Durban, South Africa Feb 18-21, 2010 aka Memory Lane

So, this part of the trip was just for Jonathan... Durban is where he grew up and he had a strong desire to go back and check out how things had changed.  Everyone locally is gearing up for FIFA 2010 with the World Cup of Soccer being officially hosted by Durban.  The final game will be played here and they have build a really cool new stadium.  Games will be played throughout South Africa, but Durban is officially the host city.

Our first stop was at the Durban Jewish Center where Jonathan had many great stories to share.

At the Durban Jewish Center, they have a very moving Holocaust Center with amazing parallels between Nazi Germany and Apartheid South Africa.  It was so important that the kids see this and understand that if the world is not aware, this will repeat over and over.  At the end of the museum, there was a very moving section dedicated to Darfur and the tragedies going on there.  We left on a somber note, but I think it was worth it for us to all be reminded of our social responsibilities.

Nothing fixes a down mood quite as fast as some time on the beach!  Sarah, Alex and Gabriel loved the warm water of the Indian Ocean.  It was really nice to be staying at a place right on the ocean.

While we were there, a vet on a fishing vacation caught both a large stingray and this sand shark.  This shark was tagged, so he wrote the tag number down and then back it went into the ocean, to join the stingray he had previously released.

After driving all over Durban, seeing Jonathan's old schools, old houses, his father's commercial laundry and more, we stopped by Mitchell Park so Jonathan could finally get tea and scones.  This was our fourth attempt to get scones since arriving in South Africa and we were finally successful!!

Big excitement!  This is the Sea Rescue base that Jonathan arranged to visit.  The director was very nice and we had a great tour.  Jonathan and Gabriel had already bought Sea Rescue shirts and beanies!

One of the highlights of our trip to Durban was a visit to Jonathan's home where he grew up in Cowies Hill.  The family that now lives there was so gracious and allowed us to all tromp through their house totally unannounced and peer into the rooms while Jonathan told us more growing-up stories. 

The famous garage wall that Kerry once drove through.

I don't know if the Davies family realized how much it meant to Jonathan to go inside his old home, but from this experience I learned to be gracious and allow total strangers to walk through your house just because they once belonged there.  You can see how happy Jonathan is.  Memory Lane was a fun drive to take with him...