Week 21 - Hanging around and trying not to get angry

Leaving Dubai is not a happy experience, neither was our arrival. Customer service here isn't the best. Comments from people are to just pay someone, but I have little faith in anyone here, I still haven't had the paperwork from our shipping company or any paperwork at all to say they have our furniture. I had to sign forms, they didn't give me copies. 

We cancelled the internet services and were informed to take the boxes to a local store, on arrival we were shouted at by the meet and greeter and told we were not to drop boxes there and that was that. Boxes were left at the front of the shop and when I tried to take a photo of them in front of the shop sign, I was shouted at again. Peter phoned customer services who again told us to go back to that branch for the final bill, but when we arrived we were told we'd been given the wrong advice and to go to head office. We almost said 'sod it' let them keep the deposit, but we went to make sure everything was closed and we discovered we owed a small sum.

Leaving our Villas has been very unpleasant. The check out form was pre printed with damage and costs to charge us with. This company isn't part of our landlords company, so we've taken the issue upo directly with them. The cost of repairs is the same amount as the deposit. We have an agreement with check in that due to settlement cracks we don't have to repaint when we vacate, but we were billed for that and a clean, which is mad as they made a right mess walking through today with sand blowing in through open doors, let alone the mess they make just to service the air con units. No allowance was made for wear and tear and two air con covers were broken in front of us as well as stating that the front door needs polishing as it is damaged from the sun.

Closing the electricity and water was really easy, done online, final bill sent and credit refunded to our bank account within 3 working days. Great service.

142 Saturday Woke with a migraine. Final check of the Villa, put the fridge and oven back together and all the filters for appliances that we'd cleaned. We dropped off the TV boxes as requested, collected a cheque and closed our electricity and water account, then off to drop a gift with a friend which led to a 3 hour brunch and an afternoon/evening lounging on the sofa watching TV.

We bought this cushion pad when we first moved to Dubai so we had something to sit on

143 Sunday Handed the keys in for the Villa, Peter went off to work and I caught the train back to the apartment. Unexpected firework show on the Palm

144 Monday Check out inspection of the villa, not happy at all. I had my hair cut and a gel manicure, Peter worked from the apartment. Afternoon spent sending emails and providing evidence to get our deposit back. 

145 Tuesday A day of blogging, commenting, walking and drinking coffee. Way too hot to be outside for any length of time, but the advantage of being where we are is I can access everything in a short distance. Spent some time on the beach and went for a swim.

I had gifts for my friends in South Africa that Peter brought over from the UK in February 2020 to take to SA in March. Finally dropped them at a friends sister who lives here and will take them over to SA when she is next allowed to visit.

146 Wednesday I walked down to the beach, the walkway is really rough and the public beach is covered in litter so I walked a little further had a swim, then cut through along a path back to the main road. Except I wasn't on a public path and was barked at to go back on the beach. it was 41c, I said I was lost, sorry but no not good enough, so I said call the police because I ain't going back on the beach and I was escorted through the car park. Really pissed off with this attitude from people in all services here, such job worths. Made a formal complaint to the hotel. Put do not enter signs up then if you're that worried about being invaded.

Peter keeps locking the balcony door, we're on the 32nd floor, no one will be breaking in here.

147 Thursday We popped out for a coffee, I spent most of the day reading and when Peter came home from work we went down to the pool. It was Peter's leaving do, 35 years with the company, 6 of them in Dubai, he's retiring. I enjoyed the evening, it was nice catching up with old faces via conference calls from South Africa, the UK and across Europe. 

Mask wearing outside is almost unbearable, so humid.

148 Friday Last day with the car so we went to Dubai Mall for breakfast, realised the weather wasn't too hot and had no reason to be in the Mall so we went for a drive along the Palm to take before, during and after photos for my construction photography blog posts. We went down to the pool early evening.

I love visiting aquariums, this photo was taken in Dubai Mall.

This weeks blog post really doesn't describe or sum up how we have both felt this week. It's been very emotional and challenging. I've been very pissed off by some comments from people on social media who I know would struggle doing half the stuff we do and have felt a few others have tried to catch me out, whilst many who would normally have an input just haven't bothered. Peter and I are certainly reducing our circle of friends through choice now and wondering why we didn't do this a long time ago.

On the blog this week:

Someones pet cat escaped - Exotic animal on the loose in Dubai

PoCoLo - Hanging around Dubai

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What it's really like living abroad? Dubai and South Africa.

