I finally have internet again!! It's nice. So here's a long update.
About driving, first - here are some signs I saw. Real life. I would have taken a picture but I would have also then died, so you'll just have to take my word for it:
PENGUINS IN ROADWAY!!!
Slow Golfer Crossing (that's for you, Dell)
Robot Ahead
CAUTION!! BABOONS!!
WARNING! AVERAGE SPEED PROSECUTION
I am sure some of these mean something other than what I read them as, but still....and hey, there are baboon signs everywhere, warning about how aggressive they are. I REALLY wanted to see one, and after one whole day of exploring I came up empty. And I was sad.
Moving right along.
Some other driving things I've noticed?
Well, first of all, you can just be on a drive to the next town over and see whales. Awesome.
Next, parking on curbs is completely legitimate, and it is not uncommon to see parallel parking spots with two corners on the road and two half way through the sidewalk. Yikes.
Curbs are one thing, but parking in residential areas is absurd. You can literally park anywhere you want. Sidewalks, grassy areas, all over the road....T.O.B (Town of Blacksburg) would have a FIT.
All speeding is monitored by "cameras". Thus everyone speeds, red lights are suggestions, and everything is insane.
Traffic circles are the norm, but they are HUGE and so they work well. Most of the time. Sometimes I get extraordinarily confused because so many things are coming in and out and I really hate that I'm going the wrong way and I can't figure out which ones to go out of. It's awkward.
There is no such thing as a left turn on red. It's sad. But there is often a blinking green arrow right after the light turns red, and I always miss it and people "hoot" their horns at me alllll the time. I feel so bad!!
Here's one that I like! You pay to park most everywhere, but rather than pay on your way out the gate, you pay at a little booth inside and it prints you another ticket that works for 15 minutes. It certainly saves time on the way out!
There is stop, yield, stop/yeild, and proceed when safe. In practice, they all look about the same.
Finally - construction. It happens any and everywhere, with no VDOT approved traffic plans or even a semblance of safety. I've seen men dangling 6 stories high with no harness, I've seen 8 foot trenches in the middle of main street because sewer mains are being replaced and it's the weekend. It's chaos. But I bet it saves a ton of money!!
So there are a few things I've noticed about driving. I'm actually quite comfortable with it, and know my way around Pinelands quite well (sure helps that it's tiny). I also know how to get around Cape Town, how to get to Cape Point, and yea. Driving is relaxing again. What a blessing!!
So as I briefly mentioned, I wanted to see a baboon. Badly, actually. I went on a drive to the Cape of Good Hope. It was a lovely drive, really.
About driving, first - here are some signs I saw. Real life. I would have taken a picture but I would have also then died, so you'll just have to take my word for it:
PENGUINS IN ROADWAY!!!
Slow Golfer Crossing (that's for you, Dell)
Robot Ahead
CAUTION!! BABOONS!!
WARNING! AVERAGE SPEED PROSECUTION
I am sure some of these mean something other than what I read them as, but still....and hey, there are baboon signs everywhere, warning about how aggressive they are. I REALLY wanted to see one, and after one whole day of exploring I came up empty. And I was sad.
Moving right along.
Some other driving things I've noticed?
Well, first of all, you can just be on a drive to the next town over and see whales. Awesome.
Next, parking on curbs is completely legitimate, and it is not uncommon to see parallel parking spots with two corners on the road and two half way through the sidewalk. Yikes.
Curbs are one thing, but parking in residential areas is absurd. You can literally park anywhere you want. Sidewalks, grassy areas, all over the road....T.O.B (Town of Blacksburg) would have a FIT.
All speeding is monitored by "cameras". Thus everyone speeds, red lights are suggestions, and everything is insane.
Traffic circles are the norm, but they are HUGE and so they work well. Most of the time. Sometimes I get extraordinarily confused because so many things are coming in and out and I really hate that I'm going the wrong way and I can't figure out which ones to go out of. It's awkward.
There is no such thing as a left turn on red. It's sad. But there is often a blinking green arrow right after the light turns red, and I always miss it and people "hoot" their horns at me alllll the time. I feel so bad!!
Here's one that I like! You pay to park most everywhere, but rather than pay on your way out the gate, you pay at a little booth inside and it prints you another ticket that works for 15 minutes. It certainly saves time on the way out!
There is stop, yield, stop/yeild, and proceed when safe. In practice, they all look about the same.
Finally - construction. It happens any and everywhere, with no VDOT approved traffic plans or even a semblance of safety. I've seen men dangling 6 stories high with no harness, I've seen 8 foot trenches in the middle of main street because sewer mains are being replaced and it's the weekend. It's chaos. But I bet it saves a ton of money!!
So there are a few things I've noticed about driving. I'm actually quite comfortable with it, and know my way around Pinelands quite well (sure helps that it's tiny). I also know how to get around Cape Town, how to get to Cape Point, and yea. Driving is relaxing again. What a blessing!!
So as I briefly mentioned, I wanted to see a baboon. Badly, actually. I went on a drive to the Cape of Good Hope. It was a lovely drive, really.
I enjoyed most all of it. I drove around in a sun dress and heels, climbed over rocks, and got laughed at a bunch. It was delightful, but I stayed close to my car because I was scared of being alone with this particular nature. While in the safety of my car, I was still scanning the wilderness in hopes of seeing a baboon! I drove down a random road (everything is Afrikaans and I had no clue what I would find down each one) and found a BEAUTIFUL beach. See??
I decided that the baboons were a scare tactic, and so I walked pretty far from my safe place. As I continued to walk around, I noticed a pack of surfers running and shouting. Mild panic attack. I looked over to them, and saw that they were being chased by about 20 baboons!!!! By the time I realized what they were up to, they had me trapped. Don't judge - all the pictures are of their backs. Silly, but the last thing on my mind was to document what I was sure was about to take place!! They really were about 5-10 feet away from me.
Evil baboons!! The little ones came right up to me, and I was sooooooo scared! They may have been kickable but the big ones were NOT, and they were watching me. And they DEFINITELY had me outnumbered. Where is your knight when you need him!?!?! So I was slowly making my way around toward the stairs and my car where some others were waiting for me, and I did not know HOW I was going to survive this experience.
Then one of the surfer dudes saw me, and ran back and escorted me to my car. Tah Dah!! Men. They are the best. Still, the baboons didn't stop hovering until I was gone. In all honesty, I'm sure they are not so evil? But I stayed close to my car after that. Which is good because then I found baboons everywhere. And ostriches. And Springbok. One actually bolted across the road right in front of my car. They are bigger than deer, and they are beautiful when they run. It would have hurt.
Tomorrow I'll post a few more pictures from Cape Point. It really is a beautiful place!! And I will also post profiles of the kids at Barcelona. Stay Tuned. :)
Then one of the surfer dudes saw me, and ran back and escorted me to my car. Tah Dah!! Men. They are the best. Still, the baboons didn't stop hovering until I was gone. In all honesty, I'm sure they are not so evil? But I stayed close to my car after that. Which is good because then I found baboons everywhere. And ostriches. And Springbok. One actually bolted across the road right in front of my car. They are bigger than deer, and they are beautiful when they run. It would have hurt.
Tomorrow I'll post a few more pictures from Cape Point. It really is a beautiful place!! And I will also post profiles of the kids at Barcelona. Stay Tuned. :)