SA bits 29 - Durban SA Part 1

After weeks of very odd working hours, our project finally came to a close (sort of). Before we move forward to the next project, I thought I'd take this opportunity to have a short break by visiting Akash. We drove down to his place in Durban (about 6-7 hours drive from Johannesburg) after work and the journey took 8 hours with multiple stops in between to freshen up and stretch our legs.

Durban has the busiest port in Africa (which means it's coastal and has beaches nearby, woohoo!)and it has subtropical climate almost similar to M'sia but is not as humid with average high of 25ºC and average low of 17º. Being the 3rd most populous city in SA, it has a very big Indian community. It is also the city with the largest Asian community in SA with 20% Asians.

We visited Gateway shopping center which was just across the road from where Akash stayed. Gateway is a h-u-g-e shopping center in Durban, suprisingly I also just found out today that it's the largest in Africa. It's h-u-g-e, and the environment reminds me of Mid Valley Megamall. A one-stop center of entertainment. This is what I saw during our short visit...


I thought this was all the squirting fountain could do until...

it shot up 3 storeys high, inside a shopping complex.

The entertainment section of the mall. When further explored there's actually a rock climbing wall.



At the base of the rock climbing structure was a swing for kids, except this is not like any normal swing. The kids are harnessed, and belayed over 2 storeys and literally swung. They look like they're only 4 or 5 years old and they are already this adventurous!
The next thing that caught my attention was this. Following pictures almost explains it all.





Here's a shot of Akash's serviced apartment complex, a new and comfy place for a couple (single bedroom place). It's only about 10 minutes from the beach.




Thanks for accomodating me, says Jansen shamelessly ;P