Every now and then a little thought passes through my brain and I ask myself

'What am I doing living in Dubai?'

'How did this happen?'

Sometimes this thought is triggered as I drive past the Burj Al Arab or the Burb Khalifa and I think 'this place is a dream holiday location for a lot of people and I'm just going about my daily business'

Usually I'm on the way to or from the vets, the doctors or a food shop.

The other times I'm ironing or sweeping endless piles of sand out of the house.

Life isn't actually any different from living in the UK or South Africa. But there are many things to take into consideration when you leave the UK shores.

In the UK I worked and studied full time, we had 5 kids at home. In South Africa we were down to 2 kids and I didn't work or study. By the time we came to Dubai, there were no kids, but I did work full time for our 2nd year here.

In South Africa I had to deal with issues around personal safety, worry about armed robberies and car jacking on a daily basis. So all trips out were planned, someone was notified of where I was going and when I would return. But I had the most amazing experiences from camping in townships, taking the kids to Kruger National Park. Catching the train from Joburg to Cape Town with the then 12 year old and travelling alone to see the Spring Flowers in the Western Cape.

In Dubai I have the freedom to go anywhere at anytime on my own, walk, drive, use public transport, but my world is much smaller and contained to Dubai which is a huge city, but I also have to contend with the oppressive heat, which does limit my activities.

Temperature in car after parking for an hour.

Living abroad means I spend a huge amount of time on my own. Peter is out the house at work from 8am till 5pm every week day and he also travels a lot which means I'm completely on my own. Whilst I'm safe here in Dubai on my own, compared to South Africa, I still have the odd fleeting moment of panic when I realise if I had an accident or was taken ill, that I'd have to manage in it alone.

In South Africa that happened a few times, but we had a wonderful network of support to turn to. In Dubai I pretty much have only one person who I could call on in my hour of need.

Living abroad is lonely, you're isolated from family back in the homeland. In South Africa we had issues with the internet and even lack of electricity at times. In Dubai all voice over internet is blocked. It makes communication difficult. But at least the postal system works in Dubai unlike South Africa.

We now consider the flight from Dubai to the UK as short haul, despite it actually taking 7 hours to reach and another 4-6 hours to get to and from our homes. From South Africa it would take 24 hours door to door, with a direct flight taking 12 hours, or a stop in Dubai involving 2 x 7 hour flights and a minimum 2 hour stop over.

So what do I do all day as a none working mother of 5 whose kids have all left home?

Well I do the house work, washing and ironing. I food shop. walk the dog, scoop dog poop and clean the litter tray, load the dishwasher and cook dinner. I visit the dog park, get my nails done once a month and pretty much do the same things as I did when we lived in South Africa and the UK, just minus having to go to work.

We're not here on holiday, this is our life. In South Africa we lived on a golf course over looking a small river and the 16th green. In Dubai we live in a villa near the Marina.

My instagram feed is a mixture of an photos of daily activities just with a glamorous backdrop.

I drop Peter at the train station when he travels for the week and after parking i'll get the tram to the beach and the ferry back to the Marina. To me that is just normal life now. I get used to seeing the big buildings, tripping over the tourists, coping with the heat, buying bleach to clean the toilets with from the mall and having a Mcdonalds for my dinner in the food court.

I post the pictures, rarely do people read the comments, they just see me in a holiday destination, having fun or showing off. Being envious of my glamorous life style. But the reality is I just popped to the local shops, I could've been sitting in a park in the UK, instead of a beach in Dubai or a nature reserve in South Africa. I go where I need to go to do what I need to do, it just happens to be 'exotic' in many people's eyes.

We rarely do brunches, we save them for when the visitors come, as they're expensive. We go out for dinner with friends occasionally, but we're not dining in 5 star restaurants. We go to the World's largest Mall on the weekends so we can get out of the house, but stay cool indoors and go for a walk.

It's 8am and I can only sit out in the garden till then or after 8pm when the sun has gone down. The air con is on, set at 25c, you'd not heat a house that high in the winter, the bills are huge. My cold water tap doesn't run cold, even in winter it's luke warm. So I go to the pool over the road for a swim. It's lined with palm trees and sun loungers. It's £400 a year membership. If I swam in the UK 3 days a week for 30 weeks of the year, I'd pay £360, so while it sounds luxurious to have gym membership, it isn't really.

I'm not complaining about life abroad, I guess it's more about expelling myths about how glamorous it is. At the end of the day it's still the shame shit, just a different City and a bit harder to get home when I need to.

