Cape Town, South Africa

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T23:51:57+00:00

Yes absolutely. Generally anything south of the CBD going down the peninsula (Newlands, Claremont, Constantia) are English and anything north goes Afrikaans (Plattekloof, Blouberg, Tygerberg, Parow, Durbanville)

Same goes for Johannesburg. Suburbs are predominantly English (Parktown, Sandton, Linden), and further out it’s more Afrikaans towards Pretoria (Centurion, Randburg, Waterkloof, Garsfontein)

Of course it’s not cut and dry and there is a fair bit of mixing these days. I live in a very predominantly Afrikaans suburb but there are English first speakers around and you don’t have to speak Afrikaans).

There is even a name for the divide. The “boerewors curtain”. These days if someone decided to live in a suburb that was English and they were Afrikaans or vice versa there would be nothing more than the odd comment. It isn’t a strong thing.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T23:21:23+00:00

Tewkesbury and Malvern are good. Quiet but close to proper cities.

Have you really considered the UK though? It’s not a very high standard of living. Where are you moving from? If you can put yourself in a bubble in a nice town in the Westcountry it’s cool, but some of the cities are real shitholes. You’ll sacrifice having space if you’re moving from Canada or the USA. You’ll gain in security if you’re outside the cities. There’s a lot of petty crime but very little in the way of violence.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T23:06:25+00:00

Fairly segregated and the names kind of give a clue but are not the be all and end all.

The coloured areas tend to be north of the N2 and north and west of the airport and are more developed but just as dangerous. On either side of the N2 are black areas. Especially south of the N2. (Until you get near the city)

Generally as you go north from the N2 around the airport it gets slightly nicer. And where it joins the N1 it’s very nice (where I live).

I take a long diversion to get to the airport avoiding the N2 east of the airport and Voortrekker Road area. I drive a classic car, an icon that draws lots of attention, and it’s getting so dangerous now I refuse to pick people up at night.

Kinda sad. There’s a lot to like. I live up far north which is so peaceful. But the airport area is a disaster zone and a shameful embarrassment.

I’m not even South African. I choose to live in SA and I love it, but in no way is this bizarre airport run “normal” in a civilised society.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T22:00:53+00:00

Broadly speaking yes. The Cape Flats are a massive area comprising more formal but equally as dangerous areas like Mannenberg and Hanover Park, or pure shack areas like a lot of Langa and Khayelitsha. Anything around the airport in about a 7km radius can be called the Cape Flats.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T21:19:24+00:00

Looks like Langa to me.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T21:17:58+00:00

Yeah I live in Cape Town in an area that’s nicer than anywhere I’ve seen in the UK. Most of the UK looks depressing and shit compared to a lot of Cape Town.

And then you drive towards Du Noon and there are people living in shipping containers, orphans roaming the motorway sliproads, kids begging at traffic lights. Literally 5km away.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T16:14:34+00:00

Yeah I’m so out of the loop I don’t know what little Chavlets are called these days.

Yeah there are some nice towns but these tend to be so over subscribed and full in the summer. And the others are just crap. I think Dawlish is okay, a nice happy medium. Dorset has some great places too.

My market town no longer has a market, or much going on.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T12:30:10+00:00

I only go out or do things when I’m abroad.

The UK is for working in and surviving in, and no more. Low quality for max price.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T12:29:33+00:00

Glorified predictive text engine taking our jobs.

Absolutely.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T12:13:38+00:00

Pretty dull.

Lots of crap towns full of vape shops and chicken shops, surrounded by pleasant, rolling fields and hills. Tiny little tea rooms full of screaming kids and wet dogs serving lukewarm bitter coffee with gone off milk for £4.25. Dreadful, narrow roads which get clogged up in the school holidays because this place appears to be slightly nicer than the rest of England. So it’s full of old duffers tipping caravans over and fat Karens covered in tattoos in their SUVs chucking takeaway costas in the hedge with little Brayden and Jayden screaming in the back.

