Dragensburg & Durban

When asked how long it will take us to reach Dragensburg, we were given anywhere from 4.5 - 6.5 hours, which is not that bad. 11 hours later we finally arrived !! The information here is superb! We were so exhausted driving and there were no places to stop to grab something to eat. The sun was setting down in the direction in which we were driving, and we couldn't see anything on the road, not oncoming traffic, not people walking on the shoulder until they were way to close, but luckily we arrived without any incidences. So many times there were "potholes" signs on the road, and we managed to avoid them in the last second. Only later, I read a newspaper, and there was a whole page dedicated to people who had died when they hit a pothole, usually these were minibuses though that flipped off the road.
When we arrived at the hostel at 2am, the guy at the reception was either drunk or high or both. He kept talking and talking, and I was begging him to show us the room. Then we started walking, and he would explain again, this is the bar, this is, at that time, there you'll find ... aaaaahhhhhhhhh !!! where is the room???? 10 minutes later, he pointed a finger saying there, and I just kept walking to it, meanwhile he left talking to himself in the distance.
Next day the girls went to the village to find out how to go on a hike on our own. Dragensburg is a hiking area, there are 100 of trails, and the hostel has only 2 options costing $100 each!! And they got mad at us for not taking a tour with them. They also said if we don't have a 4X4, we would never get to the beginning of the trail, it's just impassable... We'll take our chances! The road at the end was bad, but not so bad that we couldn't drive through it. Once we got a bit stuck and had to reverse to find a new route, but it was nothing too extraordinary. Overall for the entrance and food, we paid $10. There is one trail, and I have no idea how can you get lost on it. The weather wasn't too good either, it was misty, we couldn't see anything. From about 5 hours hiking, it was clear for 2 hours, which is not that bad. I even took a picture of the "loser" team who went with the hostel :) But I was feeling sorry for them, to pay so much money so you could see the back of the person walking in front of you. Chris was talking and talking all the way, and you could see the group separating as to not get a headache from information overflow :) At the end to reach a waterfall, we had to climb some ladder up. That was scary, because he ladder moved from side to side, and it was pretty high up. At the top we could see a waterfall for about 5 minutes until it completely fogged up, and we weren't able to see anything till the end of the hike. The girls and Chris decided to hike up some more, but I didn't see any point in it at all, so I and Hans headed back to the car, and fell asleep while waiting for them to return :)
This Chris is a strange character. After talking to him for a while, I got the impression that everybody hates him. He would always talk about it "I don't know what I did wrong, but she/he hates me", "the time I got punched in the nose" on and on and on. I even asked him how many times did he get punched in the nose. He said he couldn't count. I learned that if something happens to you once, it could be a mistake but if the same thing happens to you again and again, then you're definitely causing it! What goes around comes around. And guess what, one night, he set up a tent in the camping area, told the reception that he will be sleeping in the tent (and that costs half as much), and still slept in the dorm. What can I say Chris, like attracts like!
Overall, this hike was not too bad. I was dreading it for 2 days, remembering all my hikes in South America. I hate it, I don't want to do it, I can't see all the beauty when I can barely move and breath, the only reason I do it is for sports. But this being my second hike in South Africa, I understood that the word "hike" has a different meaning on both continents. In South America is "go on an army like exhaustive torture climbing thing", and in South Africa is "go on a bit longer than usual walk". :)
It took 2 hours to get back to the hostel, and Hans and the 2 girls were talking German for all that time! All of them know perfect English, so I don't understand what the big deal is?? In South America it was the French, and in South Africa it's the German. They like gang up! And it's ok if we're somewhere outside, then usually I just leave them be, but in an enclosed space, for 2 hours, that's just unheard of, and a very rude behavior (from where I come from)! That I will ever, EVER again end up in such a situation again! Never!! No more than 2 German speaking people will ever be in a car with me, I will never put myself in such a situation again!
In the evening, we made up for all the cold and dampness with a nice 4 hour jacuzzi :) It was way too hot, so we were jumping from jacuzzi to pool, then jacuzzi and pool. What a great evening! :)) Next day, they even put bubbles in it :)
In the morning everybody went for another hike, meanwhile I really didn't see the point. I looked at the mountains from the hostel, and could see none, so I went back to sleep, and just relaxed the whole day. When they got back, they said that it was even rainier than the last day, plus there was a lot of mud and view, when there were some, were identical. So I was happy :)
The next day it was time to leave to Durban. Everybody I talked to who's not a backpacker told me to stay the hell away from the minibus taxis, only blacks take them, and it's not safe. Well, I had no other way to get there, so here we go! Hans walked me to the road, and we waited for an hour until one showed up. I was trying hard to squeeze in with all my luggage, while Hans was telling me to write him a message as soon as I get to Durban that I arrived there safely. I was so scared at first, but sitting there for half an hour between the locals, I realized, that there isn't really anything sketchy going on, everybody looks completely normal, they can't do anything, since there are 15 people sitting in it, and everybody gets off pretty much at the same spot. So I'm always between people, and there is safety in numbers. In the town midway, I waited for 2 more hours for a taxi to Durban to fill up, since they leave only when full, and I have no idea who came up with the logic, that when you want to go somewhere, you go and sit in the taxi until it leaves. So even if it's 3 or 4 hours, you're not to walk around, stretch your legs, you just supposed to sit and wait for it to fill up! Strange! The ride was good, but it was so uncomfortable, there is no space at all, and my backpack took up all the free space that there was. I couldn't move for 3 hours, and everything just went numb. They usually play very extremely loud music in these buses, and while some people were even closing their ears, nobody would complain. There were also 2 mothers with babies, and I thought to myself, "Oh no that would be a fun ride". But the babies not even peeped. They were either sleeping, or feeding, or just sitting there looking around. It's so hot in these taxis, the locals even close the windows, so it feels like a sauna, the babies would be wet from all the sweating, and still, not a peep! I've noticed it every time now that I went somewhere. On the street, the small kids never complain, never throw a tantrum, just walking hand in hand with their mother. Maybe we could learn something after all from different cultures.
