Szucs Tamas

0.50 Hungary - 28-Jul-24 -

I've just recently realized that one of the oddest episodes of my 2002 South Africa trip became a WH site.  That time somebody from ZA convinced some Central European tour operators, that Durban could be an ideal holiday destination for the middle class of New Europe, who are much less safety sensitive - and much more price sensitive - than the Westerners. A Slovak charter airline - with the least creative name ever: Travel Service - launched a weekly service from Budapest to Durban - with Boeing737s, absolutely incapable of long-haul trips.  We had two interim stops - in Aswan and Zanzibar - to refill the plane, during the 12-hour flight in seats designed for the Spanish Inquisition.

For the inauguration flight, a group of Central Europan journalists, tour operators and other experts was invited by the KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Board for a two-week field trip. The first week was ok - we visited the must-see destinations of KZN from  St Lucia Wetland Park to Drakensberg.  Most of the group flew back after this week - only some of us remained. That week we were introduced to tier-two sites, that had - according to our partners - "great potential".  Some of these - like Hluhluwe - were really interesting, but some were rather disappointing like sidubu cave, that's now on the list We just stopped once at a place that was said to be sacred for the Zulu people and - we were told - that important archaeological excavations were held there, with great findings.

It was not far away from a tar road, and our local partner enthusiastically talked about the sanctity of the place. Otherwise, it was utterly uninteresting. A rock outcrop in the woods. We did not even go very close - I do not remember exactly why, I think I simply did not think it worth climbing there. Our partners from KZN then were eagerly asking us whether the tourists would like such places and were somewhat disappointed when I told them, that even if it is so sacred without some kind of show, it would not sell. We were told that a visitor centre is planned - as far as I know, it is still under construction. The Budapest-Durban flight did not last long, was discontinued after some months.