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9th June, Johannesburg - T.I.A (This is Africa)
We arrived in Johannesburg on the back of an early morning 2 hour flight from Lusaka. My initial impression from the airport was that Johannesburg and South Africa were more than ready to host the world cup. All the staff and volunteers were very helpful and friendly and moving through the airport was no problem. We actually arrived in Johannesburg at the same time as a plane from South America which contained mostly Argentinean and Mexican fans. Lucky for us we weren't in our England tops because we were severely outnumbered! We entered the arrivals lounge and the place was packed, we spent the next 30 minutes locating our pre arranged transit driver, who turned out to be a middle aged Nigerian man who owned a windowless van and was actually responsible for sheparding a whole group of expectant football fans to various hostels throughout the city.
The first bump in the road came before we left the airport, when we unsuccessfully attempted to obtain our world cup match tickets from the automated machines that were situated in the airport. We found out after an hour or more queuing that the machines would not recognize Scott's bank card and we would have to join an even longer queue to handle the transaction in person. Unfortunately we didn't have time to join this queue as the Nigerian driver was pressed for time. We did however in the following days manage to return and get the tickets - crisis averted!
So bags in hand, the three of us, 1 Australian, 2 Mexicans, 2 Chileans, and our driver bundled ourselves into the white van. I'm pretty sure that's how cheap horror films begin. Still overcome with world cup fever, courtesy of the chorus of vuvuzelas and sombrero wearing Mexicans, we exchanged opinions on possible tournament contenders all the while hoping that the Nigerian wasn't stitching us up! After 30 minutes or so we eventually pulled up at our hostel and the three of us plus the two Mexicans were told to exit the vehicle - we had arrived! I would describe our hostel, named Rosebank lodge, when we first as under construction! Half the rooms had not been finished, showers had been installed but no hot water was available, there were no numbers on the dorm rooms, or the keys to those dorms, no security lockers to safely lock away your belongings, no television to watch the world cup games we were all here to see, no internet, no record of bookings made by different arriving parties, no organization behind the make shift reception desk, no signs to highlight which doors left to bathrooms and which led to bedrooms, no handle on our open window to close the thing…. I think you get the picture.
When we arrived we were asked to wait as were the Mexicans named Paul and Paul's cousin! The reasons why were unclear but for the next 2 and a half hours we sat patiently on some garden furniture outside the reception building whilst they attempted to find any sort of record of our booking. An hour past and then another sat mostly in silence annoyed at the poor state of organization from the semi built lodgings we were supposed to occupy for the next 2 weeks. We struggled through a conversation with a very kind and friendly Slovenian man and his non-English speaking friend before enquiring again at the desk. The Mexicans had now been given a room and it turned out we were later put in the same room as them after asking again to be checked in. After sorting out details and giving a small payment as a deposit we were informed that we were to pay 250 rand each for the airport transit. We had assumed that the transit was free as did the Mexicans who when offered were not told of any charge. 25 pound each for a half hour journey, this meant that the Nigerian man would make 200 pound out of the hour round trip. The three of us and the Mexicans straight away disputed the charge much to the annoyance of the agitated Nigerian driver. However due to the two hour wait our newly formed Mexican-English rebel alliance were ready to argue this charge which prompted the Nigerian to storm out of the hostel claiming he would return with his boss and we could settle the dispute with him.
After another half an hour we were told his boss had arrived and we went to a sofa area to wait and argue the charge which had been issued. It turned out the Nigerians boss in fact owned the hostel we were staying at so we had turned up and pissed off the owner who was already upset due to STA Travel Company being on his back over the poor state of conditions in the hostel. The owner was a short, medium haired Jewish man who was sporting a purple tank top, glasses and a dodgy pair of trousers and as he entered he made it clear he wasn't happy with us. He told us that it was a fixed fee which anyone who used the service had to pay and he was sure we were made aware of the charge at the time of booking, and if we weren't happy he will take us and our bags back to the airport and we can find our own way there. Our response was ok sure. This is when things really started to go wrong. We called his bluff and he really wasn't happy and he blew up with anger! He obviously didn't want to take us back but he assumed we would cave after the threat. He told us that "this was Fifa and we had to understand we had to pay more that we were stupid and taxis would charge at least 650 rand each to get to our hostel". At this point Silver without our knowledge called up a taxi contact which one of his Johannesburg based Zambian contacts had given him and asked for a quote on the journey. He then hung up the phone and told the owner that the taxi man had quoted 350 for all 3 of us. The Jewish man went nuts saying Silver was calling him a liar and that the taxi man was lying. He yelled to reception to call the police claiming we were trying to con him out of money, he kept repeating "call the cops call the cops this is Africa (T.I.A) do you have any idea what they'll do to you guys in jail it's not like home, call the cops so I can throw these f***ers in jail welcome to Africa." Silver thoroughly pissed off after a 2 hour wait and a further hour long debate about transit charges stood up and shouted "I am f***ing African!!!" At which point I thought the situation was about to boil over. I attempted to calm both sides by getting back to the money side of things. I made the point that we were not informed about the charge so to pay for such a large sum for a service which we were not aware was going to cost was unreasonable. Eventually we negotiated a discount; I think the promise of money calms even the most irate of South African Jewish hostel owners!
Tired, pissed off, and wanting to return to Zambia we attempted to settle in to our new surroundings. The argument meant that we befriended the Mexicans for their short stay to the extent that we actually supported them over Bafana Bafana in the opening game. Not to worry in the subsequent days the hostel improved, the owner calmed down and we have adapted and grown to enjoy our surroundings. The area of Rosebank is an up market suburb meaning walking the streets at night is safe and there is a massive mall with all that the modern tourist needs, including bars. Our initial arrival put us off the world cup entirely but the people we met and the games we saw over the ensuing days has made up for our frosty welcome!
DC, Silver, Scott xxx
- comments
Di (Dan's Mum) Another great read Dan. I think I would have turned and run! Scary - glad thinks calmed down and that you are really enjoying South Arifica now. You all look great on the photos. Keep safe and look after yourselves. X XX mum
Ga Ga &Nan Well lads you seem to be having brushes with the money grabbers,glad to hear you did`nt let get the better of you pleased you watched some footy.stay safe we will be watching for more news.
samueeeel James whats so wrong with the mexicans there my underdogs :P hope you have fun !
diva(chansa) TIA boys TIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Martin (Dan's Dad) All part of the learning curve I guess. Glad you all sorted it out. Stay safe. D x