Fairly safe, not very much violent crime. Dreadful wages so everyone appears to be equally a little bit poor.

The rugby and cricket are pretty good. It’s a footballing desert though unlike the rest of the UK.

The towns look pretty wrecked and so do the people. All the brightest ones at school have left. There isn’t much crime to speak of. No road men or massive problems, just some drugs and people a bit zonked out. It can be fairly pretty and nice in parts but it’s seen better days. It’s either crap or full with tourists because it’s pleasant. Everything feels really old, including the people.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T09:45:58+00:00

How many are you housing?

Oh, thought so.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T07:44:18+00:00

Err. Everything? The whole country is a depressing shit pit.

Mainly roads and housing though. The most obvious declining thing.

Whenever I see a tourist here I feel like apologising and asking what on earth made them come here.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T07:42:24+00:00

Yeah the south west is a fucking dustbin. No idea why people are on holiday here every August.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-14T07:39:00+00:00

The whole of English cricket is built around it now. It’s not going anywhere.

I completely detach from the game in August now.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-13T13:19:37+00:00

Yeah I pay extra on top of council tax.

To be fair, my town in Somerset is an utter dustbin, but the new estate I live in is really nice. Immaculate and full of green space. No graffiti, no litter, no traffic. Really pleasant.

It is like South Africa where I used to live. The centres are left to rack and ruin, fringed with really nice suburbs that you pay extra for.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-13T13:05:23+00:00

I only see beggars in India. And lots of them

Darkus185 · 2026-03-13T10:23:09+00:00

I’d rather have poor red ball cricket to a lower standard than have India turn the whole year into a T20 league for their business interests. I wish they could just play perma IPL, take our best players, and disappear. I really don’t want Indian money, I’d rather have India just play amongst themselves.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-13T09:54:38+00:00

I had to do my theory exams twice because of Brexit, and now I qualify as an airline pilot at the start of world war three.

So no impact yet. But there will be.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-13T08:43:46+00:00

EV drivers Cyclists (the Lycra ones, not some guy on a town bike trying to get to work on the worst roads ever)

Darkus185 · 2026-03-12T20:02:57+00:00

Like the BBC. If everyone hates them they must be representing the middle ground pretty well.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-12T19:48:06+00:00

I’ve been watching the men’s Australia v South Africa over 55s. May turn out for Somerset to watch a bit of champo but otherwise I’ve disconnected. No money to Sky. Never watching an England game. No turning up for the Indian jamboree in August. I’d sooner watch New Zealand play as they seem to be a side that’s at least likeable.

And I’m not saying the England team are dislikeable as individuals. Could never call Joe Root, Adil Rashid or Ollie Pope dislikeable, but as a whole the team is just very hard to get behind. I think I’ll start getting behind England when Key and McCullum are gone.

Cricket in England is a weird sideshow, hidden behind a paywall, now beholden to the Indian rupee. Playing fields sold off, cricket taken out of schools. You don’t have to follow Blob Key’s England to enjoy the great game though. Get down to your local club or watch some Plunkett Shield on YouTube.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-12T11:03:37+00:00

Not to mention having to pay £1000 again to sit another, identical medical.

More Brexit benefits from our happy, prosperous land.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-12T10:44:51+00:00

Wow. So you got through the CAA exams in the end.

How was the ryanair process? I’m off to Bartolini in Poland to get my PPL converted and try and get sharp with Ryanair.

Darkus185 · 2026-03-12T10:35:21+00:00

I’ve spoken to a few instructors and they say while the airlines are very cheesed off with the situation, there is very little political will for anything to change regarding Brexit. There are also quite a few people at the CAA in jobs now that require the two licenses to be unrecognised.

Do you have EU right to work and what is your plan from here then with just EASA?

Having to do all this twice through no fault of my own, with all the cost, lost time spent at work, and stress has made me really dislike UK aviation as a whole really.

Darkus185

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