South Africa's Playground

I always thought the tag line "South Africa’s playground" was probably thought up by some meat-neck municipal ad exec in a salmon pink tie as just another way to attract hoards of sunburned lilo riders to Durban’s sticky shores for the summer festive season; but after a recent trip to the sleepy city, I’m starting to think old meat-neck had a point. There’s more to Durban than crowded bathing areas and cigarette-butt speckled sand, pocket-milking shopping complexes and car-park deserts, although in accessing that golden underbelly you’ll probably be faced with all of it. On an average day trip around Durbs you can ride from morning to night at different skate parks, and for a BMXer with little experience in the luxury of skate parks, that’s playground enough.

By Phil Craig