Durban, South Africa: Howick Falls and Ardmore Design Art House

Today, we travel to Howick Falls and Ardmore Ceramics. What has been lost to me until now is how big South Africa is. It’s about twice the size of Texas.  From Durban, it’s a 17-hour drive to Cape Town. Durban is Africa's largest container and the world's #10 container port.  Like many places in the world, this place is like no other, yet it can be the same. 

Our guide to Howick Falls is a member of the Zulu tribe. She lives in a township south of Durban and has given us great insight into life in South Africa from the black perspective.  Although apartheid has ended, there are still two South Africa’s, one white and one black.  Things are improving, however, slowly.  Most of the black populations still live in townships that lack basic necessities like running water and modern sanitation.  They also suffer a 30% unemployment rate.  Places like Durban, Capetown, and Port Elizabeth are modern cities with great infrastructure.   It is a country of competing contrasts. 

Howick Falls is an hour or so outside of Durban in the interior of South Africa.  It is much different here than in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.  Lush Vegetation with tall trees set upon rolling hills.  It is much more in line with what I had pictured Africa in my mind.  

I find Durban a modern city with suburbs full of middle-class houses and shopping centers.  We also pass Apartheid-era townships that reflect the racial disparities that still exist in South Africa. On our way to the falls, we climb into the mountains, the terrain becoming more rugged.

Howick Falls is a magnificent setting in the town of Harwick, which could be any small American town. Even now, the evidence of apartheid is still visible, with a black township right on the outskirts of town. The falls flowing over the escarpment scream Africa. After visiting the lookout area and the adjacent shops, we head to lunch. 

Great Lunch at Granny Mouse, a short drive into the countryside.  This area looks much like Tennessee, and they say the climate is about the same.  It feels like Tennessee during the first week of August, although in South Africa, it's January.  A thundershower came through during lunch that cooled things off, just like in Tennessee.  It was a very adorable restaurant set in a country resort with a wedding chapel. 

I was apprehensive about visiting Ardmore Design after the Falls and lunch. Going to a ceramic factory? What could this be all about? Sure, the wine at the table during lunch was to prepare us for the big high-pressure sales pitch.  Luckily, this was all in my mind. 

Admore is set on a country estate with a gallery and artist workshop.  It is an amazing, eclectic place. Although it started as a ceramic school, it has now become a Designer Art House, much like Gucci or Ralph Lauren. It started as a simple rural ceramic shop, but now, its art has inspired the design of clothing, furniture, fabric, wallpaper, jewelry, and handbags. Ardmore is a collaboration of artists.

So, after a couple of hours wandering the ground and the Galleries, we head back to the ship. South Africa is a marvelous, diverse country full of beauty and irony. On this trip, our five days ashore only scratched the surface of all the possibilities here.  We have all come so far to be here in this moment. The world is our oyster on this ship, the Queen Mary 2.