January 20, 2007
Before we even arrived to Cape Town we had to book a place to stay for a few nights. The description of this place sounded nice. "Great view, good location, at the foot of table mountain..pool and a jazz club" I imagined something along the ocean with an actal light house near by.
When we arrived here, in this so-called eco-village, the first thing we realized is that we're quite far away from Cape Town. The train station (which people tell you to avoid) were side by side, and our only way to get into town. On your right hand side you have big empty buildings, ready to collapse, on your left hand side you have barbed wire and "The Light House Lodge". A small town ship is your nearest neighbour, and the "short walk" to the grocery store is close to 3km (one way).
The room itself wasn't all that bad, if you look pass the giant hole in the roof. You have security lockers for your stuff, but you're still worried if someone is going to rob you.
The kitchen is filled with bugs and the bathroom isn't the cleanest place. The lady who runs the place is always on "African time", so if she says "I'll be there in 10 minutes", she actually means 30 minutes.
We never saw the so-called jazz club, and the pool was 300 meters away, and not very tempting.
My friend referred to this place as "the mexican hell hole", and I think he was right. This was our first meeting with South Africa.. and I must honestly say, after 4 nights in this dump, I was quite worried about the rest of the country. But luckily for us, this was the worst place we stayed at.
A big tip for everyone who's spending every night at hostels around the world. Make sure you read the reviews about the place before booking. We didn't, and we ended up here. I shiver when I hear "Pinelands"..
When we arrived here, in this so-called eco-village, the first thing we realized is that we're quite far away from Cape Town. The train station (which people tell you to avoid) were side by side, and our only way to get into town. On your right hand side you have big empty buildings, ready to collapse, on your left hand side you have barbed wire and "The Light House Lodge". A small town ship is your nearest neighbour, and the "short walk" to the grocery store is close to 3km (one way).
The room itself wasn't all that bad, if you look pass the giant hole in the roof. You have security lockers for your stuff, but you're still worried if someone is going to rob you.
The kitchen is filled with bugs and the bathroom isn't the cleanest place. The lady who runs the place is always on "African time", so if she says "I'll be there in 10 minutes", she actually means 30 minutes.
We never saw the so-called jazz club, and the pool was 300 meters away, and not very tempting.
My friend referred to this place as "the mexican hell hole", and I think he was right. This was our first meeting with South Africa.. and I must honestly say, after 4 nights in this dump, I was quite worried about the rest of the country. But luckily for us, this was the worst place we stayed at.
A big tip for everyone who's spending every night at hostels around the world. Make sure you read the reviews about the place before booking. We didn't, and we ended up here. I shiver when I hear "Pinelands"..
