Durban suburbs, South Africa

This residential district, to the west of the city centre, is one of Durban's oldest and most attractive. Fine whitewashed mansions and Victorian bungalows line the quiet streets, and this is one of the best places to head for restaurants and nightlife. On John Zikhali The gardens were founded in 1849, making them, supposedly, the oldest botanical gardens in Africa, and they cover almost 15 ha. There are some impressive avenues of palms crossing the park, an ornamental lake, an orchid house and an information centre. The tea garden is a pleasant place to relax. The KwaZulu Natal Philharmonic Orchestra and other musical groups perform by the lake on Sunday afternoons during summer.

Three other smaller parks are , which are public gardens with an open-air café, aviaries and a few small animals and reptiles in cages; the adjoining , which has extensive rose gardens (proving that roses can grow in a sub-tropical climate) and a good view of Durban from the top; and the , which are good for birdwatching and where there are some pleasant paths through the gardens with their many water features, bridges and gazebos. Species include paradise and black flycatchers, various weavers, Egyptian Geese and in summer various species of swallow and martin can be skimming over the lawns and water.

The , is a museum and African library in a Cape Dutch house built in 1914, which still has most of its original decorations. There are some fine examples of Cape furniture and early South African oil paintings, displays of African sculpture, weapons, musical instruments and a rare collection of paintings by Barbara Tyrrell. Most of the paintings are of Africans dressed in traditional clothes from the 19th century; the paintings form part of a unique record of what people wore before contact with European settlers.

Reached from the N2 south of the centre, the , opened as an ashram in 1969, but the futuristic marble temple set in extensive ornamental gardens was only opened to the public in 1975. There is a good vegetarian restaurant here.

On the opposite side of the Umgeni River is the Umgeni River Bird Park, which has over 3000 exotic and indigenous birds, from flamingos to macaws and plenty of pathways through the aviaries. There is an impressive free flight show where large birds such as owls, raptures and vultures fly over the heads of the audience to perches at the top of the open-air auditorium and a presenter tells you a bit about the various species.