Durban:)



Durban You Beauty #MoyoOnThePier #Ushaka



My (Second) Trip To Botswana

On the 5th of December I jetsetted(well, at a very slow pace) off to Botswana for the second time in my life. It was hot. It was humid. My Blackberry switched off waaay before we got to the border- because that's what Blackberries do- and I had to ask a (very friendly) stranger to let me use her phone. My feet also looked like two paw-paws by the time I go off the last bus; probably from sitting and running through Sunnyside with all my luggage at 13.13 to get the 13.15 bus! So whilst trying to fall asleep with my clothes on it's understandable why I hoped I had experienced the worst and the best was yet to come...

We woke up to slightly overcast blue skies and a breeze- something that happens once every never in Botswana- so the day was already off to a great start! We drove through Tlokweng, Gaborone to get to Riverside Mall, the most popular mall in Bots, and the multi-cultured(and racial) nature of Bots surprised me once again:) We bought a few things for the baby shower, I used an ATM- and got pulas out (this is note-worthy for me okay!)- and we headed out to Liban, a Lebanese restaurant with a beautiful interior and generous portions in the area.


Masa Square

On the way I couldn't help but notice the amount of development happening in Bots. They have absolutely stunning buildings, some more fascinating than buildings I've seen in South Africa! I was particularly taken by the iTowers, Masa Square the arc type of building that houses Fego. The amount of potential in all the desert-ish places made me wish I was a property developer! I loooved wow-ing at it all as we drove by in one of Bots' many fake VW Polo's- yep they have thousands of lovely, affordable, fake cars in Bots!


After the Baby Shower my friend took us for a drive through Phakalane, one of their suburban areas and we oooed and aaaed at people's beautiful homes. It was fascinating to see how Phakalane is so different to the areas where most people in Bots live (including their capital city) but despite the very apparent gap there still seems to be little to no poverty in this country. We encountered a beggar at a garage on our  last morning there and even my friend, who resides in Bots, was shocked that Bots had a homeless person at all; poverty is just not a condition they have there. The people(most people) who don't live in the suburbs are genuinely content with their land, farms and homes. This led me to quickly jot down "what if nothing's wrong with an economical gap... the state of the bottom will determine the state of the nation" to ponder on later before we headed home to retire for the evening...

The border was a lot busier on the way back into South Africa than on the way out so you can imagine my relief when I saw that South African citizens had their own line- YES! I made it through and was welcomed back home before getting back on the bus and continuing my journey back home:)

So what's not so great about Bots? I'd say the best part about it is also the worst part: while I'd recommend it as a holiday destination, the slow service was a bit frustrating even for me, a holiday-maker. We eventually had to leave Western Union because of the incredibly lacklustre attitude of the lady at the cashier post who told us that she may not be able to assist us by 1.30pm when the time was 11.30 and there were only three people in front of us in the queue.
The heat can get a bit overwhelming but a fan/aircon will help with that when indoors- nope, nudity is not that effective either I'm afraid- but try it;)

I can honestly say that I loved this visit a lot more than my first. I was younger and suuuper emotional the first time around so that has a way of being a bit of a buzzkill. But I know now: get your emotions in check before embarking on travels- because who can see through tears anyways?
I cannot wait to go back in 2016 (with tons of sunscreen and a great camera). The weather can't be kind everytime I go:)
xx


Republik

A few weeks ago my friends and I had the absolute pleasure of visiting a restaurant in Durban North called Republik for the first time. The guys in our "crew" had gone the week before - withOUT us ladies(the nerve!)- but were glad to go again when we told them we wanted in which was a good first indication that the restaurant couldn't have been too bad:)

Well anyways we arrived to a full house and took our seats at the reserved table the owner, an easy going, friendly guy, had graciously kept reserved for us. I immediately realised this wasn't just any restaurant when our menus were handed to us: from small, comic bits added after meal descriptions to instructions on how to build your own burger, this place was not for people looking for a quick, mass-produced meal!
We were talked through how the Build-Your-Burger concept works, placed our orders(by writing them down on a custom notepad provided- loved that! No errors!) and enjoyed the buzz in the atmosphere while we waited for our meals to arrive.

The food did not disappoint- please don't visit here if you're working on shrinking your tummy! Their portions are generous and if they weren't, they taste so good you'd probably be tempted into ordering some more! I thought I'd had the best burger on EARTH about a month ago but after that Republik Burger I'm now a bit indecisive on that. It. Was. Good...

My friend RAAAVED about their coffee so I couldn't not try their cappuccino. It was a lot emptier by now so we moved inside and me, being the indie-pop lover that I am, couldn't help but shazam some new music I've now fallen in love with! My cappuccino arrived, with a neat cube of sugar, on a small, wooden coffee holder-tray thingie(forgive my laziness, when I find its name I will change this) which only made me appreciate their attention to detail even more if that was at all possible *sigh*

All-in-all, I had an amazing time at Republik and would definitely visit again if the opportunity arose. The owner and staff are down to earth and friendly and the uniqueness of the experience made me feel like I was in a completely different city altogether. It's like its own little hub in the middle of Durban and the experience doesn't fade into mediocrity or lose its charm halfway through the evening which, for someone like me who values consistency, fulfilled and exceeded my expectations.
What would I change about my experience? Well, definitely not our waiter- he was not an eyesore at all (well done to his parents!) but I would maybe have the topping-options board placed outside as well so we didn't have to get up and look inside for all the options. I'd also ask for maybe two cubes of sugar to be served with my cappuccino even though one is probably the healthier option. Yep, those two things are the only things I would've liked to be different and even they weren't awful/horrific. My time at Republik was the most fun I've had at a restaurant in... forever and I'm looking forward to bringing people there in the future:)

xxx

Address: Unit 8 Broadway, Durban North, 4051
Contact Number: 031 573 1429
Website Address: www.republik.co.za