my DURBAN vacation *** South Africa ***

[Pule]

I spent 3 nights with my family in the City of Durban in South Africa from the 24th to the 27th of September 2009. The weather w!!!as not on our side most of our time.

Durban (Zulu: eThekwini) is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. It is the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal and is famous as the busiest port in Africa. It is also a major centre of tourism due to the city's warm subtropical climate and beaches.
According to the 2007 Community Survey, the city has a population of almost 3.5 million.[2] Durban's land area of 2,292 square kilometers (884.9 sq mi) is comparatively larger than other South African cities, resulting in a somewhat lower population density of 1,513 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,918.7/sq mi).[1]

Enjoy!!!

[mike7743]

excellent

[Pule]

Originally Posted by mike7743

excellent

Thanks Mike.

[Pule]

[autoo]

A bit crowded

[Neitzsche]

Well, it is a city.

[Pule]

Originally Posted by autoo

A bit crowded

It shows confidence in the city by the people.

[Nightsky]

It looks like Vancouver or San Diego of South Africa.

[christos-greece]

Well, very nice photos from Durban city @Pule

[tonyssa]

Amazing city!

[Pule]

Originally Posted by Nightsky

It looks like Vancouver or San Diego of South Africa.

I love Durban and the good thing is that there is so much happening in upgrades of buildings and making the City a true tourist destination. The construction of Small Craft Harbour will start soon and new developments in the region of Umhlanga dn the point are steaming up

Originally Posted by christos-greece

Well, very nice photos from Durban city @Pule

Thanks Christo, as always much appriciated

Originally Posted by tonyssa

Amazing city!

Thank you Tony.

[Pule]

[drkf1234]

Very interesting, film crews are always looking for cities that have that stagnated appearance. This city will serve well for that nineteen-seventies and nineteen-eighties feel. Johannesburg used to be a good candidate for that but for obvious reasons it is no longer viable. I will get my scouts to look at this as a cheap option.

I must agree with autoo that the city is very crowded, the buildings look as if they are stuck together and on top of each other but that is good for filming, no wide angles will be necessary and one location will work well instead of multiple venues. Thank you for the introduction to Durban.

[ToxicBunny]

stagnated appearance?

I'm sorry, I tend to take exception to that, Durban does not have a stagnated appearance. Lots of upgrades are taking place all over the city...

And no, the buildings are no more ontop of each other than any other normal CBD of a city.

Pule : Excellent shots dude... where did you end up staying?

[Pule]

I'm gald a Durbanite manage to answer, thanks ToxicBunny. I stayed at the new Road Lodge and I have to tell you that I was walking around 9pm with my daughters and that was a great experience for all of us.

[romanSA]

Originally Posted by drkf1234

Very interesting, film crews are always looking for cities that have that stagnated appearance. This city will serve well for that nineteen-seventies and nineteen-eighties feel. Johannesburg used to be a good candidate for that but for obvious reasons it is no longer viable. I will get my scouts to look at this as a cheap option.

I must agree with autoo that the city is very crowded, the buildings look as if they are stuck together and on top of each other but that is good for filming, no wide angles will be necessary and one location will work well instead of multiple venues. Thank you for the introduction to Durban.

When you say "crowded", which pics are you referring to? The gated housing estate with the green roofs or the central business district? If the former, well, it is a dense (relatively up-market) gated housing golf estate. Expect the crowded effect, although each house is on a decent spot of land to itself. If the latter, many Durban formers actually feel the city could be even more densified (ie, the city centre is not crowded enough). I recommend you page through the Durban Gallery page itself to see what we mean. Durban has arguably the best skyline in SA (the skyline of Johannesburg's central business district, although bigger, is quite spaced out). Durban also has completely different skylines depending on which side of the city centre you're facing, which is great. Pule has captured the north-facing skyline (from the harbour), and some of the west-facing (from along the city's Golden Mile beachfront). The east-facing perspective overlooking the city from the city's first hill (of thousands thereafter, literally!), known as the Berea, gives the best skyline shots of any city in SA, in my opinion. There you really get a feel of the city's density, which could pass as any major North American or Asian city.



If you want a more modern skyline of the city, check out its upmarket Umhlanga beachfront area, which is fast becoming a sleek Dubai-type resort area.



image hosted on flickr


http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...242109&page=25

Pule, sorry to distract from your thread, but I felt the need to respond.

Back to your vacation pics...

[ToxicBunny]

Thanks for that Roman.. MUCH better response than I could have put together....

[dysan1]

Great shots mate. Where did you visit on your time down here. Lol and it sounds like you were literally staying a few buildings away from me.

On the stagnated comments, i think i take them from a different context. Durban is both very modern and dated. Some of the streets in the central city area could easily take u back to the 80s. Other parts the early 1900's and many to ultra modern today. From beach, to harbour to lush green parks and hillsides, we really do have a range of locations for visitors and film crews. Couple this with generally sunny dry sub tropical weather, and you can see the benefits of the city as a film location. And the crews are coming in more frequently these days with many top productions filmed in the city. Put there is huge potential still

[dutchmaster]

Great shots brow

[drkf1234]

I can find contemporary structures on the outskirts of the central business district in any city in the world. I can also find beach to harbour to lush green parks and hillsides anywhere in the world with a range of locations for visitors and film crews. That doesn't help me though, I need to find a certain look and feel in the downtown area where there is density etc. Many cities across the globe have modernised their downtown areas to the point that it is difficult to find a certain dated look and feel. Durban is just that, it looks as if very little has changed over the last 3 decades. The city can use that to its benefit though. As for the crowded feel, I was not referring to the gated communities. That is a necessity in places like South Africa where security is an issue. I have seen that in Rio. Many modern cities have large gaps between big or tall buildings, in Durban the buildings seem to be stuck together and once again that can be used in a positive way. Maybe the photographs are deceiving but it would seem that the city blocks are very large and many buildings are packed onto one site. After looking at this thread I had a word with some of my scouts and the feedback was very negative. The general consensus is that security in the downtown area is a big risk. Pule's comment that walking around 9pm with his or her daughters was a great experience gives me the impression that it isn't that safe, one should be able to do this at all times and hardly be an experience. My scouts also informed me that South American cities can offer the same effect but it is also cheaper. News to me but once again thanks for the insight and I shall keep following the progress of this thread.