Durban Winter – Come play

It’s March and although temperatures are often still soaring in the 30’s (degrees Celsius), the Durban Winter has already pointed Summer toward the front door.

It’s not that obvious to the untrained senses. You have to know what you are looking for. There are those subtle changes that mark the arrival of a new season. Because in Durban, as we love to tell the visitor, we only have 2 seasons… 9 months of summer and 3 of hell.

This past weekend, my brain registered the first signs. The shift comes in the form of sunlight and the feeling it evokes when it strikes your skin. Instead of a need to escape to shade, I unfurled my arms, turned my face upward and absorbed golden light.

This warm African sun, the winter sun, has the uncanny ability to make you stop your busy activity and give it attention. All over Kwazulu-Natal people are peering out from the safety of their homes. It is time to bring out the chairs and get on with the serious business of pondering the world for hours in the sun.

The cooler air takes on the life of a loudspeaker, magnifying the sounds coming from miles away. You can hear life happening, like greetings shouted to neighbours. The atmosphere is audible, it is familiar and wells up memories, yet it is difficult to actually describe how the sound has changed from summer toward winter.

Hot angry faces now turn into smiles. Locals no longer have to fight rivulets of sweat with every physical effort. Durban comes out to play as the Barn Swallows head north and the Gauteng residents head east in search of what is on our doorstep.

It really is the warmest and best place to be in South Africa in the Winter and that time is coming soon. So make your way down to the east coast. There is so much more to offer than simply our spectacular winter weather.