This is Africa!?
- Thread starter leaskovski
- Start date
I ahvent been there but from what i have watched and read there are some parts that are incredibly dangerous and lawless.
My boss at work actually moved away from joberg as he wanted to start a family and said it was simply to dangerous there. He told me some pretty ***** up stories too.
My boss at work actually moved away from joberg as he wanted to start a family and said it was simply to dangerous there. He told me some pretty ***** up stories too.
To be honest, it painted a pretty accurate picture of SA's problems, regardless of editing. That's just how things are out there; the police exist in a grey area where they're sometimes doing what they can with limited resources and manpower, whilst other times they're simply useless and don't do what is asked and expected of them.
I`m going to Soweto in 6 months, I`ll report back then
You got balls, man. I wouldn't go near the place!!
Lived in SA for 18 years, btw. Pre & post apartheid. The older generation still bitter about what happened in the past and are influencing the younger generation. They hate you for just being white, even though they were born after 1994. People get raped in killed for mobile phones or less.
Open racism all over. Just be careful.
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No my friend, it IS THAT BAD & WORSE. A lot of my family still live there, so I should know.
I spent 3 years in West African, both French and English; Sierra Leone, Liberia and the main base Guinea for 3 years.
Terrible poverty, and rampant corruption at every level of society. Corruption from parking your car to negotiating an oil export contract. At the low end, poverty to the extent that human life is cheapened to the point that the West would not understand.
Despite this, no differences between 'us and them'. Some are driven to make a difference, others will fall down and become UN food aid parasites, just like many of the UK benefit monkeys (see many other threads on this).
The time I spent there was incredible. I saw it from a priveledged and high position, being funded by a Western company, but after 3 years had immersed myself enough to finally start to understand some of the real lives of the locals.
Ultimately, Africa is no different to us, other than they have both stronger and weaker nationalist divisions, more tribal based than us, and because of the poverty, aka out culture and technology shunted into theirs, now have different ways of sorting out their problems.
Africa is a wonderful place, yet dangerous in many parts (West Africa at least!) for the casual visitor. Once you've spent any meaningful time there, it is in your blood. I've been back once since I worked there, and another time to just further up the coast.
Terrible poverty, and rampant corruption at every level of society. Corruption from parking your car to negotiating an oil export contract. At the low end, poverty to the extent that human life is cheapened to the point that the West would not understand.
Despite this, no differences between 'us and them'. Some are driven to make a difference, others will fall down and become UN food aid parasites, just like many of the UK benefit monkeys (see many other threads on this).
The time I spent there was incredible. I saw it from a priveledged and high position, being funded by a Western company, but after 3 years had immersed myself enough to finally start to understand some of the real lives of the locals.
Ultimately, Africa is no different to us, other than they have both stronger and weaker nationalist divisions, more tribal based than us, and because of the poverty, aka out culture and technology shunted into theirs, now have different ways of sorting out their problems.
Africa is a wonderful place, yet dangerous in many parts (West Africa at least!) for the casual visitor. Once you've spent any meaningful time there, it is in your blood. I've been back once since I worked there, and another time to just further up the coast.
Certain areas are no go for foreign visitors. I friend of mine is over there working in Nigeria atm and that has some very bad areas.
They have a front and back police car escort, police helicopter and armed guards with them at all times.
Last week on his birthday, armed gunmen attacked the convoy.
He's got another week before his work is finished and he's allowed home again.
They have a front and back police car escort, police helicopter and armed guards with them at all times.
Last week on his birthday, armed gunmen attacked the convoy.
He's got another week before his work is finished and he's allowed home again.
I had a choice to go to Joburg to find work (I'm from Durban) or London, guess where I chose?
Ive been to Africa 6 times.....
Tunisia once - in December. Didnt enjoy it (prolly cos I went while I was off sick from work and couldnt relax. But was the best Christmas Ive ever had).
Gambia twice - loved it. Very hot in November and would go again.
Kenya thrice (3 times). Loved it and would go every year if I could afford it. A very beautiful country and doing a safari is something I would recommend to anyone. Traveling through unspoilt countryside - no houses, no bus stops, no sign posts, no nothing.......just nature, and wild animals in their natural environments!!!!
