Hello!
I have the opportunity to work in Cape Town for 2 months at the end of the year and I am trying to work out if I can acually afford it!
SO: Will I need to hire a car to go to and from my work? I know that it depends where I stay/busses go etc but in general what is public transport like and is it safe enough to do this? I would be with one other girl.
I would just rather not spend so much on Car Hire so that I have more money to play on my weekends!
Thanks in Advance!
L
scotchtotty
1
ndlovu
Bicycle? I know a number of people that use a bicycle round Cape Town - it's a reasonably compact city. ...and you'll be doing the world a favour by not using fossil fuel!
Ndlovu
2
riansa
As you mentioned, it depends on where you live and where you work.
On the whole public transport is "ok". It much better in some areas than others and in some areas downright dangerous. If you are travelling from the CBD to the southern suburbs or up to Bellville, you will be fine on the train. The buses to Bellville suck. But the buses to the soutern suburbs are fine. Minibuses to the southern suburbs are fine and in my experience are fine from Mowbray to Belleville.
A bike would be fine if you are not travelling very far - like within the CBD. You can't travel on a bike at night (same with the train anywhere) - its just not safe. And there are many places in Cape Town I wouldn't go to with a bike.
A car hire can be cheap if you are not picky on the type of car you get - especially if you book it for 2 months. Try Best Beetle (you will get a very old beetle).
If you've never been here before, you are gonna want to spend more than the average person living in Cape Town. But once can afford to live on R4000/month if your not looking to live in luxury.
3
tc_sebba
best beetle gets quite bad reports recently... google for best beetle and you will get these reports... also see Rikkies Taxis
seb
4
adiharris
Unfortunately, even though public transport is better in Cape Town than other cities in South Africa, I would recommend hiring a car, otherwise you will be really restricted in your movements. Sorry, Mr/Ms? Elephant, as much as we like to be environmentally sensitive, not a good idea for women on their own.
6
lawraidan
It depends where you are working, I lived in Cape Town for three years and its always best to have a car, you get to see much more and you dont feel so claustrophobic.
There are long term car rental places, look for Around About Cars on google. They might have a good deal on long term rental as they deal mainly with backpackers.
If you dont have a job lined up already look up the Coast to Coast guide as this is useful for finding Backpacker Hostels to work at.
I wouldn't get a bike or a car that breaks down, Cape Town is fairly safe but you dont want to be in a dodgy area in a dodgy car.
Plan to travel a bit at the beginning while you are there, its an amazing country and so much to see.
Aidan
7
missalaska
find out first where the job is and then we can help you with some gaps
as RianSA says some routes are served well with public transport - i use the train to get to work and college and i'm lucky that my home, job, college are all respectivley within 10 mins walk from the train stations other areas that might not have a train running near have buses and minibuses of varying usefulness.
i dunno about best beetle (or best boland beetle as the once were) you don't want to breakdown in the wrong place!!!
please update us op when you have more specifics
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