Durban's oldest natural attraction - the Botanic Gardens - is but a short stroll away. Established in 1851 and renowned for the finest collection of botanic species anywhere in Africa, the indigenous and exotic trees are now huge...and attract as much attention as the Orchid House display. Birds are everywhere, including the tea garden...where it's considered 'impolite' to not share your cream scones with the 'cheeky little fellows' hopping about among the tables!
That's the southern fringe of Greyville Racecourse - the north leads to Morningside, where Florida and Windermere Roads are lined with Victorian cottages and buildings restored to their colonial glory and transformed into trendy taverns, restaurants, antique shops and decor- emporia. Your first encounter, though, will be a century-old church housing Durban's newest theatre. Sympathetically restored by the retired head of Natal University's Drama Department, Pieter Scholtz, the historically-listed building now incorporates an auditorium, courtyard for outdoor performances, bar and coffee shop. Named KwaSuka - from the Zulu equivalent of 'Once upon a time...' regular productions include many award-winning fringe plays, plus ongoing seasons of children's theatre and puppet extravaganzas.
Florida Road leads ultimately to Mitchell Park, a large and tree- filled family favourite that boasts a magnificent aviary complex and colony of tortoise that certainly appear to be as old as Durban itself! And here, too, on the restaurant's wide patio, you'll meet feathered friends that cock a longing glance at your chef's recommendation... Driving south from Mitchell Park along the ridge crest you'll pass many grand, colonial-era homes set in lush, sub-tropical gardens with commanding views of the city. One of these - a neo-Cape homestead - is the Killie Campbell Museum that houses a renowned private collection of Africana. Once the home of sugar baron Sir Marshal Campbell, this gracious residence contains a Furniture Museum, a Museum of Ethnology and an Africana Library...plus a truly remarkable selection of contemporary South African art.
This stretch of suburbia is the Berea, site of our most- photographed example of Durban Art Deco - Surrey Mansions. Designed by William B. Barboure in 1937, the imaginative and sensitive detailing of his multi-storeyed apartment building regularly attracts groups of sketchpad-wielding architecture students. A hundred metres away - directly above the earlier-mentioned Botanic Gardens - a small park presents camera-toting tour groups with an unparalleled panorama of our beautiful city. You'll take in the downtown area, harbour, beachfront, ships at anchor and the vast Indian Ocean horizon...almost all the way to Australia! Many fine old churches grace the Berea, along with one of Durban's most modern, up-market shopping and cinema venues at Musgrave Centre...plus a 'mushrooming' host of restaurants.
A couple of kilometres further along, the green surrounds of Bulwer Park welcome you to KNSA Gallery's new, custom-designed premises. Three separate exhibition spaces are augmented by the indoor/outdoor Arts Caf and a gift shop filled with unusual, hand-crafted delights. Natal University's Durban campus lies a few kilometres beyond, and its Sneddon Theatre regularly presents high quality stage productions that range from Shakespeare to ballet and mime. Music ventures include avant garde electronica, African jazz and township jive with poetry and prose festivals taking place campus-side at the Centre for Creative Arts.
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