Taxi Rides

Over the course of the past few weeks, I have tried get more comfortable with the mini bus taxi system here in South Africa. The taxi bus system is the biggest mode of transport for most people in the Durban area. Really for most of South Africa. 

The best way I can describe a mini bus taxi, would be to have you picture 14 passenger van that drive certain routes through the city and the townships. Most are really cheap to travel in, depending on your destination. They are most certainly cheaper than what American's idea of a taxi would be. 

There are conflicting feeling about the mini bus taxi system here in Durban. I'm sure its other places as well. For the people that use the taxi's they love them. For the people who own cars, they hate them. Personally I love them. As someone who uses them, I think the system is great. Let me elaborate. You see, at any point in time you can tell the taxi drive to pull over and let you out. This includes the highway, stop light (robot as South African call them), gas station, ect. The only catch is that the taxi may be in furthest lane possible from the side of the road to let you off. So in a brave or maybe reckless driving style, the mini bus taxi will cut through 2-3 lanes of traffic to let you off where you want. This normal entails a lot of honking and people yelling at each other in Zulu and praying to God that the taxi doesn't get you hurt in this endeavor. 

It is also quite an experience be in the taxi its self. In order for the taxi's to make more money they cram people in like sardines. (Even though the government is trying to regulate this). Not every person is a small size either, so at times it entails having a 100 kg (200+Lbs) man or women sitting half way on you lap and trapping you against the seat. Furthermore, some taxi's feel like you are at a rave party or "house" party, with music blaring. The music is so loud you can barely hear yourself think, let alone hear where the next stop for the taxi is. At times, I am not sure it I can feel my  heart beating from the adrenaline pump through from a near accident or because its the bass of the music vibrating my chest. 

Here is a picture of what the mini bus taxis look like. Not the greatest picture, but it will give you a good idea. 

Here is a long shoot of a mini bus taxi in one of the townships. 

Here is a slightly blurry view of a mini bus taxi rank down town. I can't remember if my house mate and I were in a mini bus taxi during while taking this picture or not. 

Photo's Around Durban

Here are some photos that I have taken since being here. The first one is a picture in the Durban Apartheid Museum. It shows two men, one that was vaccinated for small pox and the other that wasn't. These men were on display to convince people to get vaccines. 

Monkey's I ran across, while running in the Botanically Gardens. They were having a blast playing with each other. Didn't even flinch when I came close to take a picture. 

Tea Garden section of the Botanical Gardens.

Coast line of Durban, from one of the piers. Beautiful isn't it. You can see little dots of people surfing. 

The view as I walk home from the hospital everyday. Sun has been beautiful as it shines through the trees walking up the hill. 

This is a ritual site that I took on my walk to church today. These are found all over the city. Depending on the day, there are tons of people that congregate here. They mix a weird form of ancestral worship and christianity together at these sights. Many people have that view that it is ok to do that. Which is not Christianity at all. 

View of the coast at night. This is one of the biggest piers in the area. Very close to a water park on the coast. Lots people come to the coast in the morning to run. 

Rugby Game and Stadium

The weekend of May 27, was packed and fun day. It started with figuring out how to get to the Moses Mobita Stadium. The stadium was built, for the 2010 Football (soccer) World Cup. It is a stadium that exsentuates the Durban skyline, which cost the country of South Africa over 1 billion rand to make and has yet yielded anything close the amount of money invested in to it. The reason for going to the stadium was to pick up an extra rugby ticket for my new house mate, who arrived from Atlanta on Friday afternoon. So we set out to get there. To walk to the stadium from the hospital it is about a 45-55 minute walk. Which on a beautiful day isn't to bad. 

We first thought about catching a bus to the stadium, but unfortunately I don't understand the bus system very well to get down to the stadium efficiently. So, we decided walk would be nice. Not to mention, it would be a good way for my housemate Anna to get the lay of the land. Since the whole city of Durban is on a hill, it was fairly easy to figure out exactly how to the stadium by just looking at the general direction in which to go. So about 45 minutes after setting out, we were able to approach the stadium. 

After getting the ticket we decided it would a good idea to figure out how to get back to the hospital us the bus and mini bus taxis. Which surprisingly took about the same time as it did to walk there. Since there isn't really a direct route to get back. 

We got back to the hospital, in just enough time to relax for a few minutes and head back out again. The whole week, I had been planning to meet-up with some UK and German medical students to enjoy a braai (bbq in the states). To save on money, we tried the public transport again. An hour later, we arrived at our destination, which was a very nice flat right off the coast. After braai'ing out, we then caught a bus to the stadium. Which entailed me convincing my german and UK friends that the bus was safe, efficient, and cheap to travel on. Fortunately the bus driver was friendly and helped convince them as well. We got to the stadium and had a wonderful time, watching the Sharks (the local durban team) team win.

Here are some pictures of the match. I hope you all enjoy them.