Going my way?

When people in South Africa get a good-paying job, one of the first things they buy is a car. Judging by the numbers of people walking, hitch-hiking, and piling into taxis, there are a lot of people in that country without good jobs.

There are several reasons for this. The main one is probably that there is simply a lot of poverty in South Africa. This in turn has many reasons. My purpose of these entries is not political, but I can't spend 3 weeks in a country without becoming somewhat aware of what makes it what it is. Some of the driving forces are quite visible -- the campaigning for the upcoming election, for instance. Ronda, having lived there for over a year (and earlier in Kenya and Tanzania), knows a lot about African countries. I know almost nothing, but I can do the history. Any country that has suffered wars, suppression, and Apartheid (very recently) the way South Africa has is going to have problems for a while. I am, however, attempting to restrict these entries to observations and experiences only and leave the political discussions to residents of the country.

Back to the people. A lot of people walk in South Africa. Children in uniforms walk to and from school, often a few miles. Women carry plastic tubs of things bought or things to sell on their heads, carefully, and they have excellent posture. A lot of people walk barefoot everywhere. I have thought this was a bad idea for many years, but in South Africa that's what they do.

Taxis are another interesting study. Ronda has been hassled by the drivers when she walks past the taxi ranks, and it's considered generally unsafe for an unescorted young woman to walk past them. I'm accustomed to people in the United States calling a cab to get to the airport or another important appointment once in a while. It seems expensive, so I don't do it very often. In South Africa, however, taxis are a part of everyday life -- for appointments, for visiting friends, and for most of their shopping.

I didn't even recognize them as taxis as first. I thought that big families were going on big picnics. The vehicles are the size of vans or mini-vans. People do their shopping and wait for a taxi going their way. Then they have to wait for the taxi to fill up. Then they have to hope that the taxi will get close to their destination. Sometimes arguments ensue.

The whole taxi scene was a source of amazement to me. In cities, car horns are heard constantly. Ronda explained that these announce the presence of not yet full taxis. That is the country's public transportation. Any outing can take most of a day -- riding in a taxi from a village to a station at a taxi rank, walking to another station, waiting for the taxi to fill up, on to the destination (at least the driver's idea of your destination), and then doing the whole thing in reverse.

Walking is another story, also amazing to me. People walk long miles to shop and return home. Men carry bags in their hands. Women carry items on their heads. The shoulders of country roads are narrow. There is often little more than a narrow path very close to fast traffic. It looks treacherous.

We saw quite a few hitchhikers. Ronda had to explain the signals to us. In the U.S., we (well, I've only seen it done) stick out a thumb. In South Africa, people either stick an arm straight up in the air (the way I would respond in class if I really, really knew the answer) or they raise their arm and point vaguely to their destination. It is an arcing, sweeping motion, translated: "I'm here, and I need to get there."

There are danger signs posted in some areas. They say, "Warning. High Crime Area. Do Not Pick Up Hitchers." Or something like that. The words "high crime area" stuck in my head. If a criminal stepped outside of the area, i.e., the other side of a sign, would it be okay to pick him up? Would his character have changed? I've never picked up a hitch-hiker and was glad to know that Ronda didn't want to. Brian had a great deal of sympathy for all the people walking and said that if we ever went back, we would haul a trailer and give a lot of people rides. Would that mean that we might have a whole trailer-full of criminals? As sympathetic as I was, I still wouldn't want to pick up a stranger. In an African country or my own country.

When planning the trip, I read that hitching is acceptable for tourists. I'm glad that we had a rental car and didn't have to walk long distances, hitchhike, or ride in taxis.