Tea at The Ritz

Things have improved considerably. This place – while not really a patch on Long Street – isn't half bad. I went down to the bar last night - a small room in the basement with a 'dungeon' door (they're marketing it in Austria). I ran into three blokes who, in the backpacker style I'm coming to love, quickly dragged me into their conversation. Rob, Dave and Simon. Rob is a tour guide for 'Oasis Overland'. He's just waiting for a driver to arrive before they drive up to Livingstone. I had a fascinating chat with him. I have to say, whilst he's biased, his tour sounds much more like what I'm after. It's a lot more freeform, He was saying, for instance, that they do a big top-to-tail tour that takes around ninety-five days. Accacia, he said, do it in forty-five. I had a look at their truck today, too – it's fantastic. The seats all face inwards, so in effect, you have two social areas on the truck. The Nomad trucks are for travelling in. The Oasis truck, you could actually hang out in. He told me they'd once bush camped in Namibia (which they, apparently, take a dim view of), the police heard their music and gave them either a thousand dollar fine or three minutes to pack up and ship out. He stressed it's not a 'booze bus', but it just sounds much more 'me' than the trip I've just done (which, don't get me wrong, was fantastic). Rob used to work in Corporate Finance.

Dave, on the other hand, used to work in pharmaceuticals. He's now training as a game and field guide. It was his last night before he heads back to the UK for a week, before coming back out. I eventually got to bed at 1:30, feeling, overall, that it was entirely the right decision to come here. I mentioned I thought the place was a bit odd when I arrived, and Daveand Rob pointed out that the two blokes I'd met were Algerian, never talk to anyone and seem fairly rude. Rob suggested it was possibly a language issue. Davewas less charitable, describing them as 'mardy c*nts'.

The next morning, I'd made a plan with Daveto go get a really good breakfast, so we walked up the road to a big shopping mall. He's a really interesting bloke, and we talked a lot about the game parks and camera lenses (because, yes, I find camera lenses interesting, okay?)

Back at The Ritz, Gavin was just checking in an English girl, called Bryony. Gavin is truly a piece of work. He is one of the campest people I've ever met – although I have it on good authority he's not gay, I'm still not convinced. He's a huge attention-seeker, though, and enjoys winding people up. I can see you'd either love him, hate him or tolerate him. Anyway, he dragged me over to the desk for a bit of banter that I didn't entirely understand. He does have a talent for connecting people, though, so Bryony joined us for a bit, then John, Bryony myself and Sylvia – a German girl – went to get lunch. It's true to say I saw nothing of Jo'berg today apart from restaurants.

More beers in the bar tonight – it was another late one. Rob's off in three days, when their driver arrives, but I'm more and more keen on his truck. Apparently, they're doing a 'gorilla loop' in Uganda and Rwanda in July – nineteen days. I am seriously considering doing it – particularly as, from what he told me, I believe there's rafting there that makes the Zambezi feel like 'Three Men in a Boat'.

So, I'm in my own room tonight, and I must go and at least see the Apartheid museum tomorrow. I'm just not too fussed about Jo'berg – I've not met any travellers yet who speak highly of it as a place to visit – at least, in a ‘touristic’ capacity.