109 My Sunday Photo L is for Luxor and lack of tourists

We're in Luxor for a long weekend, it's the height of the tourist season.

What is the first thing you notice in the photo?

The lack of tourists.

I didn't have to wait, till the coach load filed by, or for the children to run in-between the pillars. I just took the shot and 100's others like it, undisturbed, no one getting in my way, just peace and quiet, a photographers dream.

Whilst the lack of tourists is good for me, it is not good for the local economy. Luxor is a city built 1400BCE. It is already a ruin, but it doesn't need to become run down as well. The Egyptian Pound has devalued so much, that people are struggling here, desperate for the tourists to return.

So why don't the tourists come here anymore?

Parks and Gardens in Pretoria with HDYGG

Unfortunately in South Africa many local beautiful parks are just not safe places to visit when solo travelling. In fact there are few places one can walk on foot in the Gauteng, the state which Pretoria is in.

 But where you can walk and drive there are lovely displays in flower beds and of course the Jacaranda trees.

It was spring in Pretoria when I visited in October last year and I showed you a garden centre, township gardening and the Jacarandas in previous posts and I wanted to take a bit of time to show you some of the lovely gardens of friends who I've been staying with. There are lemons, lilies, palms and aloe and exotic flowers that I'm unable to name and of course plenty of bougainvillaea.

Personal safety when Solo Travelling in South Africa

There are many countries I've travelled alone to or visited with hubby. With the UK, it is where I grew up, where I know and where I slot back into with relative ease. I've travelled freely in America with hubby and 4 of our children, I also visited Canada on my own earlier this year. I've driven across Europe and quite a fair bit of it on my own and flown to many cities to meet up with hubby while he's been working and travelled around in the day on my own also.

I've always been more cautious when travelling to Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt, but that has been due to the political unrest of these countries.

Having lived as an expat for 5 years, I've done a lot of exploring in my local area both in Pretoria and now in Dubai, where I travel freely and without fear. I've also travelled freely around South Africa, on my own and with hubby as well as taking the train from Joburg to Cape Town with the teen boy and flew solo to Cape Town and explored the Western Cape as well as numerous trips to Kruger and Durban on my own by car or with the teens and hubby.

I wrote this week about my return to South Africa for a 5 week visit to work with charities as a volunteer. Having lived in Dubai for the last 10 months, personal safety is not something I've had to focus on daily. I am very aware of this since my arrival last week, but not frightened like I was when we first arrived here.

I'm staying with various friends in and around Pretoria. I have access to vehicles to get around in as apart from the Gautrain, which I caught from the airport, there is no public transport. I'm driving into Joburg tomorrow and will be visiting townships within a 200km radius.

I'm finding it a little unnerving living behind security fences and bars on the windows and doors, but also find it reassuring to know that I am safe when I sleep at night. Something I gave little thought to when I lived her, it just takes some time to readjust to.

I'm not really doing anything different in regards to my personal safety here, but I am having to think a bit more about it. Here are some of the things I'm doing to ensure my personal safety while I'm solo travelling in South Africa.

• Purchase a sim card at the airport as if you do in outside you'll be required to provide proof of residence to register your card.

• When leaving friends house, let the next person know I'm on my way and call the person I've just left to let them know when I arrive.

• Give friends a copy of my medical aid/insurance so they know what to do if required.

• Keep handbag in the footwell under the drivers seat.

• Carry a spare phone.

• Keep all valuables locked out of sight, especially in the car. I tend to carry my laptop and camera with me when I go to a mall as we had our car boot broken into in a security car park.

• Have a copy of passport and ID in suitcase.

• Only carry the cash needed for each day and leave a bank card at the place you are staying.

• When driving remember to leave a hijack space at the lights.

• Plan your route in advance, there are plenty of routes that are safe to drive in the day, but not at night.

Solo Travel - Top 13 Tips to Staying Safe

As an expat I travel often and alone. My solo travels have taken me round South Africa, The UAE, the UK and more recently to Canada. I’ve also travelled with hubby to most of Europe and to America when he’s been working and I’ve spent the days exploring various cities on my own.

In South Africa I lived in Pretoria and worked as a volunteer, which involved frequent trips into townships and driving late at night. I also travelled to Kruger, Durban and Cape Town for holidays as well as trips into Johannesburg to explore the city.

In the UAE, I’ve explored every inch of Dubai on trains, buses, taxis and on foot.

