August - Driving me crazy?

Ever wondered what it is like to drive in Africa?  I can speak from experience when I say it is never boring!  Thankfully South Africa is a relatively tame place to drive compared to the rest of the continent, but it is still an adventure every time you start your car.

The standard speed limit for rural roads, highways, and motorways (freeways) is 120 kilometers per hour, or about 75 mph.  That can be nerve racking when you realize most roads here are just two lanes with mminimal shoulders and no median.  Because many of the older vehicles and trucks can’t manage 120 k/h they end up going much slower, which leads to frequent passing.  People in South Africa pass with abandon – curves in the road and oncoming traffic pose little hindrance.  They even pass multiple vehicles in one go.  Once, I started to pull out to pass a slow vehicle in front of me only to realize a car coming up beside me in the process of passing the cars behind me, my car, and the truck in front of us.  Now when I want to pass I not only look ahead for oncoming traffic, but also behind for vehicles that might be passing me.

Because of the dangers involved in frequent passing, many slow vehicles will helpfully drive along on the shoulder rather than on the road so people can easily wiz by them.  Or, they will move over onto the shoulder (without slowing down) if someone wants to get by.  This works well when there is a large shoulder, but gets exciting when the same thing is happening in both directions.  A two lane road effectively turns into a four lane road!  This can be quite dangerous when obstructions are present on the shoulder.

Now, imagine all this passing and driving on the shoulder occurring while people are walking along and even crossing the road, donkey carts are trotting along the shoulder, and cows and goats are grazing on the sides of the road and in the medians when they exist. Second, add in potholes.  They can be 6-8 inches deep and vary in width from a few inches to several feet.  Dodging them is often impossible due to their sheer number and frequency and they can come up on you pretty fast at 120 k/h.

Finally, imagine all this is going on in the dark at night!  Street lights are rare so it can be pitch black.  The livestock are especially a risk at night when the donkeys are not being used to pull carts and are released to graze.  Hitting a donkey at 120 k/h is a big risk.  You will be glad to hear I avoid driving after dark as much as is realistically possible.  Even in the daytime, it feels like I’m driving in a Nintendo game. 

Another fun variable in the driving game is the robot (stop light).  They are often placed off to the side of the roads, rather than overhead, so I frequently don’t see them until I’m almost in the intersection.  It doesn’t help that they often have at least one of the colors not working so it may be only the absence of a green light that tells you to stop since the red isn’t working.  Or, all the lights may be out in that intersection and you revert to a four way stop.  The radio traffic updates even report robot outages as people call them in during the morning and evening commutes.

Despite all this, I realize that it is indeed a blessing to drive here in South Africa where almost all of the roads are paved and where traffic laws exist and are generally followed.  It could be much more exiting!

On a more personal note, I’ve finally finished most of my to do list now with internet set up, a bank account started, the house starting to feel like a home, car bought and insured, and everything unpacked. Thank you for all of your prayers!  Settling in to my new home has been much smoother than I could have hoped. 

I’m starting to get a feel for the clinic (mid-July) and have moved my lab coats and stethoscope into my new office. Next month, I’ll be able to share more about the clinic, but keep an eye on my Facebook page in the meantime.