South Africa observations

So, a couple of things that we have noticed about South Africa in our limited time here and the limited locations we have been too. 

 
Parking meters - There are none. When you park, an attendant comes to you and you pay your money to park, say 20 rand for 30 minutes and you get a ticket in exchange. When there are no attendants around or parking is free, you will find that a man in an orange hi-vi vest will approach you, tell you his name and that he will look after your car for you whilst you are gone. At the end of your stay you simply give him a few rand and for that you will probably get seen out of your parking spot safely. I'm not sure what happens if you don't pay! I don't think they have some kind of protection racket going on and that you will find your wheels gone if you don't pay. I've got to admit that I quite liked it. At least you can leave stuff in your boot safe in the knowledge that someone is looking out for it. Or at least it felt that way to us.

These observations might well be the exception to the rule, but its what we saw. It appears that there still appears to be a large disproportion of wealth in this country. There is also a lack of public transport. Hardly any buses and no trains that I have seen. This means that no car equals no travel unless you can thumb a lift with someone or you get picked up by one of the vans  that travel around plying their trade as taxis.