City of Statues, Birds, Flowers and Buildings

Durban, South Africa, celebrates its heroes with stature.  The first we saw was in honor of an 11 year old boy who hiked several hundred miles to get medicine for the city.  He was one of the few who was not too sick to travel.  Next was a man who traveled across an enemy country to warn the British of an impending attack.  The third, in the Botanical Garden, just celebrates children.

Egyptian Goose

The Botanical Garden has plants from all over the world, but what caught my attention were the birds.  The grounds were overrun by Egyptian Geese.  The local people do not like them because they are noisy and they chase away native birds.

Ibis

Spoonbill

And my favorite, the Great Blue Heron.






There was a whole building full of orchids.  Here are a couple of my favorites.

I do not know the name of this tree,
 but it towered over all the others.

One other "garden" was on the roof of a little place near the dock.

Durban has a huge unemployment problem, and with that, street people.  Some were sleeping on the steps of the old government building.







The city market sells everything!

Mosque

This city has the largest Indian community outside of India.










It also has one of the largest malls.














The stadium has a ride which takes you on a track to the top of the stadium and back down the other side.  On one side there are two tracks, but these combine for the other side, representing a divided nation becoming one.