I have never been keen on being in cold water, and the sharks in Cape Town are way too hungry...... so I have always loved swimming at Durban's warm beaches.......so when a work trip to Durban was neccessary, the first thing I thought was "yaaahooo, warm, open water training swims"!
I was looking forward......but when the alarm went off at 5-15 am and I looked down from my 11th floor window, my perspective suddenly changed. The sea was rough, the distance I planned to swim looked far and how was I going to get down the lift, through the lobby and onto the beach.....in my speedo!? Or should I wear my wetsuit!? Whatever my faults, being an exhibitionist is
not one of them.As with all big problems, the only way to solve them is to break them down into small 'bites'. Wetsuit? I decided that although I was very keen to try my new wetsuit in the sea, the water was pabably going to be warm anyway. The lift and lobby. I decided to wear a old t-shirt that I had with me and wrap a towel around me. I asked the 'concierge' (I use that term loosely in Africa) to hold my key.
At the beach, I rolled my t-shirt into the towel so it would get full of sand from the wind that was blowing and entered the surf. The water was great and I fought my way through waves for 16 minutes before I decided that an IronMan swim will never be this rough. On my way out, I saw a "no swimming" sign! "Oh well, if that's their attitude, I'll swim somewhere else tomorrow!"
Now lets get that t-shirt and head off for that big hotel breakfast...... where is my towel? I had thought it was quite near to where those guys are digging a big hole with a spade in the middle of the beach.......at 5-55 am !!? Hey, one of them is wearing my bloody t-shirt!!
"Can I have my t-shirt please?" And I looked him straight in the eye...."Oh is this yours? I didn't know whose it was." yeah right, well that justifies your theft then" I thought.
..... and this is my towel I said, picking it up from their belongings ........
Walking away, I thought it was a story worth telling anyway..... *smile*
Africa......one should never be amazed..... anything is possible in Africa!
Its amazing how we adapt to our surroundings. Two mornings later, I walked confidently through the lobby in my speedo (only), handed the guy at the reception my towel and room key, then walked to Bay of Plenty. This part was really cool - at 6 am on a Friday morning, the Durban beach front is full of surfers, swimmers, runners, cyclists, triathletes, paddlers......some chatting, drinking coffee, others training....I was in my own ubculture where a guy in a speedo at 6 am isn't even noticed...my kinda town! *smile*
Suddenly I noticed that the other swimmers had fins. I thought "do they know something about currents that I don't?". At this point I was so looking forward to my swim, that I decided that they were just weaker swimmers (probably incorrect, but you ot to use your mind to help you achieve your goals!)
That was a great decision...because I had the most amazing swim from Bay of Plenty around the piers and back in tho the beach at The Wedge (what a cool name for a beach). I swam a distance of about 1km, in warm, gentle swell surf......and all before work - after that, there was no way that I could have a bad day!
...and I found out what my t-shirt guys were digging the hole for.....to earn money from sand scultures - see pics below...
Africa has some amazing highlights.....
amazing! 
Cheetah? 
No, those are not the coins that I donated, but I did pay the guys for these pics....
True, but there are always exceptions!?? >>>>
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