Durban is a big city, and when I got out of the minibus, I thought that I will be pretty lost if I won't ask for help. So I asked the driver how do I get to the city center, and better yet, where do I catch a normal taxi. They talked between each other, and assigned me a guide to walk with me :) He actually had no idea where he was going, and all the time we were looking for a regular taxi, none showed up. He told me that it's better to catch the minibus taxi again, because the regular one charges per kilometer, and it's a far way till the center. I asked how far, and he said 15 kms. Common! It's the first time I'm in this place, and I know it's not 15 kms. All the terminals are usually very close to the center, and it's definitely not as big as Toronto say for distances to be that big. I asked him where we are on the map, he pointed it out, and it was more or less 2kms to the hostel. It's so sad that in here, they don't have an idea of how far things are. Those what seem pretty easy things to me are completely foreign to them. Anyway, after asking and asking, we finally got the right taxi. There was no space to put my backpack, so poor guy who collects money, had to take it out of the taxi every time it made a stop. Luckily there was a guy sitting right beside me, who was actually getting off exactly where I needed to get off, so I got to the hostel quickly and with no problems :)
When I arrived, it turned out that they didn't have any more space :( But luckily there was a couple who I knew who stayed there, and they said as a joke that they could share a bed, and together we were able to convince the reception to let me in. Actually that couple was thinking about saving money that way, so I'll give my money to them, but the reception still charged me R75. Anyway, we'll figure it out at the end.
In the evening a bunch of us went to a night club. I wore the prettiest cloths that I have, and that was nothing compared to what people were wearing ... full out ! I don't even have space for extra stuff like that! But I figured that they were vacationers, and for vacation, top class cloths are a must :) I felt like I was in the middle of a fashion show, but the music was not great, so I didn't enjoy it too much.
The next day I went to walk around in the center, I've had enough of hiding in the hostels. I asked the taxi if it goes to the city hall, which is where I needed to be. He said no, but it's close enough. Hm... well, ok, I got in anyway. It stopped and showed me where it is. I asked him "Is that the building across the road and that little square?" ... just to make sure... apparently it was. I guess distance and time are very relative terms :)
Went to a very interesting natural history museum, there, there was a gigantic king crab. It wouldn't be apparent without the size comparison, so I asked a guy who was nearby to take a picture of me. Since then he started to follow me around, asking a bunch of questions. He asked me why am I in the museum, and I said because it's interesting. He asked why is it interesting, I said because those things are unknown to me, and I'm interested in things that I don't know. He told me that I don't know him :) From that point on I started making up imaginary friends who are outside, and a boyfriend who waits for me in the hostel. He still didn't give up and said that I should spend an evening with him, since I have all that time to spend with my boyfriend, but with him I won't have a chance :) Then he said that he studies micro biology in university, but it's boring. I told him why won't you study what interests you, and he said a thing that interests him cannot be learned in the university :) Since then, I made a quick run of the rest of the things I didn't see, and came outside to get lost in the crowds.
On the way back I got in the minibus taxi where the driver asked me how many cows I'm worth, and if I want to marry him ... Why would anybody in their right mind think that? But then I talked to a girl who travelled quite a bit in Africa, and she said she's been proposed to every day, 5 times a day! I wonder if the locals actually agree to that!?!
Then I had a lunch in an Indian restaurant. I order curry which was supposed to be mild, I could barely finish it without gulping glasses and glasses of water. The spices were tickling my throat and I was sitting there laughing to myself :) The waiter and some people sitting nearby noticed that I'm on my own and were very curious by it, why do people travel on their own in Africa and especially women! In South America it's quite a norm, but in here right away I noticed that it's not.
Next day Jaimy and Emily (the couple) and me went for a stadium tour. I don't understand what's the big deal of going to a stadium, we learned what it’s made out of and where it was imported from, what's the capacity, and that's it, pretty much just the technical details. But the stadium was beautiful, it was specially built for the FIFA world cup. The seats are colored from blue to orange, like a sunset, and it helps the stadium look full when it's not.
Afterwards we went to the amazing aquarium. It's built like in some lost underwater city or ship, all rusty (on purpose :) ), with beautiful and rare sea creatures. I've seen shark feeding, which wasn't that impressive, they just slowly took the food from the rod, nothing aggressive. Some food they even missed, or chewed for a bit and spit it out :) What was cool though is that in the same aquarium there was this big fish, and it was target fed. Because otherwise that fish and the shark could fight for food, and we know who's gonna win in that fight, so unless the diver puts a card with a special symbol out for that particular fish, it’s not allowed to come even close to it.
Then I watched again the not so impressive dolphin show, and then went to a water park. That was cool because there were barely any people in it, so I slid on all slides 3 times, and that's in 1 hour! :)
When we checked out of the hostel, the time came for figuring out the room charges. It was written in the notes that I owe R75 (when the normal price is R125), I paid that, but the guys didn't receive anything. They came to argue, and the woman said, ok, so if she paid 75, then you'll pay 75 each (I don't know how she came about that logic, but we didn't argue :) ) 75X3 = 225 which is even less that 2 people pay (125X2 = 250). After that kind of math, I don't think the hostel will keep doing any more favours :))

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