On one of our previous outings, we paid a visit to Mini Town in Durban.
As a matter of interest, here are some facts about Durban.
Durban is a coastal city in eastern South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, located on the east coast of South Africa.
According to Wikipedia, "Durban was formerly named Port Natal due to its position as the chief seaport of South Africa, and its location on the Natal Bay of the Indian Ocean. Durban is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, and along with Johannesburg is one of the largest cities in Africa.[9] Durban is a rich ethnically diverse city, with large Zulu, White, and Indian/Asian populations."
In the same Wikipedia post, it is also mentioned that Durban " ...is the third most populous city in South Africa after Johannesburg and Cape Town and the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal. Durban forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which includes neighboring towns and has a population of about 3.44 million,[8] making the combined municipality one of the largest cities on the Indian Ocean coast of the African continent. Durban was also one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup."
The stats about the population in Wikipedia might be a little out of date, as I found in a Google Search, that the population has grown to 3,721 million in 2018.
Anyway, the Durban has a beautiful Beachfront with a promenade running along the Golden Mile. This starts at Point Beach at Ushaka Marine World, with a huge aquarium, and it goes all the way up to the Suncoast Casino.
Since the Moses Mabhida Stadium came into use, the walkway has been extended and you can now walk all the to the Moses Mabhida Stadium. I might do a post on this soon...
But, for today, I want to focus on another well-known landmark in Durban...
Mini Town!
Mini Town is a fun place to visit! It is about halfway up the Golden Mile and really a fun place to visit.
I took many photos and I thought I'll share some photos today which I haven't shared yet.
I'll also add some short videos. The videos just complement the photos and give you more of an idea (or feeling) of the activity/movement and what you can expect in Mini Town.
As you enter you have a beautiful view over Mini Town.
Slightly more to the right...
And to the far right, with "Central Station" right in front of me in the foreground.
Which is also where the fun started...
Central Station...and the Train is On Time!
One of the first things I noticed, was this little train passing just below me...
It was approaching Central Station!
It stopped at the station, supposedly taking some new passengers on board...lol.
As it departed on its next journey around Mini Town. I managed to get this on video...
It would travel around Mini Town to stop at the other station at the far end of Mini Town.
A little further down, I waited on a bridge to get this shot.
I managed to get more shots as the train was traveling to the next station in the harbor area at the back of Mini Town.
Crossing a bridge over the harbor area...
Passing the "dry docks"...
I waited for the train to complete another round trip and waited to get some more shots.
Here, the train is coming towards me, coming over the same bridge...
And passing me on its way to the station at the harbor.
I then took a video of this part of the journey...entering the harbor area over the bridge, to where it disappears into the station where it will stop to "pick up new passengers.
This is the station platform in the station at the harbor.
The traffic is continuously moving on the main road between the railway station and the harbor...
From here, the train would depart again and return to Central Station.
I soon realized that the operator who was controlling the train was watching me and playing along nicely, allowing me to get some nice shots. It became like a team effort...LOL!
The Harbor Area.
Here are some shots in the harbor area...
This ship was docked right by the terminal...in the area where the railway station is.
With the railway station in the foreground, another ship was busy loading from the silos in the harbor.
Another ship at anchor in the harbor...
A crane in the harbor...ready for action.
Let's Go to the Airport...
Yes, we've seen some railway traffic, some road traffic (between the harbor and the railway station), we've seen some ships, let's go to the airport now...
The aircraft in front of the parked ones... I suppose it has just landed and was looking for a parking space, but there was no space available, so it kept moving around...lol.
I'm just kidding! It's just to make it more realistic, adding more movement to the scenery.
This is what it looks like...
Other Places of Interest.
Here are some other places of interest too. These are well-known places and landmarks that are associated with Durban.
The Sugar Mill...
In real life, the Sugar Mill is also based at the harbor but, the dealer (with the yellow roof) will not be found next to it...lol.
This is the Durban Town Hall, seen from the side.
Getting some distance to get a full view of the town hall (from the side), with a retail outlet in the foreground.
The Town Hall from the other side...
And what would a city be without any sports events?
Here is a game of cricket taking place in a cricket stadium.
There is also a nice suburb on the northern side of Mini Town.
This bridge gives residents access to their neighborhood, going over the railway line.
As you can see, we had lots of fun during our visit to Mini Town.
So, that's all for today folks.
Thank you for reading my post! I do appreciate it!