Durban July 2009 – Plastic fantastic

This weekend I was lucky enough to travel to The 2009 Durban July on behalf of a client: South African Tourism.

Recently, Metro FM ran a competition where people could win an all expenses paid 5 day trip to Durban for them and 3 friends. The trip included Shark Diving, Ziplining through the Oribi Gorge and a day at Africa’s Greatest Horse-racing event; The Durban July. We were tasked with recording their experiences and publishing them online on:

• The Celebrate South Africa Blog
• The @ShotLeft twitter stream
• The South African Tourism Flickr stream
• The South African Tourism YouTube channel

Things I learned this weekend:

Durbanites are amazing peeps

Everyone was so friendly and the city has a great, bohemian party vibe. We met some fantastic people and my opinion of the city that was formed in my childhood (Slightly dingy holiday town full of surfers) was seriously challenged. Durban also has loads of fashion designers, from the fledgling ones starting their careers to some of the most respected designers in SA.

The Durban July is not actually about horses

It’s about seeing and being seen in the latest fashions. I saw the blondest hair and the darkest tans I’ve seen in a while. Some of the people looked fantastic – but mostly they just looked plastic. The main race was at 16h30 and the majority of the 56 000 people at Greyville racecourse didn’t even bat an eyelid when the horses thundered down the straight. Some of them didn’t even leave their Marquees!

I did have a good laugh at the girls who started off the day in their insanely high stilettos looking like they just stepped off the catwalk and ended it rather drunk, their make-up smudged and their feet in excruciating pain. As much as it wasn’t exactly my normal scene, I did enjoy all the people-watching and I’m very glad I went.

Kwazulu Natal has some awesome tourist destinations!

I’ve been going to KZN on holiday at least once a year since I was a kid and not once had I ever been to the awesome Aquarium at uShaka Marine World, see the Umzimkulu River Valley on the South Coast or the breath-taking Oribi Gorge. Next time I find myself there, I’m definitely doing the Wild Swing at Oribi Gorge – it’s a King Swing down a 100m drop!! Radness!

So, even though it was a working weekend – I had a great time and learned a lot. Go have a look at our photos, videos (still busy being uploaded) & blog posts to see what we did.