Robbed

Unfortunately I now have to add to my list of 'been there done that's' a robbing. It's quite unfortunate because it's been a rough two days. Firstly, yesterday Stefan left so of course I was sad... After dropping him at the airport I decided to go to stay somewhere new so called this lovely sounding place to pick me up. If you are EVER in Joburg aka Josie then please do not stay at Gemini backpackers. They claim to have free internet *unheard of* and a gym among other delightful things. True, they do pick you up for free and have free shuttles to and from the mall but not only do they not have free internet, they don't have internet at all... or computers. And the gym.... guess what, no gym. Worse and worse they had no running water which I wasn't expecting until I got to Kenya and was not prepared for that fact. I got quite angry about all of this and when I asked what the problem was they told me, and I quote, "Oh we have to advertise those things or else nobody comes to stay here" - incredible. Luckily I called a sweet lady named Joan from Bob's Bunkhouse who picked me up and brought me to their lovely quiet home. Apparently this was not the first time that she had to pick someone up from Gemini. So I arrived yesterday at Bob's bunkhouse and met two girls from the Seyshell Islands who were here to shop as well as two guys from Namibia that were just travelling for a couple of weeks. All were plus or minus a few years my age so I felt quite comfy and cozy. This morning the girls woke up at 6am to get ready for the mall and I decided that I would join the guys to downtown Joburg - after all I'd spent a good couple of hours talking to them last night and they were quite friendly and seemingly intelligent. At 9:30am I told them that I would just shower quickly and head with them. They said ok but at 10 when I got out of the shower (yes I know I still have not mastered showering quickly) they were gone. I asked the owners where they had disappeared to and they said they'd be right back. However... when I realized that my digital camera, IPOD video, and money from my wallet were all missing we knew they would not be back. I'm pretty devestated about the fact that people I gave trust to abused it so much but I suppose I have learned a much needed lesson before heading to Kenya. We drove around to local pawn shops but nothing... and after putting the pieces together discovered that they were giving different names to all of the guests and had arrived with only one bag and had been wearing the same clothes throughout their stay here... which they also bailed on paying for. I won't say that Joburg is nearly as terrible as it has been made out to be because I've had wonderfuly genuine encounters with locals that are willing to do anything for you. It's difficult a few hours later but I'm going to take a deep breath... scratch the surface of the continually decreasing bank account to get a new camera and head to Durban for a week on the beach also known as the Dolphin Coast (literally because there are dolphins swimming with you). I'll be back to Joburg on the 24th before flying to Kenya the 25th. I can't believe it's coming so soon but I can't wait to be situated in one place for a bit of time and really learn about a local culture while trying to master Swahilli!