Durban - As any holidaygoer will often tell you, Durban is a no-go area in holiday season, purely because the beachfront is congested with people.
The city is always aggressively marketed as Africa’s playground because of the wide array of attractions that are available for visitors, business people and Durbanites themselves.
Life around here revolves around the Indian Ocean, the beachfront and dockyard, and there is no better place to explore Durban than to park off in two of the better hotels in town, the Southern Sun Elangeni and Maharani, and the Suncoast Towers hotel.
Both facilities are located on the famed Golden Mile, so if you keep your windows open at night, all you will hear is the sound of waves beating on the shoreline, and breathe in the thick humidity in the air.
For someone given to occasional jogging and a dip in the water, I found both hotels quite comfortable and convenient for access to a couple of must-see (or do) sights such as the Sky Car ride at the Moses Mabhida stadium and the uShaka Marine world with its ocean attractions.
I hired a bike and rediscovered my riding skills on the oceanway pavement, up and down from the Britannia Bay to Shelley Point, met a troop of monkeys as they went about raiding the bins for food, and was fascinated by some large snails that have set up colony on the Battery beach.
During the day, a few people came to picnic, fish and hang out at the Blue Lagoon and I had a chance to sample a variety of traditional Zulu art and merchandise among the vendors and hawkers, and marvelled at a couple of skateboaders, roller bladers and BMXers who went about daring the devil at the Skate Park.
While spending a day or two at the Sun Coast allows one direct access to the casino and entertainment world complex with restaurants and gaming arcades, the Southern Sun allows one direct access to the mini town that represents a miniature Durban with its kiddy pools, a little railway line and an airport.
So, for anyone looking at a few days of some sun and space, try Durban in the holiday off-season. - Sunday Independent
* Chikanga was a guest of Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani and SunCoast hotel, part of the Tsogo Sun hotel group:
www.tsogosunhotels.com