Durban

Durban, Durban, Durban,  what can I say about our stay in Durban...... We arrived on Wednesday and my infection was back with a vengeance, so the first thing I did was phone the Doctor and he prescribed more meds. which I had to pick up from a local Pharmacy....have to say service in S.A, is brilliant.  My friend met us and I bleated on about feeling unwell, and horrific flights when she said the day before was the worst day in her life.   Her son had been taken into hospital on Sunday night with unbearable pain.  His friend is a Doctor, and he had called in the oncologist that had removed a melanoma 10 years previously, tests were carried out, and they could see something on his liver and spleen......yes, I can understand how she felt it was the worst day of her life.  P (her son) had more tests carried out on Thursday, but he kept the results secret until Sunday night as it was his sons 7th birthday weekend.  In the mean time, V and her hubby M had toured us around and we all tried to keep cheerful and look on the bright side.  We spent a morning at Essenwold crafters market

Still very early, so nice and quiet

Getting ready to display these beaded animals

Working on beading a lizard

there are always lots of these bright paintings

I often wonder who buys these

They certainly don't fit in my house, but some are really beautiful

 and there is always good food and drinks to be had

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We were due to go on a four day break to the Drakensburg Mountains on Monday, but Sunday night P rang to say that it was the cancer tumors that had returned, and there was very little that could be done.  How do you cope with news like that.......... V decided to fly up to Jo'burg (where P and his family are) and I wanted to just get a flight back to Cape Town.....goodness, how could we go off and enjoy ourselves when friends are going through such pain.  V and M insisted that we carry on with the break, and they were right, because, once there and we had time to come to terms with the bad news, we did make the most of the holiday.  The house we were staying in was a massive 5 double bedroom place and we did rattle around a bit, but the private pool was a special bonus.

Doesn't look that big does it...

Who couldn't feel better looking at that view

We even had some Swallows nesting on the Stoop (Veranda) and they were amazing to watch how expertly they flew into the Stoop and straight into the nest.

Not sure how many babies, but Mum and Dad were busy all day

We also decided to get out and see what adventures we could find.  Now I have always wanted to white water raft, and just up the road was a place that offered that.  Unfortunately they needed at least 4 people and the only other couple that were interested could only make it on Friday (the day we left), so we did some tree top zip lines....

The blue shoes were bought especially for the tree adventure

Geared up ready to go

What a ride

Concentrate on these ladders

 As we couldn't do the 'big' White water rafting, we opted for the next best thing.....White water tubing.  You still hit some impressive rapids, and we both got thrown out (which seemed to be the idea)  but the river water was a nice cooling treat.

This was at the end of the trip

Durban was a very mixed emotional trip, and many tears have been shed for my dear friend and her family.  I really have not felt like recording this part of our holiday as it has been such a sad time, but it is part of my life, and maybe there are lessons to be learnt......... I am just glad that I was able to be there to give my friend a little support when she needed it.