Anonymous asked: Africa has the reputation for being a "scary" place. It sounds like you are having the time of your life but has there been any instances where you have been afraid?
Actually… no. Not once. Interesting, right? I’ve actually been stunned at how safe I’ve felt during this entire journey. There have been a few times where I’ve been a bit nervous (driving in not-so-good neighborhoods in Johannesburg at night out of necessity, or whenever we get pulled over at the numerous police checks along the road), but everything has always gone very smooth.
Interestingly, I think being American has actually given us some help along the way on this trip, which is definitely something I wouldn’t have been able to say six years ago. For example, a normal police check would go:
*Police motions us over, we stop the car*
“Hello, can I see your drivers license?”
“Sure” *starts pulling it out*
“Where are you from?”
“USA”
“Ohh… Obama!”
“Yeah! Obama!”
“Alright, have a nice day”
“Thank you sir”
And we drive off.
Love him or hate him, President Obama definitely has some powerful sway here.
Outside of that normal routine, everyone (excluding immigrations officers) has been kind, helpful, or at the very least non-threatening.
So… maybe we’ve been lucky? Or, perhaps maybe Africa (Southern/Eastern) isn’t really that bad after all.
