Never again.

[roxenz]

The town that disappointed me the most was Dwarskersbos.  Perhaps because I actually had some expectations of a lovely West Coast plekkie like Yzerftn or Elandsbaai.  Instead I was confronted with unremitting ugly.

But the one place that is definitely "never again" is Sodwana.  Shortly after arriving we sodded off quickly. Horrible place.  Perfect candidate for our next nuclear power station or missile test range...

[EssBee]

I find these different perceptions very interesting. I think what plays a role is ones mood upon arrival and/or occurances that perhaps plays around with ones emotions, and ones pre-conceived idea of the place.

Travelling to the Nat. bash last year I was horrified at Mount Fletcher. Having never been there before, the name sounds like it's a quaint kind of place...jeepers, what a S/Hole!!!! Dilapidated run-down s/hole at that!

[krazy-eyes]

Strandfontein in december....WHAT A DUMP!

caravans EVERYWHERE, with all these white-trashy-looking people squatting beside them. ugly houses all-round. i rode in there, and propmtly made a u-turn. then continued to doringbaai, which was extremely beautiful in contrast

[Kamanya]

Gaansbaai.

I get the dueling banjo feeling. Something a bit spooky about that place.

[Pom17]

Gaansbaai.

I get the dueling banjo feeling. Something a bit spooky about that place.

En natuurlik die feit dat die eerste ou wat dink jy kyk hom skeef uit wil jou nie moer nie maar skiet

En stem saam met Grrrr. Flamingo's of beter bekend as "Flames" in Langebaan is moer kommin. Klomp visvoete

[BlueBull2007]

Seems like there are a lot of kak places in South Africa.

I'm curious why Luderitz was so bad?

[DeepBass9]

i just returned from the DRC - lubumbashi.

i flew up there to go do an aerial survey for one of the copper mines there.

the red tape i had to endure in order to do my work was atrocious!!! for every step forward you have to take 6 back. every person you encounter claims to have some sort of authority and wont let you proceed without a permit of some sort - everyone, from the CAA inspector, gate guard at the airport, desk clerk in the briefing office, the air traffic controller, airport police, airport fire brigade, airport weather guy etc etc. they ALL stop you in your tracks.

on any given day you would be called back to the airport building/briefing office/control tower at least three times. every time it's a matter of shutting down the engine, unstrapping, and walking 500m back to the building. then phoning your handler/liaison to come and interpret, because the d@@s in question all of a sudden cannot speak English [anymore].

the one day i had to ask the airport manager, in person, for permission to fly. on another day i was told that i had to pay landing fees for another south african aircraft who failed to pay his fees months ago. on another day they wanted to arrest me for flying over a mine camp (and in that place you cant swing a cat without it going over a mine). the list goes on and on and on......

after 5 days i was ready to come back, after a week i was gagging to get out of there, and after two weeks i was shaking with frustration and anger at how they go out of their way to curb you.

  In Lubumbashi pas de probleme actually means 'fuck you'   Remember to quote twice the price next time you go....

My vote goes to Leandra. What a dump.

[RobC]

Een ou se gopse is 'n ander se paradys!

Take Knysna for instance... heaven out of season but a nightmare in December.

[Wolzak]

Seems like there are a lot of kak places in South Africa.

I'm curious why Luderitz was so bad?

I arrived there with a South Westerly Wind blowing the living shit out of that place and I got that empty feeling, it was a Sunday afternoon..... the Streets were deserted and a couple of old Bluegum Trees would have completed the scene. I tell you I have never had such an emty feeling driving into any Town. I got lekker vrot that Night and got the Fuck out early the next Morning. And you have to drive the same route back.

[Woestynhond]

Gaansbaai.

I get the dueling banjo feeling. Something a bit spooky about that place.

Squeal like a pig!

[Charlie Brown]

Lamberts Bay...........never, will I take my family there for a holiday, the place sucks!!!

For years I really wanted to go and see Lamberts Bay, and last year I eventually got around to it. What a disappointment!!

You cannot stop anywhere without somebody either trying to sell you something, ask for money or bum a smoke. When we arrived at Lamberts, our first stop was the waterfront harbor pub / food setup. We had not even taken our helmets off and 2 guys were already trying to hussel us for money and smokes. What really got me pissed off was that the dumb f...ckers wouldn't take NO for an answer, they just carried on and on and on, telling me how they are suffering and cannot feed their families etc, etc.........meanwhile they are so pissed that they can hardly stand up straight. Then, later the evening, when we are having our supper at another restaurant, another one of the very pissed locals stood just outside the table area and kept asking for smokes, beer and eventually my food. When I asked the manager why they don't do something about this crap, I was told that there is nothing they can do about it as it is a public area. Well, I'd had enough of this guys shit and got up to convince him to leave me alone as I was about to strip my moer with him. His response was "Jou ma se p..s"......well, you figure the rest out!!PK,PK.

