Durban

In the last three months I have changed jobs (twice); moved (twice). A lot of pretty huge life changing moves, the last two being a move down to Durban, and going back to a company I left.

I have managed to learn some fascinating things over the past three weeks though, during our pre-move planning, and our move. Firstly, water is free in Durban; which is handy in a place where Indian food is practically a staple, and most curries are so hot they could probably eat through a safe door!
Secondly, if you are renting, it is not guaranteed that you will find a place with a stove. There’s no law stating that there has to be a stove, so mini-oven/ two plates sell like hot cakes.
Thirdly, Durban has the biggest and ugliest cockroaches anywhere. They are bigger than most small lap dogs – if one does not have an extreme phobia for the damn buggers, I’m sure that they’d make good, albeit somewhat unsightly pets (kind of like a pug).
Fourthly, there aren’t many decent radio stations – the urge to listen to music from this centenary gets so bad at times that you find yourself wishing for Jacaranda. The choices are very limited: 5fm or Eastcoast radio, and that’s it.

Apart from these few minor adjustments, it was a rather good decision to move down to the coast. The ocean has a rather interesting effect on people – they are so much more relaxed and chilled. People actually stick to the 100 km/h speed limit on the freeway. This could be mainly because speeding fines cost more than the average size house does. There is no rush to get to where you going – unless you have GP number plates, that is.

Even though I have been living in Durban for a week, I can confidently say that the decision to move down here was a good one – now all I have to do is learn to navigate the traffic circles in Umhlanga*.


*Umhlanga must have the most traffic circles per capita on the planet. The vast majority of which can support a small colony of pygmies due to their size.