Green

 

Durban CBD and harbour at sunrise

Basking myself in the warm glow of the sun's rays broken by an orange parasol. In front of me a glass of water. I am waiting for my lasagna. Behind me the buzz of a busy restaurant, half inside, half outside on the terrace and pavement. Across the street, the grass illuminates bright green in the sun. Here and there the dark shade of giant trees.

This is Durban. The city I have been traversing for a week now in search of a suitable home. I realise that what I have seen so far is only a slice of this gigantic city, a carefully selected slice, where it is safe for me to move around. But what a place this is. How different from Kigali. Less well organised, less clean, less safe, for sure. But also much less sterile, much more vibrant and diverse. It is nice to be back in a place where people greet enthusiastically on the street or in the shop, where public space is alive and vibrant.

Across the street, a family is having a picnic in the park. I don't know what is being celebrated, but there is a canopy, balloons too. It looks cosy. A bit further down, toddlers are running after a ball. It makes me happy. On the other side, I see Egyptian geese drilling their beaks into the turf. According to the map, there should be a zoo nearby.

Google maps guides me through this city. In the process, I have already twice whizzed past a signpost that says ‘Education and waste reduction office’. I don't know how to interpret that.

Still so much to discover.