At first we thought the whistles coming from passing cars were just your run-of-the-mill catcalls, but after we heard hoots every time we stepped outside our door, we had to face the facts: there was no way we looked that good all the time.
Actually, these noise makers do not exist exclusively to make us immediately uncomfortable/flattered, but in fact their job is to recruit passengers for one of Cape Town’s easiest and cheapest modes of transportation, minibuses. You can tell where each one is headed based on a dinky sign in the window and a salesman of sorts yelling the ultimate destination out the window. It sounds pretty straight forward, but sometimes we need to do some decoding – especially because Cape Town is pronounced “Cap Tewn” and Wynberg is often mistaken for “wine bag”.
To make this image a little clearer, these vans are the quintessential cars that your mom has nightmares about you getting into. While there are actual seats for 12 people, we often find ourselves packed in amongst as many as 25 sweaty, not so slender commuters. We don’t mean to give these minibuses a bad rep; we actually love them. Not only can we get around for 60 cents, but we get to have fun too. Just today a random lady fell asleep on Libby’s shoulder…how in touch with the locals are we? There was also that one unforgettable time when we found ourselves enveloped in a sing-along to Jay-Z’s hit “Young Forever.” Oh, and let’s not forget the eight-year-old child dressed as a priest that collected our fare one fateful Tuesday. That’s something you don’t see everyday…except in Cape Town apparently.Â
We encourage anyone visiting Cape Town to catch a ride in one of these unpredictable joyrides. They have supplied us with a lot of laughs and confusing interactions, and have saved us from our impending empty bank accounts. Â