is in control. He is big enough to have this great master plan, and he still cares about the details my life. Like where I am keeping my stuff over vac, how I will get malaria meds, and hopefully where I will be sleeping next week. I have to be smart and make good decisions, but I am not alone in them. And that is a big comfort.