Durban City Tour & PheZulu Cultural Village

Description

Sit back and enjoy a scenic and guided day tour of beautiful Durban. Then head off into the gentle rolling Valley of 1000 Hills where you will visit PheZulu Cultural and Safari Park and the adjoining Reptile Park.

First stop is the exotic and fascinating Victoria Street Market where the spicy smells, vibrant colours and hectic haggle of Africa and India will assail your senses. This is the place to shop for African and Indian inspired, and often expertly handmade accessories, spices, clothing, souvenirs, home decorations, paintings and luggage etc. Next to the Victoria Street Market is the Zulu Medicine Market where your guide will take you on an informative tour of “Inyanga (Doctors) lane”. The Zulu Medicine Market is a unique place where Zulu culture has survived in the modern urban environment.  

The Moses Mabhida stadium has become a defining feature of the Durban skyline. It has a high-rise platform on top of its arch which is accessible by an elevator called the Sky Car. For an additional fee you can take the Sky Car to the lofty pinnacle of the stadium and enjoy a 360 degree view of the Durban beach front. Your tour guide will show you around the exterior of the stadium and explain its history, use and significance.

Next stop is the beautiful and serene Botanical Gardens, which is the oldest Botanical Gardens in Africa, est 1849. This is a living library of plants set in 15 hectares of paved walkways. It has one of the finest collections of cycads in the world, an orchid house worth visiting, a classic English sunken garden, a butterfly garden and a lake fed by permanent springs with many resident birds. Your guide will show you some of the interesting and beautiful features of the gardens and give you the option of extra time to explore alone.

The KwaMuhle Museum was once the headquarters of Durban’s Native Administration Department and the center of Durban’s harsh system of labour control. Now it has been transformed into Durban’s Apartheid Museum that seeks to reflect Durban’s urban growth and the history of its residents.

The tour includes a visit to uShaka Marine World’s Village Walk on the famous Golden Mile Beachfront on Durban’s OR Tambo parade. There you will be given time to shop and have lunch. uShaka Village Walk is home to Durban’s most unique shopping experiences, offering a shopper’s paradise in an open-air environment, affording guests a world of entertainment, family fun, shopping and dining.

The tour leaves Durban heading inland on a 45 minute scenic drive through gentle hills and dales, to the ‘Valley of 1000 Hills’. Experience the age old traditional Zulu culture at PheZulu Cultural Village and Reptile Park. Entering the Zulu homestead you experience what traditional Zulu life was like before the modern era. The traditional Zulu homestead is made up of thatched huts, often in the beehive shape which is typically Zulu, placed in a circular position, with the cattle placed in the centre as a form of protection.  

At PheZulu’s ‘Sibaya’ or homestead the thatched huts are surrounding the auditorium which faces the beautiful ‘Valley of 1000 Hills’. The local PheZulu guide will take you on a guided tour of the PheZulu sibaya and describe Zulu cultural practices to gain insight into Zulu traditions during the 1800’s. The local, energetic and inspiring Zulu dancing show is a highlight. Local performers singing beautiful traditional Zulu songs and dancing energetically will have you up and happy to learn a few basic steps. The performers wear their traditional Zulu attire, showing off their dancing and singing skills with rhythmic agility and pride.

Included in PheZulu is the Reptile Park where guests enjoy a guided tour by a local PheZulu Reptile park guide. The local guides are knowledgeable and eager to take you around the park and share interesting facts about the animals in the park. PheZulu Reptile Park has diverse reptilian wildlife on site which include crocodiles, alligators, snakes, tortoises, spiders and iguanas and Ramesis the 90 year old Nile crocodile!! You get to touch or hold some of the animals including a small crocodile and the Cleo the 43kg giant Burmese python, just long enough to take a photo. There is the Boma Restaurant where you can get a drink for the journey home.

You arrive back at your place of residence with a sense of well being and richer for this experience!!

Highlights

Itinerary

Departure time:  9 am

Return time:  4:30 pm

Important information

DEPARTURE/RETURN LOCATION: Pick up & drop off service
within a 10km radius of Durban.
DEPARTURE TIME:  9 am
RETURN TIME:  4:30 pm
AGE: All ages welcome
TRAVELLER TYPE:  Single or Per Person Sharing

Operated by: Zulu Safaris