The golden sunlight shined on the sandy beach. This combination glowed a dazzling golden color. Li Du stood at the pier and looked around himself. For a moment, he could not distinguish between the sunlight and the beach.
The azure ocean slapped the face of the beach. The frothy waves were rushing onto the beach and then retreating backwards. Rushing and retreating, repeating in a cycle. The rolling waves continuously sent the sand under the sea and stole away parts of the beach.
Just like this, the Indian Ocean gracefully presented itself to Li Du.
The ocean was as clear as sapphire, and the palm tree forest beside it was verdant and lush. Spreading from his foot to the sky was the warm subtropical climate. The sea breeze was as nice and warm as the spring breeze. It was a refreshing and warm feeling.
Looking back from the pier, he noticed a park by the beach. There was a fountain in the park, and behind the fountain was an exquisite cafe, restaurant, and bar.
If someone could look through these small, fine buildings, they would see a street. This was known as Durban’s most attractive Golden Mile Street.
On both sides of the street were luxurious hotels and apartments. They contrasted with the natural colors of the surroundings, and portrayed a culture of diversity.
There were colorful rickshaws sprinting on the streets, in the park and by the seashore. This reminded Li Du of the early years of Shanghai during the last century. The difference was that the people here were African and not Chinese.
The cart drivers here had interesting outfits consisting of beaded chains, fake gems, and other cheap accessories, just like artists. This kind of outfit was part of the local culture. There were no license plates on their wagons. Each one was recognized from the accessories of the drivers.
This was Durban, the first beach city in East Africa. On average, there were 320 days with brilliant sunlight every year. And the average temperature of the seawater was above 17 degrees Celsius all year long.
As Li Du was admiring the scenery, he knew Lion Hunter had been right. “As soon as you arrive at the beach, you’ll be pleased. You’ll want to dive into the water.”
Durban’s beach had too many places to have fun. There were a lot of attractions, such as Water World, Fun World, boat tours, Mini Town and Fitzsimons Snake Park. These locations attracted thousands and thousands of tourists everyday.
Looking up, aside from the golden sun, clear blue sky, and snow white clouds, there were streams of colorful cable cars in the air.
Of course, the best thing to do was still diving.
They were at a private beach that belonged to the Royal Hotel behind them.
The hotel had a very rustic name. However, it was one of the most historic hotels in South Africa. It had been open for a century. A century ago, all the aristocrats stayed here.
South Africa had many beautiful beaches, and they were mostly privately owned. Every city, however, typically opened a few public beaches for tourists. To truly enjoy the experience, they recommended to go to big hotels or the billionaires’ private properties and use their beaches. This allowed Li Du to be on a beach with very few people. There was a fence separating the private beach from the public beach, and on the other side was a sea of people.
A commercial yacht sailed over. Lion Hunter, who was wearing a pair of sunglasses, a pair of beach shorts, and had his belly sticking out, waved at him. “Li, over here. Let’s go see some sharks!”
Smiling, Li Du boarded the yacht. “Are we diving? Diving with the sharks?”
Every June, there was a sardine storm in the sea area of Durban. A large group of sardines gathered here, mate, lay eggs and reproduce.
Although it June was two months ago, many sardines were still here.
As the yacht drove further out into the ocean, Li Du could immediately see groups of sardines on the surface.
Seeing so many sardines at once, he released a gasp of surprise. “There is so many fish here.”
Lion Hunter regrettably shrugged his shoulders. “It’s a pity, my friend. You came at the wrong time. If it was June—oh, God. The ocean would be filled with sardines!”
“More than this? That’s ridiculous.”
“Not at all.” Lion Hunter pointed to the horizon. “They spread ten kilometers across the ocean, stretch across the shoreline. Wherever you look the ocean is all sardines! It’s a sardine storm!”
The sharks in the coastal waters were attracted by these sardines. There were various large sea animals in the waters, including great white sharks, bull sharks, tiger sharks, hammerhead sharks, grey reef sharks, humpback whales, seals, squids and a lot of dolphins . . .
Shark nets were installed in the offshore area. Lion Hunter took them somewhere near the shark net and said, “This is an excellent diving spot. There’s supposed to be a shipwreck here—you can try and search for it. “
Sophie asked, “Is this the Sea of Nemo?”
Lion Hunter nodded and laughed, “Yes, this is the Sea of Nemo!”
Li Du was unfamiliar with Durban. It was his first time here and also his first time hearing about this place.
Sophie was different. Although she was seldom away from Flagstaff, she had always yearned for freedom. She often read National Geographic magazines and knew about many famous tourist locations.
The Sea of Nemo was the best diving spot in South Africa, and one of the top ten diving spots in the world. This was because of the abundant sea animals.
“This area of the sea is actually surrounded by a couple miles of corals and sponges,” Sophie explained. “There are also fossil dunes that go 37 meters deep. These dunes are an obstruction to ships so, since ancient times, very few ships have traveled here. So, the ecological environment of this sea area was not disturbed, and has been preserved to this day.”
She took a deep breath and dived into the water from the deck of the yacht.
Li Du followed her into the water. Ah Ow also followed. The water splashed up a lively ocean spray.
Ali hesitantly stood on the edge of the deck and looked below. Most mammals were able to swim naturally. However, kangaroos were the minority. Their body structure rendered them unable to swim.
Ah Meow kicked Ali from behind. Ali was so frightened that its muscles began to jerk, and, just like a steelyard weight, it fell into the water with a plop.
Ah Ow was nearby. As soon as she saw Ali fall into the water, she fearfully dived into the water and grabbed it with her mouth.
Li Du was about to praise Ah Ow for being a good kid. But then, Ah Ow took Ali further away from the yacht and left it there.
Ali was so scared that it peed!
Brother Wolf was worried and immediately went over to bring Ali out of the water.
Ali was struggling for its life. As Brother Wolf approached it, it punched him by accident. After bringing it out of the water, it brandished its paws and started crying madly.
Li Du cast Ah Meow a glare. The ocelot knew that he was in trouble and immediately ran back into the yacht.
The deck was too slippery due to the sea water. In the end, when Ah Meow anxiously turned away to run, he slipped and fell flat on his back.
Li Du gestured to Crispy Noodles. He grabbed Ah Meow’s tail and dragged him like a burlap sack back to the edge of the deck. Li Du swam forward, grabbed Ah Meow’s tail, and pulled him into the water.
Before Ah Meow went into the water, he screamed hopelessly, “Ah meow!”
As Ali watched Ah Meow drop into the water, it suddenly became lively and excitedly stood at the edge of the deck, glaring purposefully at Ah Meow.
