Living in Africa

Sorry guys, "Weed Smokin' part 2" is gonna have to wait a day or two. Today's post was delayed by a 6 hour power outage which hit Cape Town yesterday.

Cape Town has to rate as one of the most beautiful cities in the world (and I've done my fair bit of globe trotting). We are the 5th plant kingdom in the world, and the smallest and most diverse on planet earth. One of the most culturally cosmopolitan and happening cities in the world it keeps cracking "Number One Tourist Destination of the World" awards (from such prestigious authorities as Conaste magazine) and is increasingly being seen as the destination of choice for global conferences.

So it's easy to forget that we are part of Africa. But this week we had a series of harsh reminders. Monday and Tuesday the monopolistic, quasi-government telcom provider went down on us and we had hours without any DSL access to the rest of the world. Then yesterday the power went down for the whole of Cape Town including a 150km radius of surrounding areas. For 6 hours! Courtesy of another monopolistic, quasi-government utility department. But perhaps the best was the report in yesterday's business section of the morning paper saying that inflation in Zimbabwe (our northern neighbour) hit 411% last month largely due to "the unprecedented demand for bicycles brought on by the countries fuel shortage crisis".

In all fairness, the monopolistic, quasi-government departments are a horrible hangover left form the previous Apartheid government. But there are other problems too.

South Africa should just legalise cannabis and start exporting to the rest of the world (who, in my humble opinion, will eventually ALL legalise the herb). I mean, we've got some of the best quality ganga in the world. And ganga doesn't just have smoking purposes, it is a wonder raw material for fabric, rope, building materials, medicine and energy sources. And for once the people that REALLY need economic aid, i.e. the small-time rural farmers, would be the benefactors. Maybe they should just make BiPolar Guy the Minister of Finance.

Anyhow, to get back to yesterday's topic, it was this Industrial Strength ganga that BP Guy was smoking back in his mid teens. He lived in Durban then, a port city on the warm Indian Ocean, and the Durban ganga was known internationally amongst dope-smoking connoisseurs as some of the best you could get. "Durban Poison" (aka D.P.s), it was known as. I remember clearly the first time I arrived in Amsterdam and London - local street dudes asked "where in South Africa you from man?" When I replied "Durban" they got glints in their eyes and said "Ahhh, D.P.s man, D.P.s"

So it was this industrial strength Durban Poison that BP Guy was consuming every day, and perhaps this contributed to what happened next...