The UK which is my home country, my employment took me to remote areas as well as city centres late at night and weekends, as well as camping trips, days out and more recently using public transport up and down the country to visit family and friends and to and from airports usually last thing at night or before sunrise.

On my recent trip to Canada I stayed with a friend I met online 3 years ago, went camping with them in the wilds and stayed a few nights in Toronto prior to flying home to Dubai.

Living as an expat has changed the way I live my life both with my family and when I travel whether with hubby or on my own. After 4 years in South Africa I’m on high alert whenever I go out, not fearful for my safety but aware of it.

When you’ve lived in a country where the risk of harm and death is a daily occurrence you can’t help but change the way you live.

Many of these practices I learnt in South Africa are what I now consider best practice when travelling especially when I travel alone.

1.     Make sure your phone is unlocked and purchase a local sim card, air time and 3G

2.     Always put your hand bag in the foot well of your seat when driving or as a passenger and ensure doors are locked when driving.

3.     Keep your hand bag in full site of you when in cafes/restaurants etc.

4.     Always tell someone where you are going and when you plan on returning to your hotel or base.

5.     Switch off  location finder on your phone when taking photos

6.     Upload pictures to Social Media after you’ve left your last location

7.     Don’t announce on Social Media where your next destination is, City or town is OK but not the name of your hotel, café, activity etc

8.     Write your email address on your luggage label, should you be separated from it and not the name of your hotel

9.     Make sure you keep bank cards and cash to a minimum and in separate places when travelling alone. If everything is in your hand luggage/bag in case you lose it or it gets stolen.

10. Keep a written list of emergency phone numbers separate from your phone or hand bag. The bank, the next location you are staying in, the emergency number for police, fire, ambulance. Your next of kin

11. Carry a copy of your travel Insurance documents in your wallet in case of an accident or illness.

12. Spend time in advance working out how the public transport system works, where you want to go, the cost and length of travel time. This will save you getting lost, although from getting lost I’ve experienced so many more things than I would have done if I’d stuck to my planned route.

13. Confirm hotel bookings at least 24 hours in advance and give them your expected arrival time. I arrived at a hotel in Cape Town late one evening and they’d double booked…it does happen

Packing hand luggage

I'm off to the UK tonight, my suitcase is packed full of gifts and wedding decorations and winter and water proof clothing. I'm flying with Emirates airlines as they have a very generous 30kg allowance.

As an expat, international flights are common, but this is my first trip back 'home' where I'm flying direct from Dubai. My trips from South Africa used to involve any thing between 2 - 9 hours stop over in Dubai and therefore I packed my hand luggage very differently to this trip.

For my latest flight I packed what I normally do, but didn't need two spare sets of clothes, shampoo, towel or as many toiletries.

I prefer a window seat and once seated I rarely get up, unless I'm desperate for the loo, I exercise in my seat following the instructions on the card in front and always purchase additional water prior to boarding and a few sweets. As I sit near the window, I pack my hand luggage with a separate bag inside containing everything I may want during the flight and if I'm doing a stop over I always buy my duty free allowance on the 2nd leg of the trip so I'm not dragging additional bags through security and around the airport.

All of this came out of my hand luggage, I took the photos as I packed, it also helps if I make a list in advance of what I need.

When flying out of Johannesburg, it is essential that all electrical items and items of value are packed in your hand luggage to prevent theft and your suitcase is wrapped in giant rolls of cling film to make theft that little bit harder. I still pack all charges and cables in my hand luggage and additional jewellery as you never know and in case of my case getting delayed there has to be room for a spare t shirt, underwear and deodorant so at least I have one change of clothes on arrival.

Thankfully the airport in Dubai is air conditioned so I arrived wearing winter clothing, boots and a coat, leaving me with more space and weight in my checked in luggage, although I did wear sandals for the trip to the airport, leaving them with hubby in a plastic bag to take home.

So in my hand luggage goes:

Laptop on top of bag so easily removed for security checks
Small clear zip lock with toothbrush/paste, face cloth (to be used as a small towel), deodorant, wet wipes, comb, hair bobbles, anti bacterial hand wash, tissues

Lap top charger and adapters

Head phones
Phone and usb cable
Notepad and pen
Camera and all related cables and charges
Jewellery pouch
UK bank and store cards, sim card and currency, Wallet
T shirt and underwear
Sun glasses in case
Eye mask
Socks to wear in flight
Neck cushion

Separate bag for removal during the flight containing the following items from the first list

Laptop
Head phones
Phone and usb cable
Notepad and pen
Toiletry bag
Neck cushion
Socks
Wallet
Bottled water and sweets (bought after passport and security checks)


No hair straighteners in hand luggage this trip, as I wasn't leaving Joburg I was able to pack them in my checked in luggage. I also packed my address book, diary and papers relating to the UK in my checked in luggage for this trip, but I was a little apprehensive about doing so. I've never lost a case but hubby and 2 of the kids have had their luggage delayed in the past and hubby has also had items stolen from his checked in luggage.

