DURBAN,

SOUTH AFRICA -

YES, WE HAVE NO BANANAS!

Saturday, March 22, 2025, 6 AM, Temperature 73 Degrees, 73% Humidity, W – N @ 8 mph

The first picture is a banana plant in the Durban Botanic Gardens, which was established in 1849 and is Africa’s oldest surviving botanical garden. We’d never seen the flower at the base of a banana stalk, but friends from Australia we’ve met on this cruise said the flowers are quite common and can be used in cooking (sounds like the squash blossoms used in Southwestern cooking). We’re very “sensitive” to any banana sighting because we haven’t had them on the Zuiderdam for ten days! Word on the street is we’ll be restocking in Cape Town on March 25. There’s no lack of food on the ship and they do an amazing job offering a wide variety of foods, but more perishable produce can be an issue. Evidently, our last order of bananas didn’t “age” well and went brown too quickly (I wonder if they made lots of banana bread; that’s what I do at home with brown bananas). We were out of blueberries for a day or two a couple of weeks ago, but they were replenished at the next port. For some reason, bananas seem to be more of an issue! We’ve gone through several ports without replenishing our “banana stores.” I realize that not having bananas isn’t the end of the world, but we are creatures of habit. My everyday breakfast consists of vanilla Greek yogurt, peach compote, and sliced banana. It comes to the table in three dishes. I mix it all together; it's so good! I’ve had to substitute for bananas, but it's not the same; I'm anxious for my “banana fix.” John usually has fruit plate with cottage cheese and steel cut oatmeal (or sometimes egg, bacon and toast to make his own breakfast sandwich). They have everything you could want on the menu, but we’re trying not to gain weight on our cruise. They have eggs and omelets to order, all kinds of breakfast meats, waffles, pancakes and French toast. They make all the baked goods and bread daily on the ship - the warm Danish in the morning are delicious. They have American Breakfast, full English Breakfast (with baked beans, grilled tomato and mushrooms), cold continental European breakfast and other breakfasts geared to other nationalities on board. You name it, they probably have it (or would get it for you) – as long as it’s not bananas before Cape Town.

Durban is the third most populous city in South Africa. It is located on the Natal Bay of the Indian Ocean and is the busiest port city in sub-Saharan Africa. The Metropolitan Municipality has a population of 4.2 million. The city was established in 1824, 200 years ago. The area was first called Natal by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama when he first saw the coastline on Christmas Day, 1497. In 1824, English traders established a trading post at Port Natal and Shaka, the Zulu King, granted them the land around the port. In 1835, the settlement was renamed Durban after Sir Benjamin D’Urban, then the Colony governor.

Durban is a diverse city; its racial makeup is 51.1% Black African, 24.0% Indian/Asian, and 15.3% White. The city also has religious diversity; we passed churches of many denominations. The Juma Masjid Mosque is the largest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere. Durban is a major container port and South African sugar industry headquarters. Many buildings reflect the colonial period with modern high-rise buildings as well; the blend of cultures and architecture makes it unique. There are many parks, museums, and cultural centers. Moses Mabhida Stadium was one of the host stadiums for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Although it’s currently undergoing renovation, it was on our tour. From a distance, Durban is presented as a modern, prosperous city; looks can be deceiving. Poverty, unemployment, and crime are problems here. We were admonished not to wear jewelry or expensive accessories, to not travel alone, and to keep money and passports in interior, secure pockets – we haven’t heard those instructions since South America.

We arrived at the new and modern Nelson Mandela Cruise Terminal. We had one-on-one checks by Immigration authorities when we came into Port Douglas and had our passports stamped, but we didn’t go through Immigration again here (although we were told to carry our passports with us, which is not usually the case). If you look at the picture of the Terminal, behind it, you can see a row of nicely painted, restored 1800s buildings – it looks like the perfect stop to walk and shop, but when we drove by on our tour bus, all but one storefront was boarded up, one up for auction. Crime has made this potentially fun area too dangerous for tourists or locals. Along the waterfront in town, there were many multi-story apartment buildings with great location, views and architecture (probably built in the '60s), but on closer inspection, they have seen better days. Most of our trip was in the inner city, and although we passed some beautiful parks, the street scene wasn’t great (although, in fairness, people visiting some of our inner- cities probably don’t get the best impression either). Street vendors are part of the culture with stands of fruits & vegetables, brightly colored native dresses and misc. wares.

The Duban Botanic Gardens was our favorite part of the tour. These beautiful, well-maintained gardens reflect colonial era design. We drove along the Victoria Embankment to Currie Hill and saw a panoramic view of the city (and the razor wire frequently seen to protect property). We also drove through beautiful, upscale neighborhoods, much different from the cityscape in town.

I was sorry I had “spent” some of my Excursion Tour “credits” with John on this tour. Others took the free shuttle bus to the UShaka Marine World and surrounding tourist attractions had a more positive experience. There was shopping and food stalls plus a great show highlighting costumed African dancers.

On to Cape Town!