Friday, 29th April
The Victoria Street Market was the one mission we simply had to complete during our time in Durban. The market lies in the heart of a bustling center of informal commerce full of more colors, smells, and sights than ever. On our way to the market we spotted what we thought was the mosque we wanted to visit as well. After walking through the smelliest under-the-bridge market possible, we entered the gate to the mosque and quickly discovered that it was a Muslim cemetery. The women sitting along the wall beckoned us in and invited us to venture inside. They then gave us directions to the largest mosque in the southern hemisphere, which was our original aim. A man from the Islamic Propagation Center International gave us the tour as he was given special permission to speak with women inside the mosque. While I have not seen another mosque before, the Juma Masjid Mosque was a sight to behold. To be honest, I’m not sure I can describe it well enough. Let’s just call it a cultural experience that I will never forget. (I apologize for the vagueness).
After our detour to the mosque, we made our way into the Victoria Street Market. Essentially it was the most jam packed building full of vendors (over 170) I’ve ever seen. The mix of African and Indian influences was fully intriguing (Durban has the largest population of Indian people outside of India herself). We explored the wonderful mix of the souvenirs we see everywhere and the souvenirs we’ve never seen. The smells of curry and coriander blended with incense to guide us along the rows of vendors. Once we had all visited nearly every stall, purchased a few souvenirs, and our senses had been overloaded, we made our way back to Florida Road. We had a light lunch at the vegetarian café and browsed around the charming shop. The rest of our day entailed a little rest and a little steak dinner and an early bedtime before our journey back to PE.
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