18 Best Sights in Durban and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Most of the popular bathing beaches in KwaZulu-Natal are protected by shark nets maintained by this shark-research institute, the world's foremost. Each day, weather permitting, crews in ski boats check the nets, releasing healthy sharks back into the ocean and bringing dead ones back to the institute, where they are dissected and studied. One-hour tours are offered, including a shark dissection (sharks' stomachs have included such surprising objects as a boot, a tin can, and a car license plate!) and an enjoyable and fascinating audiovisual presentation on sharks and shark nets. An exhibit area and good curio shop are also here. You can also join the early morning trip from Durban harbor to watch the staff service the shark nets off Durban's Golden Mile. Depending on the season, you will more than likely see dolphins and whales close at hand,  but the real kicker are the sunrise views across the city. Booking is essential for trips to the shark nets, and a minimum of six people is required; no one under age six is allowed.  Book well in advance for this—it may turn out to be a highlight of your trip.

In 2012, on the 50th anniversary of Nelson's Mandela's capture, this breathtakingly dramatic steel sculpture was unveiled and the visitor center opened. You will never have seen anything quite like this—don't miss it. The magnitude of what happened here is remarkable: on August 5, 1962, after 17 months on the run, Nelson Mandela, disguised as a chauffeur, was arrested at this very spot on his way from Durban to Johannesburg. He was convicted of incitement and illegally leaving the country and was sentenced to 5 years in jail before being prosecuted in the Rivonia Trials that led to his 27-year incarceration, most of it served on Robben Island. The new immersive exhibition is a marvel with a 360-surround film screened onto the towering walls accompanied by copious clippings and artifacts that'll keep you engrossed for ages. Plan at least two hours for your visit; the last admission is at 4 pm. The cafe is open on weekends from 10 to 4 for light lunches and coffee.

This eco-award-winning flagship &Beyond reserve, established in 1991, is a heartening example of tourism serving the environment with panache. Phinda (pin-da) is Zulu for "return," referring to the restoration of 220 square km (85 square miles) of overgrazed ranchland in northern Zululand to bushveld. It's a triumph. Today Phinda has a stunning variety of seven healthy ecosystems including the rare sand forest (which grows on the fossil dunes of an earlier coastline), savanna, bushveld, open woodland, mountain bush, and verdant wetlands. The Big Five are all here, plus cheetahs, spotted hyenas, hippos, giraffes, impalas, and the rare, elusive, tiny Suni antelope. Birdlife is prolific and extraordinary, with some special Zululand finds: the pink-throated twinspot, the crested guineafowl, the African broadbill, and the crowned eagle. The reserve is a little more than a two-hour drive from Richards Bay or four hours by road from Durban.

This aquatic complex combines the uShaka Sea World aquarium and the uShaka Wet 'n Wild water park. The largest aquarium in the Southern Hemisphere, it has a capacity of nearly 6 million gallons of water, more than four times the size of Cape Town's aquarium. Enter through the side of a giant ship and walk down several stories to enter a "labyrinth of shipwrecks"—a jumble of five different fake but highly realistic wrecks, from an early-20th-century passenger cruiser to a steamship. Within this labyrinth are massive tanks, housing more than 350 species of fish and other sea life and the biggest variety of sharks in the world, including ragged-tooth and Zambezi (bull sharks). Try to catch the divers hand-feeding fish and rays in the morning. The complex includes dolphin, penguin, and seal shows, and a variety of reptiles and amphibians populate the Dangerous Creatures exhibit.

The extensive water park comprises slides, pools, and about 10 different water rides. The intensity ranges from toddler-friendly to adrenaline junkie. Durban's moderate winter temperatures make it an attraction pretty much year-round, though it's especially popular in summer. Right out front, the uShaka beach is also one of the best in the city with lifeguards on duty.  Avoid on public holidays, and call ahead during winter when hours may change.

