Canal Walk

As a group we took a trip to the mall last night that turned into an adventure. It started by getting into a minitaxi with several stangers then being dropped off on the side of a busy road in the middle of what looked like a large apartment complex. After walking a bit we could see the huge mall with all of its fountains and nice places to eat inside. The Canal Walk mall (although very expensive) was very nice. We enjoyed a few hours of shopping and then stopped at the food court where several men were enjoying sports games being shown on the large screen television surrounded by lit up signs while thier spouses shopped at the mall. After eating it was time to return home but there was no minibus taxi to be found. After walking around aimlessly we decided to take a cab home. Six of us squeezed into the four door car. Once inside the cab, (which had a broken window on one side) the driver informed us that he was charging us a very high price. We refused to pay what he wanted and he began to say that we had too many people to fit into his cab and that he could be charged a large fine for having us all in the back if the police caught him. He dropped us off at Cape Town Station and then we were able to find a loud crowded minitaxi to take home. The trip home from the mall took 1.5 hours. Public transportation in Cape Town has proven to be always unpredictable. Some days a commute can take ten minutes and others that same commute can take two hours.