As people have already said, bad news is always reported!!!
To see the beauty of Africa watch a David Attenborough programme.
Tunisia once - in December. Didnt enjoy it (prolly cos I went while I was off sick from work and couldnt relax. But was the best Christmas Ive ever had).
Gambia twice - loved it. Very hot in November and would go again.
Kenya thrice (3 times). Loved it and would go every year if I could afford it. A very beautiful country and doing a safari is something I would recommend to anyone. Traveling through unspoilt countryside - no houses, no bus stops, no sign posts, no nothing.......just nature, and wild animals in their natural environments!!!!
As people have already said, bad news is always reported!!!
To see the beauty of Africa watch a David Attenborough programme.
There is relatively very little corelation of what the place is like to live and exist and what the place is like to visit and see from a window of a car. People go to Cuba and come back with pretty postcards all the time and yet in its majority, outside main tourist paths it can be true rectum of the world that's 100 years backwards.
Going to Africa on a photo safari and coming back with "it's not all so bad" is a bit like going ice skating at Spinningfields and coming back with a story what a lovely and cultural place Manchester is.
Going to Africa on a photo safari and coming back with "it's not all so bad" is a bit like going ice skating at Spinningfields and coming back with a story what a lovely and cultural place Manchester is.
Yeah that's what I thought tbh. Probably only difference is that in Philly you get shot, in Joburg you get burnt alive. That said, Philly will have lots of decent areas where you're not affected by the lawlessness, not sure the same can be said for Joburg.
As said it depends where you go. It's not as bad as it used to be. When they locked tribes into churches and burned them down. Think it was around 1996. It's when my granddad decided to move to England. Also have photos somewhere of a holiday in the early 80's with armed guards, following us around 24/7..
I'm regularly in Gambia 3-4 times a year as part of an ongoing Computers for Schools project and I see many Nigerians taking more control over businesses there.
The tourist trade brings very little in for the locals and this is starting to have a negative effect on how the locals feel about the tourists. I know its not the tourists fault but its easier to blame them instead of the Nigerian gangs that are forever growing in Gambia.
Its sad to see and I hope that its not going to turn into another area for tourists where they have to stay on their hotel complex and be afraid to go out.
The tourist trade brings very little in for the locals and this is starting to have a negative effect on how the locals feel about the tourists. I know its not the tourists fault but its easier to blame them instead of the Nigerian gangs that are forever growing in Gambia.
Its sad to see and I hope that its not going to turn into another area for tourists where they have to stay on their hotel complex and be afraid to go out.
The woman that lived in the unit behind me came from south africa.
She had been stabbed 7 times, Shot at least 4 or 5 times and 2 of those times where with a shot gun.
I think it was mainly her husband doing it though.
Icefire or iceonefire or what ever his name lives there. And Dmpoole Grew up in Nigeria.
I have seen people go opn holiday to certain parts and it is friendly in the places they went.
She had been stabbed 7 times, Shot at least 4 or 5 times and 2 of those times where with a shot gun.
I think it was mainly her husband doing it though.
Icefire or iceonefire or what ever his name lives there. And Dmpoole Grew up in Nigeria.
I have seen people go opn holiday to certain parts and it is friendly in the places they went.
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I'm living in South Africa at the moment, it's not that bad you can buy pretty much the same stuff here as you back home. I've been to Jo'burg a few times, and yes, bad things can happen there but it's a big city and just like any other big city there are places you just don't go, stick the main touristy areas and it's fine.
I went to Eritraya about 10 years ago, we were alongside in the main port of Massawa. It has infrastructure in place, but also has desperately poor people living close to the town. There were a couple of nice hotels where we'd go for a few beers, but when the rubbish was taken ashore from the ship we'd get locals going through it to see what they could find. on the othert side of the port there were a couple of old russian built fpb's that were unusable and also visible from our ship there was an unexploded anti ship missle just lying there on the beech, that the Eritrayan military either didn't have the expertise or couldn't be bothered to dispose of it.
I'm sure they do make it look worse than it is, but I'm sorry I can't remember polish plumbers needing armed escorts, two police cars and a helicopter when working in this country..................
