Well this is really marking my first full day in South Africa and it has been a good one. Pretty low key as we don't have transportation in the area so we spent a fair amount of time around the hostel hanging out. 
The people who run the place have been really friendly. I guess that's getting ahead of myself. After our 26 hours of flying and airports we were pretty done. We picked up our bags and went through customs. We were on our way out to decide how we were going to find our hostel when I was stopped just before getting out the door. It was my friend Tabang Jimmy Ratema. I had sent him my flight plans and he had found a way to meet up with us. It was so nice having a familiar face in such a unfamiliar place. He had two friends with him. They were twin brothers and were extremely kind as well. It was great to meet them and spend some time with them. They were kind enough to help us get to the hostel. Our hostel was located in Bonero park and they were all from Soweto so it was new territory. We would ask 5 people for directions one of which was a police officer who took us into the nearest station. So that was exciting. They were very helpful an ultimately the one who got us to the hostel. We parted ways with our friends and attempted to get some sleep. The accommodations are far from plush but are nice enough. They are located really close to the airport and right on the lake. The place is appropriately call lake view backpackers hostel. The backpacker hostel part just means beat up with lots of beds in one room. We went with the cheapest option which has 8 beds. 5 of which are occupied tonight. Mark from NYC Lisa from Germany, Tabang, Brandt, and I. Not a bad place. We walked to a local store and got some food and water and a towel to bring around with us. We also walked around the lake area which had hundreds of people hanging out with fishing poles in the water while they hung out and BBQ which they call braai I think.
Race relations are a funny thing here. I can't say that I have seen any racist attitudes at all. I was really interested to see how it would be here. It does seem very separate though. For instance we are in an are were the population at least from walking around is primarily black but walking around the lake the people were almost exclusively white. Just an observation. Everyone here pretty much speaks English and usually at lest one other language. It's been really easy getting around so far. Prices here aren't far off from America. Some things are cheaper as others more expensive. I look forward to swing more of the country. It's been beautiful from what I have seen.
One other thing I noticed. We stay in what seems to be a pretty nice area. Every yard is fenced in and every fence has an electrical fence on top and typically some sort of poky top to it. We walked around some and I never felt uncomfortable although I would be. Little more cautious venturing out in the evenings.
Tomorrow morning we rent a car and head to Kruger Park. I am really excited that Tabang was able to join us. It will be just first time in the park a well. So far lots of good people although it wasn't the most eventful day.
The hostel we stay at grows marijuana
. I didn't notice it until the mark pointed it out and realize now it's everywhere. Pretty funny. Also I found out through my friend the practice of paying dowry still occurs here. I am not sure with why frequency. I just found it interesting.
This had been another long post and I just remembered one more point. We had a Fire and the owner of the property had couple friends over. All really nice guys. One of them was a police officer. Anyway the police officer wears these extremely short shorts and holsters a Gun on his hip. It was a little akin to the flamboyant cop on Reno 911.
Bryson, I was so grateful to read your post today! Loved all your information and pictures. Great post!! I am excited to follow you!
ReplyDelete