Durban: Where the Collier Family Resides

We arrived in Durban with absolutely no plan. Just a contact number. We called our contacts and they came to pick us up. Within moments of meeting them, we could tell that we were in for a treat. Tracey and Alec can (and do) do it all...and they let us join in for the fun!

We toured around Durban- visited the beautiful kloofs (little canyons), walked along the boardwalk, and viewed the largest mosque in the Southern hemisphere (according to Durbanites-I think this word might be my own creation).



We then spent a day with the local Lion's Club- Tracey and Alec are active members- cleaning up the river. Tessa and I started with high spirits, but ended (as you can tell) a little discouraged. There really is a lot of trash in our rivers these days. This leads me to think that we need a revival of the Litter Bugs Me Club (the membership requirements are quite easy: Pick up a piece of litter a day. If you forget to pick up one day, just pick up two another day. If you remember to pick up litter one day, the odds are another member may forget....so still try and pick up two, three, or four pieces of litter a day!)



Our host brother, Aidan, is the lead singer of a hard-core Christian rock band, The Rising End. We spent our Saturday night at his concert, amidst all of the moshers. Truly, this scene is WILD! I do not know what all of his fans will do when he moves to Canada to study...



Family photo. Richard (the German foreign exchange student), Alisa, Tracey, Alec, Aidan, and Tessa. We took a family road trip through South Africa to the game reserve, where we were able to spot everything from cheetahs to giraffes, wildabeasts, rhinos, hippos, and zebras!



I guess you are not allowed to do this...



Notice how Tessa framed this giraffe. She really has become an excellent photographer.

While we were in Durban, we were fortunate enough to stay with one of Tracey's friends, Mahkosi, in a Luganda township outside of Durban.



While in Luganda, we ate some of the largest meals I have ever ate in my life. Truthfully, we would receive a plate stacked 8 inches high, full of ox liver, potatoes, spinach, and cauliflower. After the meal, we would watch South African soap operas and a dance show. When we were lucky, the family would dance along.



We decided to visit the sangoma, a traditional healer. Tessa met with the sangoma in her private hut. This was where she learned that she will die of a heart attack.



During the days, while Mahkosi was at work, we decided that we should work as well. We were directed to a Kreche (preschool) that was housed in an orphanage.

Day 1. We spent the whole day playing London Bridge is Falling Down, teaching children the chicken dance, and making them do push-ups and jumping jacks (to tire them out). This is them at nap time.

Day 2. Twenty minutes into our time there, the teacher says that she has a meeting and asks if we can manage the kids for the day. Of course...I cannot think of one reason why that would be a less than brilliant idea. Through the course of the day, one boy pooped his pants, Tessa was peed on, children waged war while pinning us to the ground, and at one point we noticed one of the kids running away on the street outside of the gated compound. No worries, I am sure little kids are always running on the streets with no adult supervision...



This kid loved Tessa.



And yogurt.



We finished our time in Durban with a trivia night with the Lion's Club. What more could we ask for?