Johannesburg, South Africa (Center on Interactive Map)

City

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Trips

Africa: Eastern and Southern

12/18/2002: Arriving in Johannesburg on the minibus, I was dropped off at a different shopping mall than the one instructed by the youth hostel. I called the hostel to ask for a pickup, and they were very confused and upset that I had taken the minibus. In fact, they were surprised that I had not been murdered! Seemed very odd to me because I did not feel threatened in any way during the trip.

While I waited for the ride at the mall, I enjoyed my second shakedown by the South African police who accused me of having a bomb in my backpack. After I told them I was American, they left.

The people from the hostel finally found me, and it was very odd that it was so difficult as I was only about one half mile away from the spot where the regular bus would have dropped me. This is when I finally learned that my orange hat symbolized South African White Nationalism which is why the cops were being such pricks.

The official mall was very much over the top with a roller coaster inside. I enjoyed a couple of days in the hostel playing soccer and watching the latest Lord of the Rings release in the movie theater at the mall.

After some long-distance battles with my credit card's fraud department, I was able to secure a car rental to continue my journey.

Previous Visit (Pretoria: 12/15/2002)
Next Visit (Augrabies Falls: 12/21/2002)

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Lifelists

Africa
World