Time for Simunye, our night in a Zulu Village

We left early this morning so that we could visit an additional Zulu village and still arrive at Simunye in time for the students to ride the horses to where we would be staying in the land of 1000 hills. Out first stop was Isithumba a local Zulu village that does cultural tours. We visited the headman, the medicine man, the local store, then went down to the river to learn how to make reed bracelets! The bracelets are made by women when they are agreeing to be in a relationship with a man from the village. From there we went to Simunye where the student ride horses to where we would be staying in our beautiful thatch roof rooms for the night. Our evening and morning were filled with dancing, singing, and amazing food. By morning the students were ready for their horse rides to the bus and then a long trip to the airport where we would depart for our final location, Jo'berg.

Dube, Ghandi, and Mandela all in one day

This day was jam packed with historical sites! Durban has such a rich history, Ghandi fighting for Indian equality (Durban has the largest Indian population outside of India), Dube working hard on equality for everyone, and the place where Mandela cast his first vote in the 1990s. We also went to a local township, which was quite different from the ones we visited in Cape Town. The students are also loving their local Brai's so we enjoyed another one today on the road between site visits. Our group from last year also earned some fame as you can see we are on a large canvas poster at the site of Mandela's first vote!!!

City center tour and our first free day

Our first full day in Durban was a busy one! Our guide Sthembiso took us on a walking tour through the city center. We walked through the spice and curio market, the fruit market, the meat market, and through all of the outside vendors. We also visited all of the government buildings including city hall and some of the original courthouses. Walking through museums such as the passbook/Apartheid museum and others were eye opening. We ended our day by visiting the harbor, which is the largest shipping harbour in Southern Africa, as well as the World Cup stadium!!

Our next day was our first full free day!!! Some chose to take an early morning boat ride on the Indian Ocean then joined the rest of the group for a relaxing day on the beach. In the evening we all met for a short class discussion then off to dinner and bed for an early morning of touring.

Durban and the Indian Ocean

Most of our morning was spent in airports flying around South Africa so that we could reach Durban, the city many have been waiting for, as the hotel is waterfront and the Indian ocean is always waiting for swimmers! Upon our arrival we drove through the city and arrived at our hotel just in time to receive some beautiful gifts from our guide in Zimbabwe, he sent them to is here in Durban! Necklaces, headbands, bracelets, bottle openers, and earrings all either carved or hand beaded. Then we made our way to the beach with enough time to have a few hours before the sunset. Tomorrow we begin our tours of this city, and this was a well needed break.

Our last day in Cape Town

Our last day in Cape Town was a bit slow as the wind and rains were too heavy for us to go to some of the sites that required ferry rides. In the morning we went to a botanical garden and did a tree top trail, and in the afternoon we improvised and went back to the townships for a local Brai (BBQ). Then in the evening had an amazing dinner at a Cape Malay restaurant. Their were workers brought from Malaysia to replace black workers in the cities and they have created their own culture over time called Cape Malay.  We ended by watching a soccer game in the lounge at the hotel. We went to bed early as we had an early flight to Durban the next morning!