There are just some things I never want to forget...

              PINETOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

I stay (or live) in Hillcrest.  I work in Ntshongweni but I often have to go to Pinetown. Pinetown is just over 10km from Hillcrest by taxi. I go to Pinetown for major shopping and also because the main Kombi taxi rank is there.

Cabbage for sale in the back of a small bakkie (pickup truck).  Doesn't get any fresher than this.

By the time I left Pinetown the truck had sold half of their stock.

Piles of people on this beautiful Saturday, September 8th.  Piles of trash, too.

Everyone sells basically the same things: tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, potatoes, chili peppers, carrots.

Then there are the 'stalls' that sell individual cigarette's, cough drops, combs/picks, nail clippers, super glue, phone chargers, boxes of matches, wash clothes.

Walls of people.  The woman with the bag on her head is turning because she knew I wanted to take her picture.

The umbrella usually aren't up but we had heavy rain on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday and they were still up this Saturday. 

Then there are the fruit vendors.  Millions of them.  Each piece of fruit is 1 Rand = 12 cents. Once a guy tried to get 1.5 Rand from me - but I knew the going rate was 1Rand.  Can't take advantage of this smart American.

I asked each time before I took a picture of anyone and one fruit man said I could take his fruits' picture but not of him.  A total of 4 people told me no.

Then we have the grocery cart loaded down with the most amazing assortment of everything.  Hats, backpacks, sunglasses, umbrellas, wash cloths.  You can always ask if there is something in particular you may want and he could have it buried in his wares.

All the while the traffic is buzzing about.

Now this is truly very clever.  To mist the fruit this guy uses a filled water bottle with small holes poked  in it to spray with.

The vendors line the sidewalks.

Some like it hot.

Beautiful red tomato's.  One bowl full is 5 Rand =  62 cents

Of the four who didn't want their picture taken... countless folks called out asking me to take their photo.

This guy asked too...

And these guys...

It was Saturday afternoon and some of the shops were closing.  Heavy security in this dangerous country.

One corner I always go to.  I never want to forget this corner.

When was the last time you saw pay phones on the street?

               
                                                                       More trash - it's everywhere.

I couldn't tell if the crowd gathered for a street entertainer or street evangelist. 

This is my favorite corridor.

This guy sells Bibles and the women Zulu traditional clothing.

This is my favorite picture of this outing to Pinetown.

I got to do a lot of witnessing - everyone wanted to know who I was and why I was taking pictures.

This women's name is Theo and we had quite a long conversation.

Theo sells soap and 'capsules'.  I asked what the pills were for and she said, 'back pain, stomach pain, just about anything that is ailing you.'

Many women had these beauty parlors.  Eyelashes and finger nails.

Need socks or combs?  Theo will help ya out.

This women cooks and sells meat - yummy.

I could have stayed all day taking a million more shots but I realized that I was the only white women and most certainly the only one with an expensive camera in Pinetown.  Time to go back to the taxi rank and back to Hillcrest.