Durban

On our excursion along the South coast we met two South African guys Gary and Justin who we became friends with over a game of King's Cup in a hostel in Wilderness. They had been studying accounting in Stellenbosch but were from Durban and were making their way back home along our same route before going to London to work for a year. Justin was kind enough to invite us to stay with his family when we got to Durban and we were more than happy to take him up on it. It was a pleasant suprise and a side of South Africa we would have never seen. His parents had recently retired and bought a large Catamaran they were planning to sail all over the world. They were being certified to sail it and we got to accompany them out into Durban harbor for some basic sea trials (above). They fed us a ton of amazing food and I thank them again for being so kind and hospitable. Above we got to drive around in Justin's mom's convertible Saab and see parts of the city. It was a few steps above riding in African buses. Another day we went to the Inanda Dam and went waterskiing on the reservoir. This is in an area known as Kwazulu-Natal and is historically part of the kingdom of Zulus. It's nickname is "A Land of a Thousand Hills" because of the accordian like geography. Justin brought along his small surfboard and gave us all a lesson in barefoot waterskiing. He sat on the board as the boat gained speed and made his way just outside the wake and when we accelerated to around 30 mph he slowly stood up. I had to try and the video at the bottom is my first attempt. Josh took the video sideways so you have to turn your head to the left.

Ouch, and my feet were itchy afterward!