Travelling, trains and cars

S.A.’s travel system isn’t as advanced as ours. There aren’t as many roads and roads, apart from those in cities and towns, aren’t as well made/serviced as ours. There are much less cars though so the roads are used much less, again apart from those in cities though. There are also many many car accidents in S.A. and they are often V serious. In fact, S.A’s moto for driving is ‘Arrive alive’ as so many don’t. We met many people who had either survived a major car accident or who knew someone who had died in one. There were so many that the car accident I was in at home some years ago, which by UK standards was serious and not all that common, was just another in a long list of similar stories. They are common because there are so few cars on the roads that those driving don’t expect to see another car and as a result end up hitting one another or swerving out of the way and hitting something else such as a cliff.

The public transport isn’t as available as ours either, so there are few busses and trains. The buses aren’t overly reliable either and we heard stories about buses on long journeys turning up hours late and stopping on route for a toilet stop only to drive off leaving some passengers there!! The trains are generally thought to be V dangerous too and most people we met wont travel on them for fear of dying! All this means that many people hitchhike or walk long distances as it’s there only way to get where they want, and often the only way they can afford to get where they want too. Indeed, on the last day of term several people hitchhiked home, such as Mpilisi and Gregory –despite the fact you also hear stories about people being attacked as hitchhikers or by hitchhikers, so it isn’t 100% safe either!

Jon and I actually got a train at Cape Town after seeing the train station and that it all looked ok, we got a first class ticket (called ‘MetroPlus) for less than £2.50 each and I’m glad we did as the first class was like our London tube! There was graffiti and rubbish on the seats, etc (see pic). We were also treated to some entertainment during the journey, which seemed to be common place. E.G. various people walked down the carriages singing or playing the guitar and collecting money for this, others were preaching, and others were selling things such as food, drink and also, weirdly, glue!! One comical moment was when a lady was preaching and suddenly the train stopped and mid flow she asked what stop it was and hopped off, it was like ‘you must turn to Jesus and repent. Oh this is my stop, I’ve got to go, but keep thinking about Jesus!’.