Johannesburg
A place I feared to go to over my time spent in South Africa. I had heard so much about robbery, murder in broad daylight, how carjacking was regular and how many white South Africans do not walk around the city suburbs. It could not be that bad surly I thought to myself, of course there would be no go areas like most of the cities around the world, so I just thought i'd be extra careful and see how it goes.
I never really knew how much of this was true, but I knew it was a dangerous place, that someone from a different country would be picked out very easy, so I had decided to be sensible and do the right thing in life and take a bus where I would be more safe.
I wanted to head north of the country into the national parks of S.A then across to Mozambique up to Malawi and beyond. Problem was that I had yet again no vaccinations nore travel insurance but man has not traveled the world for thousands of years with it.
My personal outlook in life is why should I be any different, of course if it ever came seriously on top I may be left eating my words. It’s just I hate insurance companies I feel that they are “Sharks of a different kind” They love there small print, tricks and turns, but at least you have back up if you follow “precisely” 100% what is stated in there documentation. Plus your family would not get dragged through your ordeal if something did happen. I just travel different with high risks and I am lucky to some extent I guess. I know of one case in Bali where a young Australian girl hired a moped out, crashed and ended up on a life support machine in a balinese hospital the insurance did not cover her. And her family was of course left completely devastated having to try to raise $150,000 to pay the bill and get her back for more life saving surgurg. On this trip I was also involved in a collision on a motorcycle where I ended up flying over the top of the handlebars, where I flew around 4 meters in the air managing to to put myself in a rolling position so that the impact would not be to bad, I learnt that skill in my Skydiving career that possible saved me from a head injury, I walked away with very minor cuts with about 20 chinese or Japanese holiday makers who stood there with there little white gloves and masks on taking pictures of me followed by my middle finger in their direction.
Back to the story- After a another crazy trip that took me 5 days walking solo across an area called the Transkei that lay in the Southeast of this amazing country of South Africa, home to the Xhosa people, a totally mind blowing experience and of course I should of yet again died crossing rivers where sharks were know to come up river to hunt on the river mouth’s along with crocks coming down river for a feed, but hey I made it and that is a wicked story. Any way I made my way to Johannesburg by hitchhiking once again, I had told myself that I was going to catch a bus and get a hotel room, but something changed along the way, and that dangerous little smile came floating across my face once more whilst on my way.
I managed to get a lift of a couple of guys who were heading into the city after stumbling across them whilst buying some street food, I got talking to them, they said they were heading that way. I was lucky to get a lift but I didn't know exactly where in Johannesburg I was actually going just that I needed to get somewhere near a particular train station that I could not remember the name of for my next move. The battery on my phone died a few days back so I was living a stress free life and relying truly on myself, something that we are all truly losing the skill for. I had to kind of leave it up to them, telling them just drop me off where it is safe and il find my way from there. They both looked a little confused asking me more about what I was upto and that people don't usually travel like this, but I just told them i'll be fine. I just put my trust into spirit and asked for some type of protection be cast over me on this journey over the next 24 hours or so.
We had around five hours in front of us until we reached the city so along the way we stopped a few times where they brought me some local food, I can't remember what it was called but it did look like a posh porridge that was pretty good. As we got closer to Johannesburg we started to pass speed traps where they told me that the government put them up years ago to create money, and that the people had stuck together and refused to pay any fine. The system is still in place and the people are still standing very firm about it, I think the main reason was that the government was so corrupt that they were just pocketing the money for there own personal needs and perfetic control on their country. “why make vericals fast if the law has a speed limit surly something doesn't add up”
As we got closer to the city we headed along a dulcarrage, where we past a few cars driving at us coming up the wrong way, I just thought to myself with my eyes rolling into the back of my head, this is going to be great I'm going to die on this crappy road in a head on collision and make a awful indentation in my family's pocket whilst they try to get me back to the U.K because I have no travel insurance. Something that I do not recommend anyone doing “Traveling out of there country without insurance”
I had started to get a little worried as we past a number of groups of men who were just stood around drinking or just looking completely shady watching each car as it passed. “Had I done the right thing” There were certaInly no white people walking around from what I cloud see. I had to start to think fast about my next move asking the guys if they were sure that it was a safe area that they were taking me to,they reassured me that I would be safe to a degree and that they knew of a place, okay fine I thought as I relaxed back into my seat watching the outside world from this clapped out car that would of been scraped and the person jailed if this rust bucket been taken out on the roads in a more democratic consuming country.
