A walk on the wild side

[dryfter]

So, today I think I almost bit off more than I could chew.

It started off well...
Today I decided to try and use the pseudo-public-transport to get into town. This seemed quite easy at first - I asked someone else waiting for it about what to catch, and this got me into town quickly and easily.
I spent a few hours wandering around Braamfontein and Newtown, where I can honestly say I didn't see a single other white guy. Checked out quite a few streets of random shops, and cafes where the till and serving area was seperated from the tables by a cage, and chaotic markets, and people who looked like they were living out of broken-down cars.

I stopped to have coffee and some food in Newtown, which is the relatively-upmarket end, and the guy at the cafe even asked me what I was doing there.

Then I tried to get home, and it all went a bit pear-shaped.
I stood at what I thought was the right place for ages without managing to get a ride. And the only other guy at the stop eventually walked off, saying he'd been waiting for over an hour unsuccessfully.
Half an hour later one of the dodgy minibuses stopped and answered YES to my question of whether they were going to Linden, and I hopped in...

He initially only half-jokingly tried to charge me 10x the normal going rate, but I called him on it, and he charged the right amount.
The ride was a bit uncomfortable - not only was I jammed into a minibus in such disrepair that the door didn't even close, but also it was full of africans jabbering in a language I couldn't understand, laughing at times. I'm sure at times it was laughing at my expense, but I figured it was an "interesting experience" at least.

I changed my mind when the minibus dropped me off in Randburg, and said they'd be back to pick me up again in an hour.. if I was still around. Randburg is a suburb I've been warned about and told it is distinctly NOT COOL AT ALL to be stranded in the middle of it on a friday night.
Strike a blow for inter-racial relations there, then.
I received more strange looks from people, just being there, and again when I was asking around if there was anything headed to Linden from there. (Linden is, apparently, one of the safest suburbs in all Joburg. Randburg is one of the least safe. I'm guessing they don't get much call for the dodgy minibuses to go between the two.)

So, I walked home. I may have mentioned that Johannesburg is a quite anti-pedestrian city.. well, that goes doubly so when it's night-time and you're walking down streets with no pavement and no working street-lights and in the one area you've been explicitly told not to walk around in.
I'd pretty much given up all hope of arriving home with any of my possessions and/or life, but the 4km walk was uneventful, apart from a couple of times when emergency vehicles went screaming past.

Journey in the morning: 30 mins.
Journey home: 3 hours, and numerous fingernails.

Comments

[short-mort.livejournal.com]

Oh my Lord!!!!
I am impressed you are in one bit!

Play lotto now!!!!

I am not allowed in Cape Town on my own but a white guy in the taxis! They would not have picked up you were Australian, the accent is fairly foreign. That is amazing!!!

[redcountess]

Well done (glad you're ok)

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

Yikes, please don't do that again. I don't go to Joburg much.

Taxis in CT can be good or bad. There are official ranks and some less official ones.
I'm sure you were a topic of conversation in the taxi, but laughing will happen anyway in conversation.
They would almost certainly not have picked up that you were Australian unless you said so.

[wintrmute.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think I'll stick to driving from now on!

However, it was all quite interesting, and the level of fear was mainly because I'd been TOLD to be scared of "bad" Joburb suburbs. I don't know how much it really IS bad - I mean, people think Hackney in London is dodgy, but I lived there for years, and even went clubbing in Clapton and visited Hackney Wick, etc, and don't think it was quite as bad as people made out. (Aside from that one post office incident in Hoxton, but hey, the guy there was all bark and no bite, anyway.)

So yeah.. I mean, you're never safe wandering around badly lit derelict light commercial/industrial areas in ANY city, but beyond that, how bad is it really to be a white guy in a dodgy black area?
OK, so maybe I don't want to know the statistics or I'll just freak out! :)

Now, onto beer number two since arriving home..

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

I don't know statistics - a lot depends on if you look rich or not. But did you have a fuck-off big camera around your neck?

[wintrmute.livejournal.com]

Hell no! I was looking kinda scruffy..

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Oh my fucking god. You rock a great deal.

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

Glad you made it back okay!

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Was this in your "Silly things to do before I'm 40" list?

Glad you're home OK.

[short-mort.livejournal.com]

Make that "Insane things"

[she-rambles.livejournal.com]

Vote 1 for Toby promoting SA tourism!

Seriously, all of that sounds nerve-wracking. It was scary getting lost in Japan and missing the last trains home, but that was more about the inconvenience and "I don't know where I am" factor - I never actually felt threatened or concerned for my belongings/life. Everything you've said about that city - particularly the public transport (lack thereof), has me wondering how they can possibly promote it as a tourist destination. Scary.

[monted.livejournal.com]

Wow, heavy dude. Glad you had all your fingers left to type the tale!

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Crap mate; be careful... still alive and it's an experience and good to hear of it.

[maelorin]

ah, the joys of travel. and all that.

[maelorin]

mind you, it's not necessarily so much different here in the 'other' SA :P

[razornet.livejournal.com]

Glad you're safe dude. I would have been bricking myself.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_catharine_/]

I'm with you on the 'looking like you're purposefully walking somewhere' being much safer than the 'hanging around waiting for a non-existent bus'.

[wintrmute.livejournal.com]

Yeah, definitely. And as someone pointed out offline later last night - if you're wandering around in a dodgy area that you should totally not be in - then the locals are likely to assume you're as destitute/desperate as they are, and not worth actually mugging.

[nassus.livejournal.com]

/me drops in shock. Hope you dont do that in Jo'burg - my friends all warned me not to get into one of the local vans - half of them dont even have licences and you are likely to end up in the back of beyond without your luggage. And this is from SA locals - not urban myths. I thought CT was sposed to be better.
You're incredibly brave or incredibly stupid!
Hope you're getting good sunshine though! We've finally got some rain here and it's been wet for the last week which is wonderful

[wintrmute.livejournal.com]

Umm, that WAS in Joburg!

[burritob.livejournal.com]

crikey, what an experience! Glad you're well :)