Page 290 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

288  THE EAST C O AST AND INTERIOR

Exploring Durban

Away from the beachfront and central business district,
beautiful mosques, richly-decorated temples and vibrant
street markets await the visitor. Nature reserves and
sanctuaries are situated on the outskirts of Durban,
among them the Umgeni River Bird Park, north of the
city, which houses exotic birds in walk-through aviaries,
while the Hare Krishna Temple of Understanding, in the
suburb of Chatsworth, never fails to impress with its
grandiose opulence. Tour operators offer city tours
to most of these sights.
Exotic curry and masala spice
Old Station Building residential area. Today it is called oldest yacht club in Africa. Its
Durban’s former railway station, Margaret Mncadi Avenue and is restaurant is open to the public.
a four-storey, red-brick building, lined with modern skyscrapers.
was completed in 1894. In the There are, however, still a few E Port Natal Maritime Museum
entrance of the building stands sights worth seeking out. Margaret Mncadi Avenue.
a statue in memory of Mahatma At the eastern end is the Tel 031 311 2231. Open 8:30am–
Gandhi, who bought a train late-Victorian cast-iron Da Gama 3:30pm Mon–Sat, 11am–3:30pm
ticket to Johannesburg here in Clock, erected to commemorate Sun. 7
June 1893. the 400th anniversary of Vasco E Royal Natal Yacht Club
The building’s most curious Da Gama’s discovery of a sea
feature is the roof, which is route to India in 1847. Yacht Mole, Margaret Mncadi
Avenue. Tel 031 301 5425.
designed to carry the weight of Photographs and memora- Open Restaurant: 8am–10pm
5 m (16 ft) of snow. The London bilia of Durban’s seafaring past daily. 7 ∑ rnyc.org.za
firm of architects accidentally are displayed in the Port Natal
switched the plans with those Maritime Museum. The tug- P Victoria Street Market
for Toronto in Canada and the boats Ulundi and J R More and Cnr Bertha Mkhize & Denis Hurley sts.
roof of Toronto station caved in the minesweeper SAS Durban Tel 031 306 4021. Open 6am–6pm
during the first heavy snowfalls. form part of the exhibits. Mon–Sat, 10am–4pm Sun.
The Tourist Junction has a wide Just to the west of the
range of maps and brochures; museum is the Dick King statue, At the end of the N3 flyover,
the staff can advise on all the commemorating a British trader where the motorway meets
sights in the city centre and who embarked on an epic the streets of central Durban,
beyond. There is also a booking horse- ride to Grahamstown is the Victoria Street Market.
office for accommodation at the to request reinforcements The building is striking – each
national parks (the only other during the Boer siege of Port of its 11 domes was modelled
offices are in Cape Town and Natal in 1842. on a notable building in India.
Pretoria), and a booking office The fine Durban Club, built In this crowded bazaar, visitors
for Durban Tourism’s informative in 1904, on the opposite side can sample the tastes and
walking tours. of the road is one of the few aromas of the Orient as they
original buildings remaining browse through more than
Victoria Embankment on the Victoria Embankment, 170 stalls offering spices and
Margaret Mncadi Avenue. while further to the west, the incense, fabrics, leather goods,
The Victoria Embankment was Royal Natal Yacht Club was brassware and ceramics. Its
built in 1897 as an upmarket founded in 1858 and is the street food stalls serve up
delicious snacks such as
samosas and Durban curry.
U Juma Masjid Mosque
Cnr Denis Hurley & Dr Yusuf
Dadoo sts. Tel (031) 306-0026.
Open 9am–4pm Mon–Sat.
8 book in advance.
The impressive Juma Masjid
Mosque lies across the road
from the Victoria Street Market.
Completed in 1927, it is the
largest mosque on the African
continent. Visitors are allowed
Pleasure craft, large and small, moored at Durban’s Royal Natal Yacht Club inside, except at prayer times.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p389 and pp407–8

288-289_EW_South_Africa.indd 288 25/05/17 12:00 pm