How to sell a car in South Africa

Email, Facebook, Tweet, Instagram, Whatsapp and SMS EVERYONE you know in Gauteng.

Wait till someone contacts you and then try to work out who they are as your friends have shared the details.

Arrange to meet in a public place, with security, in day light, in an area you know well.

Message a friend with the name of the person, cell number, where and when you are meeting.

Make sure your phone is fully charged and has credit.



On route to meeting this guy at his place of work which is a government office, I messaged my friend with a description of what I was wearing. Having driven round the one way system in Pretoria, road blocks and protests outside the Tshwane Postal Depot. I pulled up at a petrol station to check if there was someone else near by that was secure I could meet this guy at.

I found a secure car park, parked near the entrance and security booth. I phoned the guy, told him to meet me there, kept my key and parking ticket in my pocket and paid the security guy to stand with me while I waited.

Over the top? No, not in South Africa. I was very anxious, my friends BIL took a friend with him and met the potential buyer at a mall, they were both bundled into the boot of the car they were trying to sell and held hostage a couple of hours drive away, until one of them was taken ill and they were driven back to the outskirts of town.

No I haven't sold my car yet, but he said he'll get back to me this afternoon.

I do hope he buys it, I don't think I could go throughout that again.

Bob and I go camping and share our camping tips.

Just had an amazing few day at Magalies Sleepy River Campsite  an hours drive out of Pretoria into the middle of nowhere. To be more precise The Cradle of Humankind.

It was wonderful not to be surrounded by security fences, in open space, with a river and plenty of room for Bob to run around and explore.

I arrived Thursday afternoon, set the tent up, then had 2 guys help me move it as I had failed to check how long my electric cable was, it was a common mistake repeated by many. Hubby and friends joined Bob and I Friday till Sunday as it was a public holiday, Human Rights Day and we chilled out, sleeping, reading, looking for Bob and a fab meal at The Black Horse, with a micro brewery a few miles away and they were dog friendly and Bob enjoyed stretching out on the terrace soaking up the sun.

I decided to leave on the Monday as the last tent was packed away and there is no phone reception at the bottom of the field, a little worried if I had an accident it could be a long time before i could get help. As it turned out the accident happened when I got home and was unloading the car. A metal camping table slid out and dropped on my foot, nothing broken but I'm on crutches for the rest of the week.

The facilities were perfect, toilets, showers and baths with hot water, they were fixing up additional braai pits to ensure there were enough for everyone, a swimming pool that is well maintained and plenty of space for everyone.

As per usual there were the selfish campers, the ones who let their dogs run freely and the ones with kids who told them to play anywhere but at their own tents and I did have a word with a couple of parents along the lines of 'your kids, you entertain and stop them running round my tent at 6.30am'

After everyone went on Sunday lunchtime, Bob and I spent our time walking, him swimming in the river, me swimming in the pool. I sat and read my book while Bob happily chased after monkeys and barked at them in the trees.

I will be going back, as often as I can, so close, yet felt like a million miles from the security in Pretoria.

Bob and I have a few tips we'd like to share.

• pack insect repellant and after bite
• make sure you have a very long piece of rope to allow your dog freedom to move but not bother other campers
• take your own toilet paper, although well maintained, on busy weekends they're bound to run out, esp at night
• before pitching your tent, check your electricity cable will reach the plug sockets
• secure a braai the second you arrive
• when packing your car, make sure your tent is the last piece of equipment that goes in. Too many people have to unpack their entire car, before getting to their tent
• pack a sweeping brush, esp when it's dry, there's nothing worse than grass everywhere, esp when it transfers from you to the bed
• string and a sealable box-tie your fridge/foodbox up securley when you go out. Monkeys are persistent buggers and ants will find their way in anywhere
• sunshade for the car for Bob
• food cover to keep the flies off when preparing a meal
• 1st aid kit for you and your dog- I used alcohol wipes on Bob when he returned from chasing monkeys and was covered in cuts and grazes from the undergrowth
• buy dog shampoo/tick powder/pack a brush, lord knows what's in that river, I washed him daily
• load a star gazer app fro your phone, I've never seen so many stars

Looking for monkeys to chase

Plenty of space to spread out in

Bob is in the river all day if you let him

Plenty of R&R time

Car packed and ready to go home :-(

So much land for Bob to run free in

When does an assumption become racism?

