Day 4

Day four
Monday 20th January 2020

Current position
Albany Hotel
Acutt Street
4057 Durban
S 29° 51.541', E 31° 01.639'

By ten thirty we'd booked into our room at the Albany Hotel in the centre of the City and were making our way to visit the lovely old City Hall building across the road from the hotel. The building dated back to 1910 and now houses the Natural History Museum and an Art Gallery. Next stop just around the corner was the old Court House. Built in 1867 it too has been lovingly restored and currently has an exhibition of economic and social development of South Africa over the years.

We carried on our way to the Golden Mile Promenade and by chance walked along the street where we found the SIM card. On Saturday Ros would not walk the length of this street as she thought it was unsafe but today she felt quite at ease. She must be settling in well although she says we must still continue to be careful.

At the Golden Mile we caught the Peoples Mover bus to the Stadium and arrived by the skin of our teeth just in time to sign on to the Adventure Walk. We were the only couple on the walk and had the two young guides to ourselves. There were five hundred steps to the top and with us dressed in harnesses and chained to the rail the two young lads leisurely guided us upwards where at the top we had a panoramic view of the City.

We caught the Peoples Mover back to the City Centre where we visited the Victoria Market. It was like being back in India with the smell of spices thick in the air from the little stalls lining the streets. So far it appears that Durban is no more dangerous than any other large city we have visited and we are sure that as long as we are careful and keep our wits about us all will be fine.

By this time we were only a stones throw from our hotel so we decided to walk back. On the way I found a small Indian shoe repairer who within minutes glued the sole back onto my right trainer for a small handful of Rands.

After a short rest we were off again to Murphy's Bar on Florida Road. I don't think we have been in any large city that has not had an Irish bar. They all seem to serve excellent pub grub and Murphy's was no exception. We even joined in with their Monday night quiz although as usual we didn't do too well.

It still amazes me how well the Ubers work and how quickly they arrive and get us to our destination.

Horror of horrors my trusty little BlackBerry has broken. The screen's gone black and it won't power up. The spare one won't work either as it doesn't seem to want to connect to the Internet. I suppose it's twelve year old technology that's had its day. So I'm going to have to get used to typing on my Sony touch screen.

'When travelling some of the best things happen by chance not design'