Durban: beaches and Indian markets

Durban is home to the largest community of Indian origin outside India, grown from contract workers who arrived in the nineteenth century for sugar cane plantations, and it combines that heritage with a tropical waterfront on the Indian Ocean.

The waterfront, between beaches and Indian-inspired markets, is explored on foot or by rented bicycle.

The Golden Mile, the city's waterfront dotted with palms, unites golden sand beaches with cycling paths and craft stalls active year-round thanks to the city's subtropical climate.

The Victoria Street Market, a covered market in the heart of the Indian neighborhood, sells spices, incense and sari fabrics under Mogul-style cupolas that characterize its architecture.

The Moses Mabhida stadium, built for the 2010 World Cup, allows visitors to climb to the top of the arch that towers above it via a panoramic cable car suspended over the playing field.

uShaka Marine World, a water park and aquarium built around a reconstructed shipwreck, houses sharks and dolphins in tanks directly connected to the Indian Ocean.

The Mughal domes of Victoria Street Market and the arch of Moses Mabhida Stadium tell two different ways Durban chose to make itself recognizable: one looking to its own history, the other to a global sporting event.

The Golden Mile, indifferent to both, remains the point where the city stops needing to explain itself and simply offers a warm beach year-round.