The crime is high and Im moving on... (South Africa)

Member Name: thedevilinme

Product:	South Africa
Date:	25/06/09 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stunning country

Disadvantages: Very dangerous

I love South Africa, so much so I don't want to go back. I did it all while I lived there for six months and like a great holiday romance, you cram it all in and then you have to let go. Its an intense country, make no mistake, and as a pale Englishman abroad I was fairgame for the locals, mugged three times in those 24 weeks. Being mugged is just as painful as being dumped by a pretty girl though and all part of life's experience in Africa. You're a tourist; you're like the timid young antelope on the dusty plains to the wise old lion's eye and so you will be downed eventually. But enough about Johannesburg! Get yourself down to Cape Town as quick as possible and enjoy a far more western lifestyle in the Southern Hemispheres most beautiful city. It's far safer than other parts of the country and perhaps more like an American city like Atlanta or Detroit's in its racial mix and commerce, to use an example, although a dam site sexier and exciting than a middle America city. . It's not that South Africa's huge black underclass hate whites or its payback time or anything it's just that you have money and they don't it's a matter of economics. Everyone gets robed there.

Whereas Joburg's city centre is an absolute no go for tourists at the weekend (you will probably be robbed on Sundays and anyone who lives there and writes on dooyoo will confirm that) Cape Town is a far more relaxing experience, a vibrant colonial city embracing the new order of the rainbow nation, although still no pot of gold at the end of that rainbow for most of its inhabitants. The downtown bar area at night is a little seedy for tourists and so best to move in pairs there but on the whole it's pretty cosy

* * * Accommodation * * *

There are some of the best hotels you will find in the world in the RSA and excellent budget places too, comparable to western chains and pretty cheap because of exchange rates. I stayed mostly in cheap backpackers and hostels in the mid 90s when I was there just after Mandela's government was formed. My base was the St Johns Waterfront Hostel just opposite the touristy Green Point restaurant complex down by the pier. I was the guy who painted the hostel white and covered it in those recently removed flags of the world, managing to paint the new South African flag upside down so the blood as the land and the sky the sea. Few noticed. I worked for my keep and guest were charged about 15 rand per night for a dorm or 30r for a basic double room. With a pool and a bar it was one of the quieter hostel\budget hotels in the city. It's best to pre-book hostels when you're in South Africa as it's not a good place to trawl around looking for empty spaces.

* * * Transport * * *

The safest form of travel in South Africa is the blue train, taking you from city to city, very cheap to get to Zimbabwe from Pretoria I recall. Although local commuter trains no longer insist on blacks sitting away from whites old habits die hard and it is decorum for tourist and whites not to sit in third class with the blacks. Both parties seemed to like it that way although I don't know if that's the case in 2009. As the local bus service isn't great and somewhat under funded we got around on the local minibus taxes, which isn't recommended by the guide books but reasonably safe in the affluent beach areas in the daytime as they are full of maids and hotel workers servicing the locals and tourists. They cost a couple of rand and bomb around at 90mph and very hard to get on and off as you clamber over livestock and people.

When I worked at the hotel there was a backpacker's bus called the Bazbus that would drop you off at the hostel door as it rolled around the country. I think it cost about £80 to do a circuit of the country, incredibly cheap as it was rickety.

* * * Nightlife* * *

In any big city the student areas near the traditional universities tend to have the best nightlife as the locals mix with the youth, Cape Town no different. We found the best place to chill was the Waterfront with its western themed bars (the dreaded sports cafe and Planet Hollywood) and the beach bar on Camps Bay, nestled between the world's most beautiful beach, Camps Bay, and most exclusive, Clifton Beach,. Table Mountain looms in the distance a truly stunning site to see, a drink in the evening called a sundowners on offer at the trendy cool bar that lips the crashing ocean as Para gliders descend from the heavens for their Martinis. Oh, guys have no chance with the local girls as they are very conservative and its date only.

I can't tell you about Joburgs nightlife as I was in and out but they say it's pretty good if you know where to go. Durban is more of a beach resort and you tend to have a few beers or meal after coming off the shark infested warm waters. It's a decent surf shore so the bars are quite young. Again the city isn't the safest at night so we stuck to bars near the hostel.

*** Things to do and see***

The country is stunning and relatively untouched by tourism. It's an incredible mix of pastel colours out in the countryside and there beach resorts are fairly unique in that they are not tacky. Most people do the Garden Route from the surfy resort of Mossell Bay through to Nysna, George and East London. The Transki where Mandela was born is the next state along the coast and very untouched, perhaps not for the more conventional tourist. We stayed in a beautiful deserted resort half-way up near a little lagoon and it was an incredibly empowering experience, the local baboons sleeping on our cabin roofs and electricity in one room only. To hear the lonely and relentless ocean crash 300 miles from the nearest town is emotive stuff.

The diving is great near Nysna and the water cold and clear, water sharks like, especially Great Whites. You can do some cage driving in Mossel Bay to get up close to the sharks or jump on your surfboard all down the line. The waves are crisp, even and big.
George offers you the chance to ride Ostriches with bag on their heads or see some really cool caves.

The safari experience is why many go to Africa although if you see big game around Pretoria and the Kruger it's a bit sterile and orchestrated. Unofficially they put sedative sin some of the animals food so tourist can snap lions and other big cats as tourist truck after tourist truck roll through the parks in constant trail of dust on day trips from the big hotels.

A trip up Table Mountain is must in Cape Town and you can be lazy and go on the cable car to the new hotel complex up top or walk up in 30 degrees heat and dodge the snakes. It's well worth a trip out to the stunning wine region of Stellenbosch where they do great wine tours where you can get seriously hammered for 10r. The beaches are stunning in Southern Africa although the water is cold until you get to the South East corner.

* * * Crime * * *

A recent survey by a travel student company (admittedly plugging insurance) found that one-in-three gap year adventurers ended prematurely due to crime or illness. The third world isn't that safe and South Africa is comfortably in that bracket. 15% of the journalist got mugged during the cricket world cup there and even Northamptonshire's Monty Panesar fell victim to Joburgs ferocious crime wave when visiting on holiday last year, losing his wallet and camera. I fear for the soccer World Cup fans if you're planning to go out next year. Just as crimes like carjacking, street muggings and gang rape in London and the worlds big cities are mostly 'gang' related crimes they are in South Africa too, the attacks the ones most likely to spoil your holidays there, obviously rape extremely unlikely as its a township crime, by far the highest rape levels in the world at some 147,000 a year. The younger kids may put your window through at the traffic lights to steal your bag on the front seat if you're a tourist in a hire car if your very unlucky where as locals tend to lose their whole car in this type of crime, two or three guys jumping in with a gun and you booted out the other side, minus the keys and wallet. Rape is also horrendous here as there's not a great deal of respect in the black townships for women.

On the whole if your backpacking then South Africa is a category three storm and not for the beginner. As long as you are aware and take local advice you should be reasonably safe. Move around in pairs and if you're female then plan a trip with a guy or hook up with some lads in the hostels. Its unfortunate but Africa will always be Africa and I fear South Africa will only go the way of Zimbabwe as the first white farm repossessions begin under the new president as the government have failed to find work and good housing for the masses and this tactic is great distraction from that. Like Obama has the keys to America South Africa is the next big test in Africa to see if they can do it on their own. I pray they do as it's a beautiful unspoilt country that must be seen.

Summary: Go in pairs..