After all of the groundwork and inspections and questions, we felt like we had a handle on what we needed, what we had to do and how to make it happen.
And then we got to Africa. Where it doesn't matter what you need or read, every person in every department will tell you different. The website of the department will say one thing and the people inside it say another. Go on another day, and the information is different. Go to another department and you might get told something new. Or the information from 3 days before, that the government website says is wrong. Or right. Depending on which one you've read. Or the department you visited. Huh!?
Wanting to have a car, and being able to have a car aren't quite the same thing yet. Feedback from countless others is that patience and persistence would be the keys to success. It's different when you're actually learning that for yourself though. We're in the process of tracking down someone who earns a living wandering from department to department, getting info and sorting paperwork on behalf of people like us. Just a few days into the madness and we were already reduced to mindlessness.
Turns out our timeline was conservative at best. Our 'few weeks in Cape Town' is getting closer to a month. Stories of others who've done it mean nothing; front up to a department window and the 'rules have changed'. We've no way of knowing whether they actually have, but we're now sitting pretty, in possession of a 4 point game plan:
Continue
Q4U
Connections
Con
We're hoping that 1 of the c's will get us on the board.
We've started making friends in hostels, bars and street corners. It's who you know, so we need connections. People are very helpful and we've gleaned a lot of information. We've also learned that while the rules say stuff, the reality is often very different. We're determined to play by the rules, but there might be room for another 'c':
creativity.
We're determined to keep the dream alive, and we're learning loads amongst the madness. Another tiny little hump, and victory will be ours!! In the mean time, we're still on public transport and still on the hunt for the beast!
Up next: The end of our third week in Cape Town sees us embark on the adventure that is actually (finally) getting the car and decking her out for the trip. Woo! (We hope!)