Quote Originally Posted by Rock_Flock_of_Five View Post
Surely you'd have an image in your mind's eye about what to expect, i.e poor, overcrowded living conditions, before you even got there?
I don’t know if you have ever been to Cape Town (have you?) but the townships are truly vast, even to the reasonably well informed, but about 20 mins from the centre.

Many, many people visit Cape Town for the glorious scenery, Robben Island, the weather, as a gateway to the Garden Route etc and yet never visit the townships. In fact, it is hardly a tourist trap for obvious reasons and therefore you have to go out of your way to visit and even then it is with a police escort (despite the people being seemingly very welcoming).

So your ‘right on’ comment is a bit naive as the majority of visitors never visit that part of Cape Town which is a bit surprising as there are well over a million (yes a million) people living in abject poverty on the doorstep of what is on the surface a beautiful city, which, to me anyway, has to be seen to be believed. It is staggering.

So, have you been? I’d recommend it if you haven’t as it is a fascinating country.