Arrival in Capetown – Backpacking around the World

Arrival around 12:30 pm at the airport after 14 hour on the plane. There was a stop-over in Jo’burg, but we weren’t allowed to leave the plane so we just got the see Johannesburg-Airport in the early morning. When the plane approached Cape Town we were ahead of schedule so we flew a circle around the Cape peninsula which was a very good start into the day. The immigration officer was very friendly and for the first time in my life, someone picked me up the airport. The driver was already waiting with a nameplate outside and I just hopped in the bus. I was the only guest to be picked up, so I felt like a VIP.
The big surprise was when I arrived at my pre-arranged accommodation, the Over-Sea Club – no one was at the hostel, opened the door or even answered the phone. I waited with a Japanese girl, a student in Cape Town who was supposed to meet up with a friend and we had quite a nice conversation till a guy approaches us for money. First he would just talk to us about the weather and stuff, but then he started to tell us a weird story about German tourists taking all of his stuff and that he had to leave Cape Town and therefore needed 300 Rand… bla bla. I’m sure he talked to us for more then 20 minutes, till I made up an excuse so the Japanese Girl and I could leave. I decided to stay at her hostel, the Travellers Inn, which was just next door. I must have been a bit confused the first day, since I was willing to pay 200 Rand (around 30 Euro) for one night. Nice and clean single room, with breakfast, but not my usual budget for accommodation…