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By no means should you plan an entire vacation around Durban, because there is so much more to see beyond the city. Nevertheless, it's definitely worth a stopover. To get the most from your visit, get ready to explore the Central Business District (CBD), which includes the Indian District; the Beachfront; and Berea and Morningside. If you're concerned about safety within the CBD, book tours through Tourist Junction.
Southern Africa's largest and most extensive traditional medicine market, known locally as the Muti (traditional medicine, pronounced moo-tee) Market, has tables and tables filled with bunches of fresh and dried herbs, plant matter, and (controversially) animal bones, skin, and other parts, possibly including endangered species. The market also serves as a distinctive traditional-medicine facility, where sangomas (traditional healers) offer consultations to locals in a bustling, urban atmosphere. If you're feeling bold, you might wish to consult a sangoma on matters of health, wealth, or personal problems. Remember to always respect the traders and do not take photographs of people or the goods for sale, particularly any animal matter. If you are with a guide, ask them to negotiate picture-taking on your behalf, if you must—there's no guarantee though. Speaking of guides, you can hire one through Durban Tourism or book a comprehensive tour through Markets of Warwick that includes all the neighborhood's markets.
There's a Kiplingesque quality to this thoroughfare, recalling the bazaars of the East. Built in 1927, it's little more than a narrow, winding alley perfumed by spices and thronged with traders plying a mishmash of drab goods. You can buy everything from cheap plastic trinkets to household utensils and recordings of Indian music. Bursts of color—from bright yellow fabric to dark red spices—create a refreshing and photogenic sight. You can buy striking costume jewelry that would cost three times as much at major shopping centers. Leave large bags and valuables at your hotel to browse unencumbered.
Masses of enormous fish and prawns lie tightly packed on beds of ice while vendors competing for your attention shout their respective prices. In the meat section, goat and sheep heads are stacked into neat piles (a spectacle for those with iron stomachs), and butchers slice and dice every cut of meat imaginable. The noise is deafening. In an adjacent building—where all the tour buses pull up—you'll discover a number of curio shops whose proprietors are willing to bargain over wood and stone carvings, beadwork, and basketry. You'll also find shops selling spices with creative names like Mother-in-Law's Revenge and Exterminator, recordings of African music, and Indian fabrics. The current structures stand on the site of an original, much-loved market, a ramshackle collection of wooden shacks that burned down during the years of Nationalist rule. Go with a guide and make a visit to Joe's Corner shop or to the Thirupathi Spices Shop where Sanusha Moodliar, the shop's charismatic heir, will prepare you the freshest spice packs to take home (as she did for Gordon Ramsay). It's not cheap, but it's worth it.
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