in South Africa!
I'm in South Africa!! It's just incredible! Somehow, it's still hard to believe...
It is just my second day here and there have been so many impressions and so many experiences that it's impossible to describe everything here...
The flight from Frankfurt to Cape Town lasted 12 hours. I got no sleep on the plane - I guess I was too excited.. The plane arrived earlier, and since the weather was perfect, the pilot flew us around the Cape of Good Hope - magnificent view! Too bad I couldn't get the window seat...
At the airport there were about 10 black people who had come to meet me - most of them children from the Esangweni school where I'm going to do my project.
They had made a sign with my name on it!
Unfortunately, I hadn't booked a hostel before - I had assumed that there would be enough places in hostels since it's not the high season now (winter). And that was a big mistake - most hostels were full. We managed to find one finally, although not too cheap...
Tobi (my project partner) arrived today. We were really lucky - we found a place to live for 3 months already!! It's in a house near to our hostel (in Observatory, a student area, more alternative, mixed) - a lady is renting two rooms of her house. We decided to take the offer - i guess we cannot get anything cheaper. We will pay 1500 rand per month, everything included.
So, now my impressions of Cape Town... We haven't really been around much until now... I've explored the Observatory area - at first we were really scared for our safety here, but now we see that there's nothing to be afraid of (right now it's 11 pm and walked across the street to an internet cafe where i'm writing this). The atmosphere here is really vibrant and lively!! South Africans are really warm and open people!
We really did our best trying not to look like tourists on the streets (kept our map and cameras in the bag all the time).. but I guess we failed. Today, when walking around in Cape Town city centre, we were approached by some guys asking for money. We stopped and told them that we don't have any..
At first they were polite, but then became agressive and didn't let us go - they grabbed Tobi by his arm and threatened us - they said that they had a gun. Then we gave them some coins. Later, we talked to some white South Africans who said that we shouldn't have stopped, we should just have ignored them...
Anyway, this was a really scary moment for me.. I hope we'll be wiser next time..
On Monday we are planning to rent a car, a Beetle. Hopefully we get something which won't break down too soon. The traffic is just crazy here! It's really difficult to get used to driving on the left side! We've almost been hit by a car a couple of times while looking at the wrong side of the road to see if cars are coming..
Today, I had the experience of being in a minibus taxi - the main transport here in Cape Town. It's something I can't describe in words - you'd have to experience it yourself.. The taxi is packed with people, all windows upen, the drivers are speeding (I doubt that they actually have drivers licence), they are shouting to the street to collect more people on the taxi... Well, we survived the trip (twice!)
I've taken some photos, but can't get them from the camera now. We haven't been to our project location yet - the Khayelitsha township. There's school break right now - until the 19th, so we still have a week to explore Cape Town and the surroundings!!
We'll climb Table Mountain soon (it's a huge mountain right in the middle of Cape Town).
About the weather. Well, I thought it would be really cold here and so I took lots of warm clothes. But.. it's very warm - I think like 25 degrees C!! Can't believe that this is really winter here!! For those 2 days I've been here, it has been really nice and sunny the whole time.
The local languages are very interesting. South African English sounds kind of funny - a bit like British English, but they have a special pronunciation and some different words. I haven't heard much Afrikaans yet. The black people speak the Xhosa language.
Tomorrow, there's going to be an African crafts market at Green Point - I really want to go there. And we are moving tomorrow!!!
Greetings to everyone & waiting for your comments!
It is just my second day here and there have been so many impressions and so many experiences that it's impossible to describe everything here...
The flight from Frankfurt to Cape Town lasted 12 hours. I got no sleep on the plane - I guess I was too excited.. The plane arrived earlier, and since the weather was perfect, the pilot flew us around the Cape of Good Hope - magnificent view! Too bad I couldn't get the window seat...
At the airport there were about 10 black people who had come to meet me - most of them children from the Esangweni school where I'm going to do my project.
They had made a sign with my name on it!
Unfortunately, I hadn't booked a hostel before - I had assumed that there would be enough places in hostels since it's not the high season now (winter). And that was a big mistake - most hostels were full. We managed to find one finally, although not too cheap...
Tobi (my project partner) arrived today. We were really lucky - we found a place to live for 3 months already!! It's in a house near to our hostel (in Observatory, a student area, more alternative, mixed) - a lady is renting two rooms of her house. We decided to take the offer - i guess we cannot get anything cheaper. We will pay 1500 rand per month, everything included.
So, now my impressions of Cape Town... We haven't really been around much until now... I've explored the Observatory area - at first we were really scared for our safety here, but now we see that there's nothing to be afraid of (right now it's 11 pm and walked across the street to an internet cafe where i'm writing this). The atmosphere here is really vibrant and lively!! South Africans are really warm and open people!
We really did our best trying not to look like tourists on the streets (kept our map and cameras in the bag all the time).. but I guess we failed. Today, when walking around in Cape Town city centre, we were approached by some guys asking for money. We stopped and told them that we don't have any..
At first they were polite, but then became agressive and didn't let us go - they grabbed Tobi by his arm and threatened us - they said that they had a gun. Then we gave them some coins. Later, we talked to some white South Africans who said that we shouldn't have stopped, we should just have ignored them...
Anyway, this was a really scary moment for me.. I hope we'll be wiser next time..
On Monday we are planning to rent a car, a Beetle. Hopefully we get something which won't break down too soon. The traffic is just crazy here! It's really difficult to get used to driving on the left side! We've almost been hit by a car a couple of times while looking at the wrong side of the road to see if cars are coming..
Today, I had the experience of being in a minibus taxi - the main transport here in Cape Town. It's something I can't describe in words - you'd have to experience it yourself.. The taxi is packed with people, all windows upen, the drivers are speeding (I doubt that they actually have drivers licence), they are shouting to the street to collect more people on the taxi... Well, we survived the trip (twice!)
I've taken some photos, but can't get them from the camera now. We haven't been to our project location yet - the Khayelitsha township. There's school break right now - until the 19th, so we still have a week to explore Cape Town and the surroundings!!
We'll climb Table Mountain soon (it's a huge mountain right in the middle of Cape Town).
About the weather. Well, I thought it would be really cold here and so I took lots of warm clothes. But.. it's very warm - I think like 25 degrees C!! Can't believe that this is really winter here!! For those 2 days I've been here, it has been really nice and sunny the whole time.
The local languages are very interesting. South African English sounds kind of funny - a bit like British English, but they have a special pronunciation and some different words. I haven't heard much Afrikaans yet. The black people speak the Xhosa language.
Tomorrow, there's going to be an African crafts market at Green Point - I really want to go there. And we are moving tomorrow!!!
Greetings to everyone & waiting for your comments!
posted by Kadri Aavik at 2:01 PM
2 Comments:
You should try renting a tank instead of the beetle - you never know when a tank might come in handy!
And as always - never leave the house without your bulletproof vest and helmet.
Good luck surviving there! :D
Kadri,
edu, päikest ja head starti tegutsemisel!:)
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