Hey friends - I just got back from South Africa this morning. What a trip! I loved it all, but I was struggling to stay awake at work today. Came home and took a short nap, and hopefully my internal clock will be ok with the time change!
I'm going to break this trip into two separate posts because honestly, there is just so much to share. We spent two days in Johannesburg (Stephanie was working there), and then we headed over to Capetown for a long weekend. The thing that surprised me most was how different the two cities were from each other.. Johannesburg, at least the bit we saw, still seems very much like a foreign country, whereas Capetown could've been any major metropolis.
We flew overnight on Tuesday to Johannesburg. The flight is about 11 hours, and the time change is six hours, so it was Wednesday morning when we landed. A quick stop to our hotel (Emperor's Palace, which actually labels itself "The Vegas of Africa"), and we were off on our first tour. I booked this one last minute because we had a free day in Johannesburg, and I didn't think it was a good idea for us to go "exploring" without a guide. South Africa, even the major cities, is not known for safety..
Our tour guide, Agnes, was a white woman (born in Holland and raised in South Africa) in a white Mercedes Benz. She took us to a township called Soweto, which is a large black community in Johannesburg.
Anyway, the youth program thing was alright or whatever, but what was shocking was the shantytown itself. Apparently, this sort of housing was all erected back during the segregation and Apartheid era, and it still houses a lot of people.
The home itself was small and just full of all kinds of memorabilia. The part I found most interesting was to learn about his family.. his wives and his children.
After lunch, our day of culture and history continued at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. This museum was full of information, and I felt like it could have been really, really good, but the layout was totally confusing. One minute I would be looking at stuff from the 1930s, the next I would be in 1990, and then the next I would be in 1950. It was confusing. But still very informative. No pictures were allowed, so this is the only one I got!
After our day of exploring, we had a pretty low key night since we had to get up early the next day. We got picked up for our day safari at the crack of dawn, and then our guide (a black man who's name none of us could pronounce) drove us the 2.5 hours to Pilanesburg Game Reserve!
It was really interesting to hear our white tour guide and our black tour guide talk about things. There were no direct contradictions in the things they said, but it was definitely just.. different. Hard to describe I guess.
Anyway - check out these animals!!!
After the safari, we headed back into town and just had an easy night of beers and Uno to wind down before heading off to Capetown on Friday morning. More to come on that! I've got kind of a busy week, and I'm struggling with jet lag a bit, but hopefully I'll get my next post up before the weekend. Some friends are in town this weekend to celebrate some birthdays, so it should be a good time, but I want to be fully rested before Friday!!
Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day holiday!
I'm going to break this trip into two separate posts because honestly, there is just so much to share. We spent two days in Johannesburg (Stephanie was working there), and then we headed over to Capetown for a long weekend. The thing that surprised me most was how different the two cities were from each other.. Johannesburg, at least the bit we saw, still seems very much like a foreign country, whereas Capetown could've been any major metropolis.
We flew overnight on Tuesday to Johannesburg. The flight is about 11 hours, and the time change is six hours, so it was Wednesday morning when we landed. A quick stop to our hotel (Emperor's Palace, which actually labels itself "The Vegas of Africa"), and we were off on our first tour. I booked this one last minute because we had a free day in Johannesburg, and I didn't think it was a good idea for us to go "exploring" without a guide. South Africa, even the major cities, is not known for safety..
Our tour guide, Agnes, was a white woman (born in Holland and raised in South Africa) in a white Mercedes Benz. She took us to a township called Soweto, which is a large black community in Johannesburg.
These two towers used to be the cooling stations that supplied electricity to neighboring Johannesburg. Soweto actually didn't get electricity all over the city until something startlingly recent.. in the 90s I think? Crazy, right?
One thing I've really learned since I started doing all these travels is that I know so so so little about the rest of the world. I had a friend in high school who was from South Africa, and I actually took a half semester course in college about the white settlement in South Africa, but I was still shockingly under-educated about a lot of the things Agnes told us about or showed us. Agnes told us that Johannesburg is about 3 million people, and Soweto is about 3.5 million. Of the 3.5 million people living in Soweto, Agnes estimates about 80 of them are white. Eighty. Out of 3.5 million. Wow.
We also went to a shantytown called Kliptown. We stopped at some sort of charity youth program thing. I was a bit surprised by this, since usually when you pay people to take you on a tourist activity, it doesn't include charity stuff. Is that a terrible thing to say? I guess Angelina Jolie and all those other humanitarians do this sort of stuff all the time, but I was really surprised that this stop was part of our tour. Does that make me awful? Perhaps, ha.
Anyway, the youth program thing was alright or whatever, but what was shocking was the shantytown itself. Apparently, this sort of housing was all erected back during the segregation and Apartheid era, and it still houses a lot of people.
Water sources are all communal. People come and wash their clothes and chat with one another.
A few families will share something similar to a block
Houses are made of corrugated steel.. our guide told us that people use things like billboards, so long as it is strong enough to sustain the storms.
Really puts it into perspective, huh?
The houses are known as "matchbox" houses because you can line them all up like matchboxes. Kind of makes me feel badly about thinking my apartment in Singapore is small...
After Kliptown, we headed over towards the Nelson Mandela home, which has been restored to a museum. Everyone freaking loves Nelson Mandela - black people, white people, everyone! Interestingly, the street where Nelson Mandela's home is also includes Desmond Tutu's home. Two Nobel Peace Prize winners living on the same street. No other street in the world can claim that!
The home itself was small and just full of all kinds of memorabilia. The part I found most interesting was to learn about his family.. his wives and his children.
After lunch, our day of culture and history continued at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. This museum was full of information, and I felt like it could have been really, really good, but the layout was totally confusing. One minute I would be looking at stuff from the 1930s, the next I would be in 1990, and then the next I would be in 1950. It was confusing. But still very informative. No pictures were allowed, so this is the only one I got!
After our day of exploring, we had a pretty low key night since we had to get up early the next day. We got picked up for our day safari at the crack of dawn, and then our guide (a black man who's name none of us could pronounce) drove us the 2.5 hours to Pilanesburg Game Reserve!
It was really interesting to hear our white tour guide and our black tour guide talk about things. There were no direct contradictions in the things they said, but it was definitely just.. different. Hard to describe I guess.
Anyway - check out these animals!!!
Hi!
These might be ostriches with their heads down? I took so many pictures, I actually have no idea haha.
Cruising through the park
Springboks.. these are the mascot of the SA rugby team
Wildebeasts down by the water
This zebra just stopped and stared at our car for a while.. totally awesome
Straight chillin
Bye!
Giraffe!!!
Mom and baby rhino crossing the road!
More rhinos
More giraffes
Those lumps along the water are hippos.. too far away to get a good shot :(
We didn't see any elephants, which I was super sad about, and the only lion we saw was waaayyyy too far away and sleeping. So that was also sad, but the safari was absolutely incredible. I took a billion pictures, but after a while, it was nice to just sit back and enjoy nature. The game reserve was incredibly peaceful and beautiful. So different from the concrete chaos of Singapore!
After the safari, we headed back into town and just had an easy night of beers and Uno to wind down before heading off to Capetown on Friday morning. More to come on that! I've got kind of a busy week, and I'm struggling with jet lag a bit, but hopefully I'll get my next post up before the weekend. Some friends are in town this weekend to celebrate some birthdays, so it should be a good time, but I want to be fully rested before Friday!!
Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day holiday!
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