It is 6h35am, the heat is rising outside, and I cant decide whether to please my body and go back to bed or should I hit the beach now while the sun hasn't reached its peak.
I remember asking: "What is the protocol for boarding and sitting inside the Shosholoza Meyl."
Whilst I did not get any feedback on Facebook, I got the answer myself by experiencing it.
It's like waiting to board a Khayelitsha train (Khayelitsha trains are notorious for being packed) there was pushing and shoving. Luckily, I was near the door, and got in relatively easy with my backpack and one bag.
Passengers had LARGE suitcases,goods,children and babies- and these were making an entrance through the windows! One person would be inside, to receive the goods/suitcases/children/babies, the other would on the outside.
People cram into one compartment and look for seats, instead of boarding the carriages at the furthest end, which are relatively empty. Some were even without seats, and filled the passages.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the seats were covered in leather. In my head I had a vision of yellow plastic chairs a-la Metrorail local trains.
Just like a local Metrorail train, there are individual selling their wares inside the train. Alcohol was freely available, and passengers helped themselves - I guess the trip is that much shorter when inebriated.
Some banxilela'd kwabanye, I took a pic with my fone of some random drunk guy who went to sit on another guy's lap- and they're strangers, never met before.
The kids ran and played in the packed passages.
These kids seated opposite me with their gogo. Kids, they love me, cant get enough of me!
I was wide eyed and bushy tailed, my wide-eyed-little-girl look helped me obtain a window seat, cos I didnt get one initially upon boarding. Owen from Limpopo, who was to be my travel companion for the journey offered me his window seat.
We talked at length about many topics. Even through/despite the conversation, the train felt like it was moving in one place- quite slow.
Worcester station. After much chat with Owen, I thot we were half way to Jozi, but we were still in bleepin Worcester, lmdao
TouwsRiver, Western Cape
I ate. I slept, squeezing my tiny frame into those seats. My fone died, I had to pay a security guard R10 to revive its battery. Through this, I met Masixole, from P.E. he also had to charge his fone. We sat and talked until arrival at the city of Thundering walls. On the way we passed towns of Kimberley, and Randfontein, which was my first time to pass through.
Kimberley, Northern Cape
I walked around, a little bit, to see more of Park station.
I met with the Bandug Conference and the Thipe brothers, we drove to Springs- where I had a desperately needed bath and washing of teeth.
Later on, we ghubuluza'd to Newtown to an underground hip-hop session at Party People. I slept after 4am and had to get up at 6am to get my bus to Mozambique.
The 8am bus left at 12pm. Both my fones were dead by that time. We crossed the border, and I had to get a Mozambican sim card. I met up with Ivan and we walked the avenues of Maputo.
Wow, the state of disrepair in this town is unimaginable, such a contrast from the image I had in my mind of a well developed city with turqoise beaches. We enjoyed the beach, took the local taxi back and I slept around 3am.
It's now 6h58am and had to connect with all y'all in Facebook-land!
to sleep or not to sleep, that is the question!
...Needless to say, I did not go back to bed to snooze. I left behind the Base Backpackers and its uber friendly dog.
I ghubuluza'd by myself around the city. I went to change Rands into Meticals and had some breakfast.
Exchange rate
1 Rand= 5 Meticals
100 Rand=500 Meticals
Breakfast, not at Tiffany's. Toasted ham and cheese sandwhich, 160 meticals (around R39 when converted)
Tummy filled, I took a leisurely stroll up Avenida 24 de Julho, to the inner city.... to be continued...
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