TIGed

Switch headers Switch to TIGweb.org

Are you an TIG Member?
Click here to switch to TIGweb.org

HomeHomeExpress YourselfPanoramaA Visiting Durban in South Africa
Panorama
a TakingITGlobal online publication
Search



(Advanced Search)

Panorama Home
Issue Archive
Current Issue
Next Issue
Featured Writer
TIG Magazine
Writings
Opinion
Interview
Short Story
Poetry
Experiences
My Content
Edit
Submit
Guidelines
A Visiting Durban in South Africa Printable Version PRINTABLE VERSION
by NaBeeel, Canada Nov 3, 2005
Culture   Poetry

  


When I was Eid's age,
I used to visit the old dolphinarium to watch Gambit,
the world's largest captive dolphin.
He's still there, still breathtakingly massive,
still displacing vast amounts of water
onto the first 10 rows of the auditorium,
to the amusement of everyone sitting further back.
Of course we sat in the front row.

There is something about an eight-year-old cry of delight when he is unexpectedly drenched by a dolphin that simply should not be resisted.

Besides, we were going to get even wetter.
Best of all at Sea World is the opportunity to snorkel in the coral lagoon -
the huge tank with reef fishes and man-made coral, fronting through a glass window onto the reef-shark tank.

R40 affords 45 minutes of snorkeling
and there is no better way to introduce a small child to the giddy delights of the marine world.

Supervision and mandatory buoyancy vests cut out safety worries
Within mere seconds you are drifting weightless
in a wonder world of angelfish and triggerfish,
parrotfish and rays.

Of all the modern innovations that would have enlivened my own youth,
it is the snorkeling lagoon I envy the most.
It is designed to resemble the reef around a desert Indian Ocean Island
where pirates have scuttled their treasure.
On the seabed there are chests overflowing with jewels and doubloons, replica ivory tusks and gold ingots strewn across the white sandy bottom, and even, for some reason
a World War II jeep rusting away in sunny silence.

It was a dream, down there.
I bobbed and breathed and watched Eid,
while he giggled underwater at the fish brushing against his feet.
He would have stayed there all day and through the night too.

For Eid it was a new world,
a day his horizons were not only broadened but deepened,
when his eyes lit with the light that dances on the sea,
that waves and warps through clear shallow water.

I doubt he will ever get over it.
For me it was a day of being eight all over again
and rediscovering that aching,
yearning wonder at all the beauty that is out

To compare uShaka Marine World to the V&A Aquarium is like comparing Durban and Cape Town themselves -
some parts are a little tacky, even kitsch.

Sophisticates may smirk and snoot.
But it is vibrant and real and alive,
and it quickens the pulse and
inspires daydreams far more than Cape Town ever does.
Cape Town may be more elegant, more ethereal
but Durban is, quite frankly,

A whole world more fun.





« Previous page  1 2     


Tags

You must be logged in to add tags.

Writer Profile
NaBeeel


HELLO
I love people with respect to Live and I have a reference for the God. I like positive people with ideas to help and empower others

write political editorials on topics ranging from the years presidential election, the emerging nuclear crisis in North Korea, to cultural and social issues and problems affecting the United States and the world peace.

I'm eager to hear what other people have to say about issues, whether I agree with them or not. In my opinion, that is how one gains knowledge, by taking an issue and studying it and applying different perspectives, and taking those perspectives and using them to make change in the world around you.

I also have other hobbies, non-political related such as listening to music, roller blading/skating, and hanging out with friends.

Being nice and honest is my best policy for my life pursuit, but not at the expense of other people’s happiness. Being wise enough to reach for your hand and touch your heart and sole , therefore not taking chances or wasting time in trying to live your life while it lasts, trying to please others, when the truth is you can’t please everyone at the same time .
Comments


GOOD WORK
BEN HUR | Apr 20th, 2006
WEL WRITING It was a dream, down there. That waves and warps through clear shallow water. Yearning wonder at all the beauty that is out there. But it is vibrant and real and alive, a whole new world more fun.



“It's a bit unsafe”
BEN HUR | Apr 20th, 2006
“It's a bit unsafe said a woman pushing a baby in a pram. “Your son could fall in.” “A couple of bites and he'll learn his lesson” I assured her, trying to sound like a parent. She gave me a peculiar look as I dragged- Eid towards the Phantom Ship.



If you get eaten by a shark don't come crying to me,
BEN HUR | Apr 20th, 2006
THAT IS GREATS ? "If you get eaten by a shark don't come crying to me," I said, blushing furiously as I realized immediately what I'd said.



NABEEEL
BEN HUR | Apr 20th, 2006
YOU NEED TO WRITES YOU BOOK , I WILL BACK YOU UP . THAT GREATES

You must be a TakingITGlobal member to post a comment. Sign up for free or login.