By then the evening had been completely spoilt, and the food was seriously bad, hell you could have used those steaks as an emergency 2000km's worth of back tire tread! We then headed off to the one and only pub we could find and had a couple of dops to calm down as I was by this stage in one seriously shit mood and was about to totally lose it with the local street bums. I have absolutely no problem with helping those less fortunate than I am, I will help in anyway that I can, BUT.......I WILL NOT SUPPLY MONEY FOR BOOZE OR DRUGS to street beggars and bums. When we left the pub at 11:00pm (they wanted to close?), would you believe it.........some tit tried to sell me a moerse chandelier type seashell thing.....f..ck... at 11:00pm and I'm on a f...cking bike. When I said "no thanks" he then asked for money and smokes..............f !!!!!!!!!!! That was it, I packed up at 6:00am and got the hell out of Lamberts Bay.

[Dusty Rusty]

Ek sal sorg dat ek beslis ver wegbly van Lambertsbaai.

Tydens ons trip het ons petrol ingegooi by Frazerburg.  Daai plek lyk ook maar gagga.  Bleh!

[DUSTRIDERS]

Tel my oupa by die ouetehuis op, Desember maande en vat hom dan terug soontoe gewoonlik so maand en n half later. Doen dit al vir die afgelope 8 jaar of so. Hy word nou Oktober, 99 jaar oud. Nog kristalhelder in die geselskap. Hy gaan ook elke jaar so vir 2 of 3 maande Namibie toe. Hy het in die Suide geboer vir sy hele leeftyd. Dis gewoonlik vir my n "roundtrip" vanaf Pretoria. Het al n slag of wat met hom gevlieg ook. Hy het vir die eerste maal in n vliegtuig geklim toe hy 95 jaar oud was.

Ek sal graag langs n vuur wil sit terwyl jou oupa stories vertel.
In daai 99 jaar moet daar n paar boeke se stories wees.

[H2O]

Butterworth.

+1000

[jeff]

Maputo . It was like the back streets of Woodstock only never ending . Got the F@$k out of there as quick as I could

[eberhard]

Maputo . It was like the back streets of Woodstock only never ending . Got the F@$k out of there as quick as I could

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

Maputo . It was like the back streets of Woodstock only never ending . Got the F@$k out of there as quick as I could

+1, last time we rode through Maputo we didn't stop for love of money. Keep going...

[DavidMorrisXp]

i just returned from the DRC - lubumbashi.

i flew up there to go do an aerial survey for one of the copper mines there.

the red tape i had to endure in order to do my work was atrocious!!! for every step forward you have to take 6 back. every person you encounter claims to have some sort of authority and wont let you proceed without a permit of some sort - everyone, from the CAA inspector, gate guard at the airport, desk clerk in the briefing office, the air traffic controller, airport police, airport fire brigade, airport weather guy etc etc. they ALL stop you in your tracks.

on any given day you would be called back to the airport building/briefing office/control tower at least three times. every time it's a matter of shutting down the engine, unstrapping, and walking 500m back to the building. then phoning your handler/liaison to come and interpret, because the d@@s in question all of a sudden cannot speak English [anymore].

the one day i had to ask the airport manager, in person, for permission to fly. on another day i was told that i had to pay landing fees for another south african aircraft who failed to pay his fees months ago. on another day they wanted to arrest me for flying over a mine camp (and in that place you cant swing a cat without it going over a mine). the list goes on and on and on......

after 5 days i was ready to come back, after a week i was gagging to get out of there, and after two weeks i was shaking with frustration and anger at how they go out of their way to curb you.

I spent two years there, serious school fees

[2StrokeDan]

Stellenbosch, cannot wait to retire elsewhere.

This thread is interesting in the sens ethat it can be seen as a meter of a countries decline. Most of the towns mentioned here as unsavoury was once beautiful little working towns.

[Shaun500]

PE , the N2 north ,that piece of road with all the concrete between you and the sea, I think that is the most depressing place . Couldn't get past it quick enough

Couldn't agree more.  PE was a shit-hole to me.  Windy, filthy, and tell tale decay everywhere.  I also found that piece of the N2 next to the see outside PE depressing for some reason.  Maybe it was the hectic cross wind blowing the bike around.