As a visitor in South Africa, despite being in my 4^th year of living here, there are many things I still do not understand.

I understand racism; I spent 2 years working for The FA in Child Welfare and on the RESPECT campaign. I dealt with issues of racism on a professional level.

I’ve been at the receiving end of racist abuse; I ended up with a cut forehead as a result. I was British, he was an Afrikaner. He objected to me being in his country, because I was British. We were both white, we both lived in the same estate.

But what is racism? Is it an assumption? Is it the use of the word ALL? Is it when you call someone black/white/coloured/foreign/immigrant? Or is it when those words and many more are used to describe something negative?

If anyone wants to challenge me on this blog post, please feel free to do so, but nicely. I can reference this if you want, but it’s a blog post NOT an essay.

There are many assumptions I’ve heard since I’ve been in SA, let me list you a few, but please understand, these are not my views. These are assumptions I’ve heard from South Africans white and black, South Africans living in the UK and people from other countries.

All black people will rob/rape/hijack/murder you

All black people are uneducated

All black people live in poverty

All black people work in the service industry.

All black people live in shacks

All black government officials are corrupt

All white people live in security estates

All white people are rich

All white people live in fear of being robbed/raped/hijacked/murdered

All white people if they own a dog will set it on a black person

All Afrikaners hate the English

It makes me sad to hear these things being said, it makes me sad that people have such a view of South Africa.

Maybe some of these assumptions are correct in the minds of some people through personal experiences, from experiences of family and friends. But if you are hijacked by a black person, what right do you have to say ‘ALL BLACK’ if you are unable to express a want to a black person because the language you speak isn’t understood, what right do you have to assume all black people are thick and therefore uneducated.

We live in a security estate. The house at the bottom of the garden, to the left is owned by a black family. Two years ago he was murdered in a hijacking.

The house a few doors down was robbed at gunpoint by a white man.

A black man at a place I volunteer at held a gun to the head of another black man during an armed robbery.

We had a white maid when we first moved here; the cost of a cleaner was included in the rent.

There are white people serving in restaurants, white people begging on the sides of the roads, white people living in areas I volunteer in, in townships.

Today I visited Maropeng at The Cradle of Humankind. I asked at the security, a black man, if I could bring my dog in with me I just wanted to have a coffee and use the toilet. I was told it was OK to go in. As I walked into the open space with Bob on a short lead, black people scattered, quite literally. I tied Bob to a pole and ordered coffee; people were looking at him and me. As I drank my coffee a white woman, who was visiting, petted Bob a white child said ‘look doggy’ After a few minutes a black man who introduced himself as Head of Operations told me there was some concern over my dog being there and I would have to leave. I told him that I’d already checked with security and that when I finished my coffee I would leave. I was watched the entire time, Bob sat quietly, no visitor complained, no visitor looked at me any differently. I was openly watched the entire time and made to feel very uncomfortable.

As I left with Bob on a short lead, close I passed near a black woman who was at least 10ft from me and not in the direction I was walking, swung her legs round to the other side of the bench and said ‘you won’t let your dog bite me will you?’ the car park attendant ran back into his hut and I returned to my car, very upset that people could have these thoughts about me and my dog, think that’d a) I’d take a dangerous dog out in public and b) think I’d let him lose on them and order him to attack.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had this reaction, it occurs almost every time I walk Bob around the estate especially in the mornings or going home time for the maids and the gardeners.

So can I make the assumption that ALL black people are afraid of dogs? Or is it that ALL black people assume that ALL white people will set their dogs on black people?

Our gardener is black; he isn’t frightened of the dog. Our ironing guy is black; he walks the dog and feeds him if we are away overnight. The Gardener is from Zambia; the ironing guy is from Malawi. The black woman on the campsite with her caravan and Toyota Fortuner said ‘your baby came looking for you, I gave him a biscuit, while you were in the toilet, such a lovely dog’

My friends here are black/white/English/Afrikaners. We are friends because we share common interests/experiences/views/beliefs. Not because of where they come from, not because the colour of their skin.

What do you think? Do you have experience of racism, based on the previous actions of others that now put you in a category where you must be feared?