What It's Like to Live in Durban, South Africa

This editor studied abroad only 45 minutes from Durban—and muslimah8160 is right, it's totally amazing! —Sparkitors

Living in Durban, South Africa has its ups and downs, but for the most part, I absolutely love it! Here are the reasons why:

1. Fun in the sun: In Durban, we never have to deal with winter. Okay, I lied, but our winters are pretty great: we still see the sun almost every day, the average temperature is 20ºC (68ºF), and I don’t think we’ve ever experienced a single digit temperature! We play outside during winter nights and walk around in shorts and t-shirts. Of course, we don’t ever get a snow day, but we can drive to the Drakensburg Mountains if we want to make a snowman! But we don't really feel like we're missing out on snowball fights; we're too busy building sandcastles on the beach.

2. The beach: Our coastline is hugged by the warm Indian Ocean, which means we can swim all year round. We love donning our bathing suits, lathering up with sunscreen, and spending the whole day on the beach, riding the waves. Some parts of the coast are perfect for surfers, and others are great for swimming and relaxing; we even have tidal pools with all types of marine creatures! We're sometimes lucky enough to see dolphins and whales (and even sharks) and between May and July, there's a huge sardine run that brings awesome sea creatures near the shore.

3. Moses Mabhida Stadium: If you haven’t heard of this place, you were probably sleeping under a rock during the 2010 FIFA World Cup; this stunning new stadium played host to one of the most anticipated soccer semifinals ever.  It also has an amazing arch that frames our skyline, and with the beach as a backdrop, it looks beautiful day or night. Plus, it's got an awesome bungee jump, a sky train, and the world’s largest swing. It's truly awe-inspiring, and it looks even better when it's filled with passionate fans cheering and blowing their vuvuzelas.

4. Biltong, braais, boerewors and bunny chow: For the uninitiated, those are the trademarks of Durban cuisine. We have braais (which are similar to barbecues) all the time, especially at the beach, a rugby match, or at home during a relaxing evening. A boerewors (pronounced “boora vawrss”) is a spicy homemade sausage introduced to us by the Afrikaners. Biltong is strips of lean meat cured by salting and drying, and it’s delicious! Bunny chow, which originated here in Durban, is a slang term for a type of fast food that consists of a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with Durban curry—you tear off pieces of bread, dip into the curry sauce, and enjoy.

5. Multi-cultural, multi-racial, colourful Durban: My home is a mix of different cultures, races, and religions, which makes it a fascinating city to live in. Walk down the street and you'll see an Indian woman in her sari next to an African man in his traditional garb, and a Muslim man with his beard talking sports to a white man with an Afrikaner accent. Here, Indians speak Afrikaans and white men speak Zulu; we're a beautiful cauldron of color, culture, and languages.

6. And the best thing about Durban people? Our accents! Our accents are not strong, and no matter what language we speak in, you can always understand us. I’m afraid the same can’t be said about people from Johannesburg and Cape Town (sorry, guys!). The Cape Town accent is a mix of Malay, Dutch, and English, but the Joburg accent tops it all. Native Johannesburg residents speak with a very sharp accent and have a habit of ending every sentence with word “neh” which means “isn’t it?” Here's a typical conversation between me and a friend from Joburg:

Me: It’s so hot today.

Joburg friend: It’s really hot today, neh?

...long pause...

Me: That’s what I just said!

Joburg friend: What?

Me: Nothing.

...even longer pause...

Joburg person: Yeah, so it’s too hot today, neh?

...and now I run away screaming "I give up!"...

But despite occasional difficulties, Durban is a wonderful place to live; after all, it’s where the fun never sets!

Any other Sparklers out there from South Africa?

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