Tui Travel - Durban & Cape Town, South Africa

Right before the London homecoming I had the luck of visiting the African Continent for the first time courtesy of a print booking for German travel company Tui. One week in South Africa split between Durban and Cape Town. What a glorious nation with such a vibrant and resilient people. Reminded me a bit of my stint in Vietnam last year - a country that has undergone such strife and hardship and made tremendous efforts to transcend them. You can see that there's still much work to be done with the shantytowns that sprinkle the journey from the airport in Cape Town to the city center. Once there though, the contrast is startling as you're graced with a city so breathtaking in its disproportionate share of beautiful vistas. And still you experience brief interludes where you steal yourself momentarily from the visual overload and are reminded that wherever there is sun there is shadow, and like most things that seem too good to be true, it in all likelihood is just that.
But there were very few shadows cast on my short visit to the Rainbow Nation - everyone I had the pleasure of meeting was absolutely delightful and the places I visited (UShaka Marine World, University of Cape Town, Waterfront, Table Mountain, Clifton Beach) were great fun. See for yourself :)