Has anyone been to East London, South Africa?

[Madoldcatlady]

We're going in 2 weeks for my DBs wedding. His wife is a white South African, her parents (who are providing a beach side appartment for us) live on a farm which is enclosed with an electric fence and they have staff on guard. The family also have a gun. (I only mention her being white as I know white farmers have been attacked on farms in areas of SA.)

We, on the other hand are in a beach front appartment, no security/electric fence, gun, nowt!

It never occoured to me until my sister mentioned it the other day. Now I can't stop worrying about it.

In terms of Politics and Geography I'm particularly ignorant so don't know I'm being a drama Queen or not.

Any tips on the area gratefully received.

Hi.
I used to live in SA but I haven't been to EL for a very long time so can't give you any specific advice. However I think that although you are right to be worried about the security situation in SA you should trust those with local knowledge. It isn't really surprising that on a remote farm they would have much more security than in a more built up apartment area. I took DH and DS1 to a different area of SA a few years back and would have been horrified if my apartment had come with an electric fence or gun!

My advice would be to phone/email the parents and ask for some more info. Say that you know that security is a big issue in SA and that you'd like to know a bit more about area you'll be staying in. Nobody in SA would be offended by this - they are fully aware of the problem. All you need is some realistic local info about what is safe and what is not.

Hope you have a great trip. We used to go on holiday near EL when I was a kid and I loved it.

Let me know if you have any other questions about SA.

Thanks for your advice.

Yeah, I'm not sure what I'd do if there was a gun under the pillow when we arrive there.

I've looked at the appartment on Google Earth and it is surrounded by a small number of others so we won't be on our own out there which is reassuring.

Thanks again. Can't wait to go now.