We drove for around another half hour, where day had started to turn into dusk and had started to settle into night. It was an interesting ride that’s for sure passing through that part of the world looked something out of mad max the movie, cars all beat up building in serious need of maintenance and lots of very interesting people who I would not like to approach. We finally made it to the destination where they pulled over, pointed me down a road to where I would find a place to stay, I thanked them grabbed my kit and got walking off down this sketchy looking road, greatly looking on my surroundings as I struggled to see into the darker corners of civilizations. A dog came running out of know where snarling at me, his teeth looked pretty impressive as he came closer out of the darkness where this set of canine teeth seemed to glow at me, I kept my cool and turned towards the dog and showed him my own impressive set of gleaming teeth that he seemed to be pretty impressed about, stopping a few yards from me to where we continued this display ferociousness towards each other as the elements of mother nature pass us by.
I made it down that dark gloomy road not really knowing what I was to come up against, but trusting there word that there was some sort of hotel or hostel at the end I just kept going. I managed to get to the end where I meet some security guards and asked them if they knew of a place, speaking in there deep dark South African voice with a shotgun at there side and batten and CS gas, they pointed me in the direction of a alleyway between some houses that gave a feel of something dark and sinister that made my ears perk up and become a little more sensitive to sound,shrugging of the feeling as I put it down to something else that happened some months back.
Bingo I made it ! And had happily found the doggy hostel of Johannesburg that looked like a fortress from the outside and a prison from the 1970 on the inside, too late to go anywhere else, so I set up for the night cursing at the rude owner at his ignorant attitude and the sickening feeling when passing my hard earned cash over to him, to pay for a night’s accommodation. That night was a long night with people shouting and screaming with the odd gunshot ringing into the far distante night that made me wonder if a lost soul had just passed over from this life to another. I drifted of from time to time being woken once again with screams that haunted the night that even seemed to make the cockroaches scurry along to their feeding grounds.
The next beautiful morning I popped out and grabbed myself a coffee of a street vendor and got chatting asking how far the train station was, I didn't really get much sense out of him as I think he had some sort of medical condition, where I wondered if my coffee had some sort of narcotic mixture, as my head exploded from this potent local brew that they named coffee, from where the gentle breeze of the morning air had carried it’s ritch aroma to my noise that had guided me along the scent trail of this brewing narcotic concoctions that gave me that wake up call that would keep me company for the rest of the day. I left and headed back into the haunted hostel where the closed doors held ghostly energies of ignorance and hatred, I needed to get a lift to the train station and it was at least three kilometres away from where I was. I asked the hostel owner how much he would charge me to drive me the three kilometres and his attitude and price was more like a right hook, so I dodged that one and asked him would it be easy to walk, he laughed and said you might make it you might not !
Now S.A is a beautiful magical country with many many hidden gems. A place that I would recommend anyone to goto. I found people to be friendly helpful and concerning of my welfare. This doesn't mean it does not have it dangers and there are a great deal. So when I first landed in Cape Town knowing of these dangers and what I would most probably get up to, I popped along to a store and bought two tins of CS gas and one pepper spray just for the fun of it to keep me company on my trip.
That morning faced with ignorance I pulled out my arsenal of gas checked my phone that was now fully charged and picked up a GPS singla and worked out a route to the train station, I set of armed to the teeth gas in hand and two canisters at easy reach as backup. I was not about to get ripped of by this brute, I walked out still charged on coffee headed straight to the security guards and asked them to confirm my directions and sanity. They confirmed my route and told me to watch my back and not to go of track.
That three kilometres was an interesting walk, I past a number of people urging me down different variations of routes, but my mind was well and truly set and did not stop to kick up any type of conversation as I was not interested in falling for any type of trick or invited for more hulusanaginic coffee that the Zulu warriors must of been given back in June 1876 to defeat General George A. Custer's 7th Cavalry.
