To
put it slightly different, Mike Davies – Africa analyst at London based
consultancy Control Risk Group – reckons that the city centre of Jo’burg
is as risky as Liberia and the Ivory Coast.
Final Thoughts
The purpose of the exercise of all
this rambling is twofold. First, after spending an extended period of time
in Africa you’ve Africa in your blood. It’s very difficult to get it out
of your system.
That’s presumably one reason why
I’m now completely useless for a life in Germany. In case yours truly were
to return to Africa, without hesitating I’d pick South Africa.
South Africa may be characterised
as spectacular and “not entirely risk free” at the same time. However,
the combination of South Africa and a certain German may most likely be
put on file in the history department.
Second, in case you’re looking for
a lifestyle that may fit the bill for tranquil, mellow, relaxed... in a
pleasant climate you may be better off at various places in Latin America.
Living and/or investing in the less
developed world always entails a certain degree of risk.
Needless
to mention that the main reason for this habit is my deeply ingrained contrarian
instinct. Doing what everybody else does and having too many folks
in the same boat makes me nervous. Anyway, wearing formal clothes forms
the exception to the rule for me in Colima. Most of the year – which of
course includes my appearances in the classroom – I stagger around dressed
in jeans and polo shirt. Changing my jeans every day and just going through
a pile of polo shirts makes life very easy. Doing that sort of thing may
not always be possible in Mexico City and Buenos Aires. But again, Colima
isn’t the centre of the universe, which I’m very grateful for. Besides
the casual clothes that I can now enjoy wearing there are other – more
crucial – reasons why I should be grateful for leading a mellow life in
a Latin American backwater instead of being exposed to South Africa’s uncertainties.
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