safety issues, getting around Cape Town

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I've been in South Africa (SA) for only a month so probably not entirely correct in my views but here's my 2 cents worth.
the first thing is to get a cell phone which is very cheap as everybody here lives by cell phones and it's almost impossible to find residential land lines and sometimes hard to find a public phone that works. with a cell phone, you can hook up with people to go hiking, etc. since for safety reasons you would never do anything alone here, so you will need a cell phone to hook up with people.
if you're travelling alone, talk to people, make friends, get connected as you will need to know people for safety reasons: whatever you're doing, always tell somebody where you're going, what you're doing and what time you'll be back, so if you go missing, there's some idea of what happened.
ever since I arrived here, everybody has been telling me to be careful, not to do anything alone (e.g., hiking), not to be out after dark, not to take public buses and not to take the train (metro) after dark. I have found this to be mostly true but not entirely correct. In general though, it's always good to be overly cautious and paranoid as there are always risks involved in everything you do here and everywhere you go, esp. if you look like a tourist/not from here. it's definitely not a good idea to do anything alone especially hiking (see blog "more hiking). In terms of going out after dark, I find this the same as anywhere else in any big city: in general, don't be alone anywhere, even during the day. I find deserted streets very scary even during day time. it's the same after dark. as long as the street you're on is hustling and bustling, don't be out. I lived on Long St (backpackers' neighbourhood) where its always quite crowded in the evenings so it's not scary to be out, the same in the busy section of the observatory area.
in terms of getting around, I have found it surprising that most locals I talked to (whites and the affluent) have a car to get around and don't know much about the public transportation available. cars for hire (rent) are very cheap (e.g., R57/day for a mini) so most people drive which makes it safe to go out in the evenings. since I did not drive, my evenings were limited unless I had a ride home or was in the obs or Long St. areas. (e.g., when I was in the obs area, I went to a Brazilian club & went home at 2am by walking but my backpackers accom. was just around the corner and there were still lots of people in the streets) I took the metro during the day time and didn't have any problems. it's very cheap and convenient. but very slow. I wouldn't do that after dark though, it would be like taking the subway in New York at night. I also took the local buses and minibuses to various places and didn't have any issues. they were always quite crowded. (If I were the only woman on the bus, I would worry--in general, I always went where the other women went.) There is a transportation system, it just takes time to figure out. the public buses have set schedules and stops but the minibuses don't (but it's cheaper and faster). what I do is just schedule myself so that I take the buses or minibuses during a busy time of day so for sure I will catch one easily. get bus schedules at the main bus terminal. for minibuses, you just have to figure out where & when they come around but most of them start out at the main bus terminal in Cape Town and they usually go by main hubs in the city during busy times of the day (e.g., rush hour).

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