SA vs UK
Going to South Africa from the Uk at the age of 9 had it’s ups and downs. Coming back to the UK at the age of 46 was quiet an experience.
Back to my roots:
The first things that I found awesome and very memorable:
The most beautiful place in the world to look at. - untouched
The environment
Arriving in Northern Ireland was awesome. A sea of green, no wonder its called the Emerald Isle. South Africa has lots of open land but some is very stark and dry. Even the lush vegetation and tropical areas in South Africa can’t match this.
No Poverty stricken areas:
What was striking was the missing shacks which sprout up on much of the open land in South Africa.
The windows
No burglar bars on windows was a new one for me. It made looking outside a whole lot of a nicer experience. In South Africa the security bars are a standard part of a residential home.
No or minimal security measures
Businesses are even more security concsious in South Africa and the sight of the banks and business premises with not a burglar bar in sight is not a common sight
Boarded up buildings
Buildings which are boarded up to prevent trespassers and vagrants from passing through was another new one for us South African newbies. In South Africa if a house or building were left unoccupied it would be ransacked and stripped bear within days Buildings were never boarded up and even if they were this wouldn’t help to keep out the bad elements.
Apart from the friendly faces in UK, these are the things that first struck me as being so different that what I was used to. Needless to say, the comaprison between the two countries is endless……..and we will go into that in another blog.