Opposite the Greyville Racecourse, Africa's oldest surviving botanical garden is a delightful 150-year-old oasis of greenery interlaced with walking paths, fountains, and ponds. The gardens' orchid house and collection of rare cycads are renowned. The Garden of the Senses caters to the blind, and there's a lovely tea garden where you can take a load off your feet and settle back with a cup of hot tea and cakes—crumpets with "the works" are the best in town. On weekends it's a popular place for wedding photographs. During the Music at the Lake events, which happen on some Sundays, various musical acts perform in the gardens (additional fee) and people take along picnics.

Despite its small size, this museum provides an excellent introduction to Africa's numerous wild mammals (the displays include a stuffed elephant and leopard, as well as smaller mammals like wild dogs and vervet monkeys), plants, birds, reptiles, and insects. It's a great place to bring the kids or to familiarize yourself with the local wildlife before heading up to the game parks in northern KwaZulu-Natal. At one popular gallery, the KwaNunu Insect Arcade, giant insect replicas adorn the wall; another, the bird gallery, showcases a variety of stuffed birds, including flamingos, ostriches, eagles, and penguins. Then there's the enormous Tyrannosaurus dinosaur dominating the exhibition. There are exciting, temporary art exhibitions next door.

The largest mall in the Southern Hemisphere, Gateway has been designed to let in natural light and is surprisingly easy to navigate. Shopping ranges from surfing paraphernalia and imported and local fashions to electronics, Indian spices, and designer wedding frocks. Gateway also has a large variety of entertainment options including an IMAX theater, indoor trampoline park, funfair, karting track, and sports arena.

Reputedly King Shaka's favorite hunting ground, Zululand's Hluhluwe-iMfolozi (pronounced shloo-shloo-ee im-fuh-low-zee) incorporates two of Africa's oldest reserves: Hluhluwe and iMfolozi, both founded in 1895. These days the reserves are abbreviated as HIP. In an area of just 906 square km (350 square miles), Hluhluwe-iMfolozi delivers the Big Five plus all the plains game and species like nyala and red duiker that are rare in other parts of the country. Equally important, it encompasses one of the most biologically diverse habitats on the planet, with a unique mix of forest, woodland, savanna, and grassland. You'll find about 1,250 species of plants and trees here—more than in some entire countries.

The park is administered by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the province's official conservation organization, which looks after all the large game reserves and parks as well as many nature reserves. Thanks to its conservation efforts and those of its predecessor, the highly regarded Natal Parks Board, the park can take credit for saving the white rhino from extinction. So successful was the park at increasing white rhino numbers that in 1960 it established its now famous Rhino Capture Unit to relocate rhinos to other reserves in Africa. The park is currently trying to do for the black rhino what it did for its white cousins. Poaching in the past nearly decimated Africa's black rhino population, but as a result of the park's remarkable conservation program, Africa's black rhinos safely roam this reserve—and you'll get a great opportunity of seeing them in the wild here.

The most carefree way to enjoy the reserve is on a boat trip from St Lucia, where you'll be able to get close to hippos and immense Nile crocodiles and try to spot some of the more than 500 species of birds that call the park home. Two-hour guided trips are run by various operators and leave daily. Our tip? Skip the booze-cruise crowds and enjoy the tranquility of the dawn chorus on a morning outing.  There's a nondescript arts and crafts center on the main road in St. Lucia town, filled with authentic Zulu woven baskets, storage vessels, placemats, and beaded and wooden crafts made by local women. Prices vary according to the artist and are extremely good value for excellent quality. Shop away after your boat cruise.

The magnificent rose garden, colorful floral displays, and leafy lawns here are a real treat on a hot summer day. Attached to the park is a small zoo, named after Sir Charles Mitchell, an early governor of Natal. It was opened at the turn of the 19th century, and the Aldabra tortoises that were donated to the park in the early 1900s—now massive—are still in residence. There are also small mammals, reptiles, tropical fish, and birds in large aviaries. The park has a popular playground. 

Join tourists and locals for a gentle stroll or vigorous run along the 3-km (2-mile) paved stretch that reaches from Durban View Park in the south to Umhlanga Lagoon Nature Reserve in the north. This is a great way to check out the local coastline and bathing areas, and you'll pass Umhlanga's landmark lighthouse (closed to the public) and the pier, with steel arches designed to look like a whale's skeleton. It's also known as the Umhlanga Rocks Promenade.