As I Passed many people they seemed to stop in there tracks to take a second look at this westerner with all the latest goddess on his back that must of had a message of “Hey it’s christmas I’m over here” I just carried on looking as confident as possible passing each person as if this was my daily walk re- checking my G.P.S from time to time.
A time came when my GPS stopped working so instead of stopping I just carried on to where I thought the train station would be, I came to a big intersection and had no choice but to stop and ask for directions. I must of picked the biggest scariest guy in the hole of Johannesburg, his guy was huge he just seemed to be eyeballing me from a distance with his dark eyes looking into my soul like I was some type of dinner. I headed straight towards him, now eyeing him back with equal soul searching technique, then producing the magic English words of “Excuse me can you help me” His eyes dark and sunken into his head, an impressive scar that went from this ear to chin, his hands as big as my head, arms like the incredible hulk, he looked down at me from his 7f position, his body mass seemed to somehow block out the light of day, he looked at me and said nothing. I repeated my request, then asked him where the train station was, I remember his look at me as he opened his mouth to answer me, was he about to swallow me whole, my gas now fully at the ready, but then thinking this will take more than three cans of gas if it kicks of.
The voice then bellowed out, take a right just up there he said, go down the alleyway then turn left and keep going, “But don't stop” Thanks brother I said, then moved on taking the right hand turn as he had instructed me. I couldn't believe was I was faced with as I turned into the alleyway, there was five drug addicts right in front of me jacking up, one guy had a syringe stuck in his arm whilst passing that brown concoction into his thinning veins whilst another strapping his arm ready for his fix, for sure they were sharing needles. Behind them some type of vapour coming out of the base of the buildings that obscured my vision from beyond. I gave them a massive side step and got the hell out of there passing through this type of fog searching for what may be lurking in front of me, my sense were so heightened in that time of my life I just kept going and kept hoping that I was being looked after.
Now past the mist in that ghastly allway that was around 5 meters wide with tall buildings either side that seemed to touch the clouds, I came across my next encounter of a different kind, Just up in front to my left three guys searching through rubbish that held a smell that was very identifiable. They seemed completely off their faces stepping towards me pointing at me laughing as if they had been let out of some mental institution extremely early, their clothes in tatters their skin dirty, hair matted with god knows what from the lack of clancyness, I laughed back at them in a louder and more crazy way showing that I was not right in the head either and that I must be more mental than them, that seemed to stop them approaching me any further. They seemed to stutter there laughs as if in disbelief as my crazy eyes meet there's over the halfway point, pushing through I finally made it to the overside where I was met with a road and a high street still the only white man walking amongst its inhabitants.
Pushing my way past the many people with my bag now at the front of me so it would not get slashed by a knife from behind and that I could now use it as a shield for protection if someone came at me. Another few minutes past and I thought I may of past the madness as two security guard appeared on the corner with a AK47’s looking at me like some alien that had just been beamed down to earth, Where have you just come from they said ? About three kilometres, they were pretty surprised to say the least pointing me to the destination that I had asked about, the train station.
I had finally made it safe and sound, that mission could of taken my life well and truly, but I was not about to be ripped of by some ignorant person. I kind of knew i'd be okay, I just had that special feeling telling me i'd be fine, or was it just my madness of coffee that kept me going, I don't really know. I had to take a taxi a short way at a later date, telling the taxi drive of my story. He verchual shouted at me telling that that I was completely mental that they will kill you for just your shoes.
“Would I do it again” Yes I probably would because that is the way I travel that’s my kick, the danger the risk the adventure.
I love it, travel is not a bug, it’s a drug for me, it’s a drug that I find hard to stay away from.
This may be my last blog I hope you have enjoyed following me I will see how I feel in time to come. I do not feel that this platform is very good for what I am searching for. Thank You to those who have followed me and thank you to those have have taken the time to place your comments here. I was hoping for more interaction from people perhaps a few shares to get my story out there but that has not happened.
Many people have asked for me to write a blog and those many people haven't even had the time to read it or even comment or send me a message with feedback it’s a shame but I understand that life is busy lifes. I have enjoyed writing my blog and I will continue to keep my personal diary of events as time goes on.
Again thank you to those who have commented. Your words have been very heartfelt.
Happy new year people, take care perhaps you will see me once again I don't know.
X.
