Durban South Africa
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Durban KWAZULU-NATAL - SOUTH AFRICA

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LONG DISTANCE TOURS DEPARTING FROM DURBAN

		In 1823, on behalf of the cape traders, James King and Francis Farewell sailed up the coast to find a suitable place to establish a trading post to trade with the Zulus. A suitable bay was found, Natal Bay. In June 1835, the town, D'Urban was established, named after Sir Benjamin D'Urban, the then governor of the Cape. The isolation of the town was relieved when
the Voortrekkers, under leadership of Piet Retief, started to arrive in 1837. Piet Retief and his group was murdered by Dingaan on the 6th of February 1838 and D'Urban was attacked soon after the murder, the settlers retreated to the safety of Salisbury Island. After the Battle of Blood River on the 16th December 1838, when the Zulus were defeated by the Voortrekkers, peace was restored, the first streets were built and D'Urban was changed to Durban.

DURBAN CITY CENTRE MAP

MAP OF KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE

Durban Hotel and Guest House accommodation

Balmoral Hotel - Beachfront

Beach Hotel - Beachfront

Blue Waters Hotel - Beachfront

Brighton Beach Guest House - Bluff

City Lodge Durban - City Centre

Edward Hotel - Beachfront

Four Seasons Hotel - City Centre

Hilton Durban Hotel - City Centre

Holiday Inn Durban - Beachfront

Garden Court Marine Parade - Beachfront

Garden Court North Beach - Beachfront

Garden Court South Beach - Beachfront

Landmark Lodge Hotel - City Centre

Quarters Hotel - Restored Victorian homes near the city centre

Royal Hotel - Luxury hotel in the city centre

Road Lodge Hotel - A centrally located budget accommodation.

Tropicana Hotel - Beachfront

What to see and do in and around Durban

Buildings, Monuments and Museums
The Old Fort
The City Hall, 1919
The Post Office building, 1855
The Old House Museum
The Juma Mosque in Grey Street
Recreational and Outdoor
Minitown
The Botanical Gardens and Herbaruim
The Indian Market in Victoria Street
Greyville Horse Racing Course
Kingsmead Cricket Stadium

Distances to and from Durban in kilometres

Bloemfontein - 665 Cape Town - 1660 Dundee - 175 East London - 665 Harrismith - 330

Hluhluwe - 300 Johannesburg - 600 Kokstad - 265 Ladysmith - 230 Nelspruit - 690

Newcastle - 335 Richards Bay - 180 Piet Retief - 420 Pietermaritzburg - 75 Port Elizabeth - 925

Port Shepstone - 115 Scottburgh - 60 Ulundi - 235 Umtata - 435 Vryheid - 360

Some more history on Durban

The Portuguese explorer/navigator, Vasco Da Gama, passed the bay on Christmas day 1497 and named it "Terra do Natal", Land of the birth of Christ.

In 1823, on behalf of the cape traders, when they learnt about the new Zulu nation, James King and Francis Farewell sailed up the coast from Cape Town, in their ship Salisbury, to find a suitable place to establish a trading post. They found a very suitable bay, "Natal Bay", on the way back, after a storm blew them over the sandbank into the bay.

The next year, 1824, Francis Farewell and Henry Flynn returned to establish the trading post. After making contact with the feared Shaka, he gave them 9000 hectares of ground around the bay, from where ivory, hides and skins were exported to the Cape. Dingaan, Shaka's successor, raided the trading post in 1831, but peace returned soon after the raid and more settlers arrived at the post.
In June 1835, it was decided to establish a town, named D'Urban, after the governor of the Cape, Sir Benjamin D'Urban. The isolation of the town was relieved when the Voortrekkers, under leadership of Piet Retief, started to arrive in 1837. Piet Retief and his group was murdered by Dingaan on the 6th of February 1838 and D'Urban was attacked soon after the murder, the settlers retreated to the safety of Salisbury Island.
After the Battle of Blood River on the 16th December 1838, when the Zulus were defeated by the Voortrekkers, peace was restored, the first streets were built and D'Urban was changed to Durban.

The Voortrekkers established the Republic of Natalia in 1838 at Pietermaritzburg, which by 1840 included two more districts, Port Natal and Weenen. The British in the Cape were unhappy about the events and sent a expiditionary force under leadership of captain Thomas Smith in 1842 to get the area back under British control. The Voortrekkers beseiged the troops in the Fort after their arrival, known today as the Old Fort on Old Fort Street in Durban. Dick King made his epic journey to Grahamstown on the 25th of May 1842, for help to end the seige. The Voortrekkers ended the seige on the 26th of June 1842, as they did not want a war with Britain and many returned over the Drakensberg to the Free State after Pietermaritzburg decided to be under British control. Natal was made a seperate independent area and Martin West was promoted as the first governor of Natal.

The first railway in South Africa, 3km in length, was constructed between the town and the Point, making the first trip on the 23rd of June 1860. The first public transport system in South Africa was implemented in the 1870's using a horse drawn tram. Rickshaw's, imported from Japan and converted to 2 seaters, were introduced in 1893 and by 1930 there were about 1000 operating in the streets of Durban. Today only a handfull rickshaw's are still in service during the holiday season, as most Zulu's found better jobs.

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