Popular with big tour buses, PheZulu is the equivalent of fast-food tourism, good for people who want a quick-fix African experience. A tour of the cultural village, in collaboration with the Gasa clan, with its traditional beehive huts gives some insight into African traditions, and there are performances of traditional Zulu dancing, but the operation is not as vibrant or professional as the cultural villages up north in Zululand. An old-fashioned crocodile farm and snake park is fairly interesting, if a little tacky. The curio shop is enormous; you can probably get just about any type of African memento or booklet imaginable. Impala and zebra are frequently spotted on the hour-long game drive (additional fee). Accommodations are available on the property and can be booked online.

A living museum of Zulu culture, Shakaland is one of the most popular tourist stops in the region. Originally the movie set for Shaka Zulu (1987), it consists of a traditional 19th-century Zulu kraal, with thatch beehive huts arranged in a circle around a central cattle enclosure. Watch traditionally dressed Zulus making beer, forging spears, and crafting beadwork. Opt for a three-hour day tour with lunch or spend the night. A Zulu cultural adviser leads you through the kraal, explaining the significance of the layout and the roles played by men and women in traditional Zulu society. A highlight is a performance of traditional Zulu dances. This is undoubtedly an excellent introduction to Zulu culture, but some critics have labeled it Zulu Disneyland.

If you're in the area between November and February, be sure to take in this amazing natural phenomenon that sees 3 million barn swallows returning to their nests at sunset. Arrive 45 minutes before sunset armed with something to sit on, binoculars, camera, sundowners, and some mosquito repellent.

Expect to be greeted by white free-roaming Saanen goats grazing happily in luscious green pastures when you visit this family-owned-and-run cheesery. In the Swiss-chalet-style tasting room, you can sample a range of goat cheeses including chevin—similar to a cream cheese but a little crumblier—and a mild blue cheese, and learn about the cheese-making practices that Fran Isaac and her family have been following here for more than two decades. Relax on the lawn with a picnic hamper you can choose at the deli or at the restaurant next door. If you're here between August and May, you can watch the daily goat-milking between 3 and 4:30 pm.

The first-rate Talana Museum, set in an 8-hectare (20-acre) heritage park, on the outskirts of Dundee, is well worth a visit. Fascinating exhibits, spread over 17 buildings, trace the history of the area, from the early San hunter-gatherers to the rise of the Zulu nation, the extermination of the cannibal tribes of the Biggarsberg, and, finally, the vicious battles of the South African (Anglo-Boer) War. The museum stands on the site of the Battle of Talana (October 20, 1899), the opening skirmish in the war, and two of the museum buildings were used by the British as medical stations during the battle. The military museum here is an excellent starting point for the Battlefields Route, where Zulus, Brits, and Boers battled it out for territory and glory. Reenactments, living history, and special events are regular features.

In wild, beautiful northern Zululand, the multi-award-winning 150-square-km (60-square-mile) Thanda reserve continues to restore former farmlands and hunting grounds to their previous pristine state, thanks to a joint venture with local communities and the king of the Zulus, Goodwill Zweletini, who donated some of his royal hunting grounds to the project. Game that used to roam this wilderness centuries ago has been reestablished, including the Big Five. Thanda (tan-da) is Zulu for "love," and its philosophy echoes just that: "for the love of nature, wildlife, and dear ones." There's a main lodge, a private villa, and a small tented camp and opportunities to interact with the local people.

Ranked among the world's best, this bird park shelters beneath high cliffs next to the Umgeni River and has various walk-through aviaries containing more than 800 birds. The variety of birds, both exotic and indigenous, is astonishing. You'll be able to take close-up photographs of macaws, giant Asian hornbills, toucans, pheasants, flamingos, and three crane species, including the blue crane, South Africa's national bird. Try to time your visit to take in the free-flight bird show, which is a delight for both children and adults. Drinks and light lunches are available at the park's kiosk.