Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2015 22:36:29 GMT
Got an e-mail tonight from Sussex CCC offering tours of SA next winter, via the club's partner Travel Places.
I'm an old South Africa hand; I went out for the first time in 1994 (refused to go under the old regime) and have since been on eleven further trips in 20 years, only two of them cricket-related holidays, the rest of them to write about South African music and to interview the likes of Masekela, Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo (three trips with them), the Mahotella Queens etc.
Personally, I find the mob-handed group trips to Robben Island and Soweto, which are included as part of the cricket package, distasteful voyeurism. Simply take the hourly ferry to Robben Island and you will get a guided tour, conducted by a former prisoner. As for Soweto, find a black taxi driver and ask him to take you there and pay him for the day as your personal guide; he will be certain to have relatives in the township (the township name is misleading - it's a city with a population of 1.5 million!) and will take you to their home for a drink (or several), some soul food and a passionate debate about ANC politics. A young lady of the house will probably then offer to accompany you back to your hotel room for the night. It's your choice whether you accept; there's no pressure. But it's a lot funkier than the sanitised ghastliness of the tour groups.
The price Travel Places is offering of £5,635 per person (£7,210 for a single room) for a four week tour taking in the tests in Durban, Cape Town and Joburg, is very reasonable in comparison to similar tours of Australia. But you can hire a car and construct your own itinerary for around half that sum and you should not be seduced by the promise of "5 day preferential reserved seating and match tickets" - the best seats in the house will cost you 50 rand on the gate (around £4.50 per day). And for all the hyped-up panic about safety and car-jackings, we've never had any trouble, even in the so-called 'dodgiest' township.
If anyone is thinking of going, drop me a line and I'll give you all the info you need to do the trip independently for half of what Sussex CCC/Travel Places are charging.
I'm an old South Africa hand; I went out for the first time in 1994 (refused to go under the old regime) and have since been on eleven further trips in 20 years, only two of them cricket-related holidays, the rest of them to write about South African music and to interview the likes of Masekela, Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo (three trips with them), the Mahotella Queens etc.
Personally, I find the mob-handed group trips to Robben Island and Soweto, which are included as part of the cricket package, distasteful voyeurism. Simply take the hourly ferry to Robben Island and you will get a guided tour, conducted by a former prisoner. As for Soweto, find a black taxi driver and ask him to take you there and pay him for the day as your personal guide; he will be certain to have relatives in the township (the township name is misleading - it's a city with a population of 1.5 million!) and will take you to their home for a drink (or several), some soul food and a passionate debate about ANC politics. A young lady of the house will probably then offer to accompany you back to your hotel room for the night. It's your choice whether you accept; there's no pressure. But it's a lot funkier than the sanitised ghastliness of the tour groups.
The price Travel Places is offering of £5,635 per person (£7,210 for a single room) for a four week tour taking in the tests in Durban, Cape Town and Joburg, is very reasonable in comparison to similar tours of Australia. But you can hire a car and construct your own itinerary for around half that sum and you should not be seduced by the promise of "5 day preferential reserved seating and match tickets" - the best seats in the house will cost you 50 rand on the gate (around £4.50 per day). And for all the hyped-up panic about safety and car-jackings, we've never had any trouble, even in the so-called 'dodgiest' township.
If anyone is thinking of going, drop me a line and I'll give you all the info you need to do the trip independently for half of what Sussex CCC/Travel Places are charging.