DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA

From November 15 until December 9, 2011, we (the Gentrys) traveled to South Africa to present at the first Laughter Yoga and Alternative Healing Conference in Durban. Following the conference, we visited other places in South Africa. These blogs feature William's photography throughout this trip. It is organized by location, rather than the normal way of organizing by day. 

South Africa is located at the bottom of the continent.

Our first stop was Durban, which is marked on this map.

Here I am  in Washington, Dulles airport on the way.

We've just arrived in South Africa!

The Durban airport

In Phoenix, near Durban, we stayed with the Surajnarayan family. We'd met them last year at the laughter yoga conference in Australia.  On the first day of our visit, Dr. Gita was conducting a certified laughter yoga seminar. This is graduation ceremony for her student. I assisted in her training.

Toko with her certificate of graduation from the Dr. Kataria School of Laughter Yoga. Gita and I are pictured with her. She will be using laughter yoga in her social work, particularly with children all around the South Coast.

The delicious curry Gita made us.

The wonderful dessert Sheroma made us.

Gita hanging out her laundry in the back yard.

Their alarm system.

One of the giant snails that roam in the Surajnarayan's yard.

A tree in their back yard.

Rajan Surajnarayan taking us out on a drive.

We visited a local watering hole.

A Methodist church in Verlum.

Rajan and I at a casino.

A frosting flower made by Gita's niece.

Gita's brother, his wife, and their daughter.

Rajan in their dining room.

Tucking in for the night.

Along with Gita and Sheroma, I volunteered to lead laughter yoga with patients at the community clinic in Verlum. We brightened their day with some laughter yoga in the waiting room. 

Here I am overlooking the whole clinic.

Then we went shopping, where Gita found this lovable bear.

We visited this Hare Krishna temple.

William and I with a leader at the Hare Krishna Temple.

The lotus flower outside the temple.

We had lunch at the Hare Krishna temple cafe.

The view out the gate of the Surajnarayan's home.

Gita, Sheroma and I at the Barnyard theatre.

William and I with the stage at the Barnyard Theatre. We saw a show called "Big Top Rock" which included circus acts performed to live rock music.

A scene during the show.

William and I in the Gateway Mall in Umhlanga.

Outside the Gateway Mall.

The pretty gas pumps.

Hanging out with Gita and Milo (the dog)  in their living room. The cloth in between us is her wedding sari.

Gita demonstrates "Snail Mail"—you see, the snails attack and eat the mail in her mailbox!

Milo on the front porch.

Peeking into their house.

Sheroma's computer.

Milo on her cushion (notice her nail polish).

Dinner time.

Gita and I with morning muffins.

Scenes around the house (notice that the bear looks pleased with enlightenment).

We went to uShaka Marine World. Sheroma used to work there so she gave us a great tour, although she was almost eaten by the snake.

The entire aquarium is designed to look like a sunken ship. It was quite an amazing display.

Even the outside looks like a sunken ship, as you can see here.

An ice cream break...

The dolphin show.

Gita, laughing with the sharks.

Dinner after uShaka Marine World.

This is the delicious salad we had.

The pier in Durban.

Here's the Durban coastline. It was our first view of the Indian Ocean.

We joined Gita and Sheroma for their regular laughter club at the Verlum Day and Frail Care Center. Here, they have been running a vibrant laughter club with the elderly. They have even conducted ground breaking research on the positive effects of laughter yoga on stroke patients. Here I am in front of the building.

We got a tour of the center, including this in-patient facility.

We prepared for the laughter club meeting.

Here I am leading laughter exercises with the club.

They even taught me how to say "Very Good, Very Good, Yay!" in Zulu.

The man on my right is one of the "miracle cases" that Dr. Gita has documented. Before doing laughter yoga, his stroke prevented him from speaking or walking. But after doing it for a while, he regained his ability to do both. It is hard to imagine a more enthusiastic laugher! Laughter literally gave him his life back.

Here I am with one of the laughter club members.

Scenes from the local grocery store.

Of course, I made friends with the eggplants.

Just for fun, Gita dressed William up like an Indian groom at an Indian clothing store.

And I got to dress like an Indian bride.

Gita at the salon as we waited for Sheroma.

Making Indian bread.

The delicious, finished bread.

Rajan at dinner.

Laughing in the yard.

The front of the Surajnarayan's home.

The sports coliseum in Duban. It was built for the World Cup.

We went to the Natural History museum and learned all about the animals of South Africa.

And even about the dinosaurs!

The outside of the Natural History museum.

Then, we met back up with Gita and Sheroma at the Gateway Mall.  We were also joined by Katharina Mies, who had just arrived from Switzerland. She was another presenter at the conference.

Sheroma, ready to bowl!

Incredibly, I bowled a very bad game but I still won! ha ha ha!

Here we are impersonating the sun in the arcade.

Sheroma enjoying her fancy fries.

A lizard on the window of their home.

Milo and me!

Some lovely lattes at a cafe near the Blue Waters hotel in downtown Durban.

We visited the Sports Coliseum so we could ride the car to the top and get a view of the city.

This is the man for whom the coliseum is named.

These are pools along the Golden Mile in Duban. 

The boardwalk of the Golden Mile.

We ran into Katharina and had coffee.

Then Katharina did some shopping.

We checked into our lovely room at the Blue Waters Hotel, where the conference was held.

Scenes from other locations in the hotel.

The hotel's pool, which—oddly enough—is located in a conference room.

This is the incredible view we had from our hotel room!

Some tasty room service food.

To open the conference, Bhupendra Surajnarayan played a song.

Here I am getting ready for my presentation.

Sheroma introducing me.

A few scenes from my presentation.

The group enjoying tea time.

Katharina's presentation.

Delicious buffet lunch at the hotel's dining room.

In addition to presenting at the Laughter Yoga and Alternative Healing Conference, Dr. Gita and I had the opportunity to lead a laughter yoga session with an international group of scientists who were gathering to prepare for the Cop 17 Conference being held in Durban the following week. They had a fabulous time laughing and as a result, Gita and Sheroma got invited to lead more laughter yoga at the Cop 17 event.

William and I with another one of the presenters at the laughter conference.

The hotel's pool.

After the first day of the conference, we went to the casino to see a pantomime show of Alice in Wonderland.

Katharina and I in the casino.

Sheroma and her brother, Bhupendra, enjoying dinner before the show.

William and I ate this Bunny Chow, a fast food Indian dish. It must be eaten with the hands.

The stage of the pantomime.

Looking up at the Blue Waters.

Another view from our room.

Bhupendra, opening the second day of the conference.

The scones served at tea.

Another one of the speakers.

Toko, recent laughter yoga graduate, was a presenter on traditional African medicine.

Toko showed us some herbs used for healing in traditional African medicine.

The final speaker at the conference.

Some of the laughter club members from the Verlum Day and Frail Care Center attended the conference. They were very happy to be a part of the event. I'm pictured with four of them here.

Gita with her daughter and son.

After the conference, we went to the beach near the hotel. It was too cold to swim but I got to get into the Indian Ocean.

William with Bhupendra and Sheroma.

The Blue Waters Hotel at dusk.

Sunrise—the view from our room.

Here I am awakening to sunrise over the Indian Ocean! We just could not get enough of the tremendous view (and notice that even though we were on the 9th floor, they let us open our windows and hear the ocean).

A sculpture in the hotel lobby.


We had a fantastic time in Duran and the surrounding area, as you can see by these photos. Following our time in Durban, we flew to Cape Town.