DAY THREE DURBAN

 DAY THREE - DURBAN

View from our windows in ATKV Natalia

Zuza and Michał and our tour poster

ZUZANNA WALISZEWSKA:

The next day was full of new experiences. We went to “uShaka marine world”, where we saw penguins, seals and dolphins and at the same time we had an opportunity to have some fun in water park. Of course that day didn’t go without some adventures. After being dropped on a parking lot, next to “uShaka marine world” a cheerful man approached us. He introduced himself as “Dolphin Jack”. I was impressed by his openness and cheerfulness. He started complimenting us and giving us high fives. Suddenly, out of nowhere, we were holding necklaces in our hands and of course we were supposed to pay for them. Well, he got us. Five naive Polish students, who didn’t have a slightest idea what to do. Showing him our wallets full of rands wasn’t the cleverest idea, but luckily he turned out to be a nice guy trying to sell some ugly necklaces. The rest of our time we spent in water park or on the beach, enjoying warm water of Indian Ocean. It turns out that every day in South Africa was a day of “first time”. 30^th January 2016 was the day of our first braai.  We knew everything about it. In theory. And that was the moment when we were supposed to finally tried it. There was it. Steaks, boerewors, pap en sous, aartappelslaai. I was in heaven. It reminded me of our Afrikaans lesson, when we talked about braai and dreamt about trying it one day. However, it is not a braai itself that I enjoyed so much. I still recall that evening when we were all sitting around the table, eating “smaaklike kos” and talking with other people. This is the magic of every braai- people.  I was more than happy to realise that it was just one out of many braais that we were about to experience.

Breakfast at Natalia Resort

ILONA KARNIŁO:

No long drive this time! Just an excursion to Durban’s uShaka Marine World. A tip for our future selves – learn how to say no to friendly scammers who approach you on the parking lot, even if they shower you with compliments. I could have actually ignored the guy, but I thought he was from the uShaka staff, and then it was too late to run away. As for the waterpark – I really wanted to go to the slides, but when I went on one, I didn’t enjoy it, so I got discouraged and didn’t go to any until the very last few minutes, when I tried again and it turned out to be fun. The slides were one of the highlights, among the other attractions such as dolphin and penguin shows. We also went into the ocean for a few minutes, but the waves were so high, we could just stand and jump. In the evening we’ve experienced our first braai! There was steak, boerewors, pap en sous, and malva pudding – the best South African dessert.

Chasers with Elza Lee-Pretorious - ATKV Natalia manager

MICHAŁ MARCINIAK:

We started the day with another delicous breakfast. We are in Durban, heading to uShaka Marine World. Before we entered the park we bought plastic dolphins necklace from Dolphin Jack but it is a long story.He assured us that they were locally made but I am sure they were made in China. Adrian's one broke the same day we bought it.  I am really excited because I do enjoy such attractions. I was not wrong, the water park is really awesome. We saw penguins' feeding and dolphin show. I had a really great time on the water slides. We also went to the beach that was next to uShaka. The water was so warm and the waves were so high. Agata got burned by blue bottle but she was really brave! Time has passed quickly(too quickly) and we had to go back to our resort. It was time for our first braai. The food was delicious, especially boerewors and steak. And of course the pudding! We had a chance to share time with really interesting people from ATKV. We sang our national anthem, some folk song and a song in Afrikaans, that was fun! Before we left to bed we got South African sweets: koeksisters and Hertzog koekies. Sweet goodbye.

uShaka Marine World

AGATA LEŚNOWOLSKA:

Natalia resort was amazing and the possibility that there may be a monkeys going into your room and making trouble – well, even more amazing. When the ‘monkey problem’ topic was being discussed I remember enjoying the exoticness of the issue so much. There is this whole set of problems consisting in trying to peacefully coexist with wild life that most of Europe simply don’t have. As a European I think these are beautiful problems to be confronted with.

On our way to Durban professor Olivier told us that Hindus and Muslims coexisted peacefully in South Africa as illustrated by a mosque and a Hindu temple standing next to each other. When learning about a country like South Africa, with its multiculturalism one feels the urge to draw a map and put all the tensions, animosities and friendship between different ethnic, religious and racial groups on it as to make it more understandable. Of course I do know it’s a futile exercise and one that feeds on stereotypes but a Polish student has to start somewhere.

We also got to know that 'coconut' is a political term to describe black people who “try to be white”.

The story about Dolphin Jack you know very well as it has become a nice anecdote to tell to hosts, sponsors and generally people we had a chance to talk to. I can only add after unpacking in Poznań that it really is one ugly dolphin necklace.

Shaka was very enjoyable, especially the penguin show. I’m now the biggest fan of Dee – the oldest penguin in uShaka Water World and quite probably the oldest African penguin in the world! She is 36 now and has more than doubled a usual penguin’s lifespan which is 15. 

The first swim in the Indian Ocean was a big deal. It was really a lot of fun to jump into the huge waves and then it was really a lot of hidden anxiety about my newly blue bottle-burned leg.

And there is the story about ATKV and its actions to revitalize student drama that backfired wonderfully into the organization, bringing about reform and change, revitalizing ATKV itself. Now, this is the kind of little life irony I collect. And I must admit, the ATKV people made a very good impression on me. I’m pretty sure that there is left and right inside ATKV as well and it probably encompasses many viewpoints but basing on what they told and showed us during the braai I think there is a lot good being done because of this organization (like finding the dancers who later became world champions in reed dance!).

And the braai itself was quite impressive as well, with one guy actually standing above the braaing area to be able to put all of the meat on it. The food was delicious, it was the first steak, pap, malva pudding… . Thank you ATKV Durban.

Durban

ADRIAN PTASZYŃSKI: Born under the Aquarius

Today is the sole reason that I came here... not. The uShaka Marine World with its plethora of waterslides and pools is surely a must-visit for people who can't swim, but I'm not really one of them. I was kind of bored and annoyed for the most of the visit there – not really at the place, which was obviously amazing, but at myself for never getting to overcome my childhood trauma and getting more used to the water, for the simple reason of enjoying this place fully right now. However, sitting on the beach and looking at the ocean was still worth it! The Indian Ocean really is  perfectly beautiful, the hue of the water, for me, is simply mind-blowing! As a bonus, I've burnt off my neck because I'm too manly to wear sunscreen. Or maybe I just decided that people in the olden days had no sunscreen, travelled to hot areas or worked in the field all day, and somehow lived, so why should I mess around with some creams and feel greasy for the next two hours? Our first braai in the evening allowed to show off with both my charisma and my ability to eat a single piece of meat for two hours straight and not finish.

braaing

amazing South African food: pap, boerewors, steak and salad

Chasers with representatives of ATKV Durban! Thank you!