Stay on the left side of the road and turn at the Robot (traffic light)

I had an eventful weekend, I rented a car with 3 other girls interning in Cape Town, and we made the drive partially up the Garden Route. We got a late start on Thursday, due to some problems Margo was encountering with her passport, but we got on the road at about 10 am. I did the initial driving, which was extremely scary. Driving around Cape Town was mostly a challenge as I was not used to driving on the left side of the road, however, as we got on the highway I experienced a new challenge. For most of our drive we were heading east on the N2, a main highway, which was unlike any other highway I have driven on.
There are some rules for driving here, the main one is: everyone thinks they have the right away, all the time. It doesn’t matter if you have a green light, or the other person has a stop sign, the goal is just to avoid hitting anyone. On two lane highways you indicate that you want to pass someone by simply tailgating them as close as possible, the slower car than is obligated to pull partially on the shoulder, and the faster car can dodge around them whenever. I generally felt like I was driving in Mario Kart at all times.
Thursday we made it to Oudtshoorn, about a 5 hour drive from Cape Town, where we visited an Ostrich farm, the Kango Caves, and stayed at a great little hostel. On Friday morning, we made the drive father east to Plattenberg Bay, where we went on a horse back safari, and stayed in another great hostel. Saturday morning, Caroline and I went Bungee Jumping at Bloukrans Bridge, the largest commercial bungee jump in the world at 216 meters. It was probably the most terrifying and exciting thing I have ever done. I loved it. Caroline and I caught a ride back to Plattenberg Bay while the other two girls visited Monkey Land, and we spent our last night in Wilderness, a beautiful coastal town.
The entire drive on the N2 east is gorgeous, passing through many small unknown towns and continuous beautiful beaches spanning as far as the eye can see. However I was constantly reminded I was in South Africa, as about 5-15 minutes outside of every remotely large town were shanty towns. Those farther east were generally a little nicer than Cape Town shanty towns, however they were still spans of tin shacks with stolen electricity.
It was great to be out of the city though, living in Cape Town takes a lot of energy and it was a relief to have a short break.