Where to start? Well I didn’t do much this past week…ya know just sat around, twiddled my thumbs…
The next day (Sunday) was a day of museums and yummy food. We started off in the morning taking a drive to Soweto to the Hector Pietersen Museum. Hector Pieterson was a thirteen-year-old boy killed during riots by schoolchildren to protest the use of the Afrikaans language in schools. He was an innocent young boy shot by a police officer. The museum commemorated his death and showed what happened that horrible day in 1976. There were pictures, videos, quotes and much more that showed how horrible things were during that time. It shocked me how incredibly brutal people can be to other people. It also shocked me how horrific police and the government was to people just trying to make an honest living and protest ridiculous rules that limited their education. Looking back on the incidents it makes me so sad at how many people needed to loose their lives over an issue that I unintentionally take for granted in the states. Such an idea of having classes taught in my native language makes common sense to me, but apparently not to the government in South Africa during the time of the riots. I just wish violence was not always the ‘go-to’ for so many different groups of people. After that heavy museum we traveled right into the heart of Soweto to the Mandela Family Home. It was a small brick house right smack dab in the middle of the township. When you first drove around that area you didn’t notice the home and the wall that said whose home it was. But once being inside and around the area, you noticed just how friendly and homey it could seem. Nelson Mandela’s home was extremely small but there was much history to be learned from it. On the same street where he lived for part of his life, is the home of yet another Nobel Peace Prize winner- Desmond Tutu! It is the only street in history that two Nobel Peace Prize winners lived on. Its really cool to see that. While driving to lunch we drove past these really cool huge statues of hands. I was confused at first to as why the government would put in giant statues of hand symbols right in the middle of Soweto, but then Vernon explained to us what they meant. Since public transportation is different here in Jo-burg then Cape Town, these symbols represent how people get around. Instead of having a yeller scream out the window of a mini-bus, the hand symbols tell people where they are going. I wish I could explain what the different ones meant but unfortunately I forgot! It was still awesome to see how even small things like public transportation are different in Jo-burg then in Cape Town.
After going to Mandella’s home we traveled to a place called ‘Wandies” for lunch. It is a small family owned restaurant run out of what looked like to be a regular little house. Once we drove down the tiny road which led to the house and the bus found a place to park, we piled out and walking into this restaurant. It was one big room with two giant tables (and a few little ones) occupying every last inch of space there was. I ate all kinds of typical African dishes ranging from ox stomach, samp and beans and curry and meat just to name a few. Now, I know all of that sounds deliciously appetizing (cough cough) but let you tell you- the ox stomach was not all that it was cracked up to be. It was this blackish bumpy looking food with a smell that just made you uncomfortable. I never have a problem with trying new foods, especially when I’m in new places but this piece of stomach really looked unappetizing. But it didn’t matter. I was dead set on trying everything. So I picked that piece of stomach off my plate and took the smallest bite I could manage. And that was one more bite then I should have taken. It tasted GROSS! It was salty and chewy and the texture was just weird. I ate it anyway though so now I can officially say I have eaten ox stomach. I forgot to mention the coolest thing about the restaurant. Every inch of the inside of the room was covered in little notes or writing on the walls from the thousands upon thousands of people that had been there. There literally was writing on the ceiling, all over the walls, papers and business cards and money stuck all over the walls with names and things written in languages I had no idea about! It was the coolest thing ever. I went around the room and explored a bit and saw so many different things. Our group found an American dollar among us and we all signed it. We placed it on the wall to add to the collection so all of our names are officially up there! We hung it to the wall using Ryan’s chewed gum so his gum will forever have a place there too.
After stuffing myself to the brim, we headed to Freedom Square for a short walk around, then to the Rosebank flea market. I must say, flea markets are one of my favorite things ever. It must be how I was raised to be a bargain shopper (thanks mom!) so I love getting good deals from all different vendors. And this wasn’t just a small flea market with a few people selling things. This was a giant building with row after row and person after person selling all kinds of crafts! Not only that-but there were TWO FLOORS! Crazy right? Lets just say that I had a great time shopping. After our shopping time, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for another long day ahead of us.
Monday morning we woke up bright and early again to start our day of exploring. That day we headed to Sharpeville Memorial to visit the museum and surrounding historical area where the famous Sharpeville Massacre took place. It was a solemn environment, where we learned all about the atrocities that were committed that day so many years ago right on that very spot. We saw pictures through the museum and got to walk through the commemoration garden where they had exactly 69 remembrance blocks for the known 69 people we passed away on that day. We walked through the area of the township surrounding the site, and even got to meet a man walking on the street who told us his story about the massacre. We learned that he had to bury his aunt and brother from what happened that day. He was actually carrying his passbook with him so we got to see a real passbook from that time. It was really cool to talk to someone who lived through that and remembered exactly where he was while it took place. We toured the old prison and saw much of the surrounding area. We then got onto the bus and were taken to the cemetery where the 69 people are buried. It was a huge cemetery with many gravestones. The interesting thing about it was that there were no flowers around. Here in South Africa, instead of putting flowers on the gravestones for the dead they leave cups and bowls filled with water. I can’t remember exactly why they do this, but I know its some neat reason. I wasn’t a huge fan of hanging out in cemeteries so I was happy when we got to get back on the bus and head out. It as really moving to see the graves of those who passed away during the massacre and I am glad I was able to pay my respects.
We drove to a little ways to our lunch destination and landed at a place called Nom’s Kitchen. It was a lovely little restaurant with delicious food as well. We ate there and enjoyed each other’s company then everyone got ready to board the bus for our hotel. HOWEVER there was a flaw in this plan. Right before we were leaving Nicole, Kimmi, and I decided to run to the bathroom. We knew people were getting ready to leave, so we thought we could go quick and get right on the bus. But, as we were coming out of the bathroom we see our bus slowly start to drive away. We start running and yelling all the while people on the bus see us and are just waving!! I must admit it was very comical and I am sure we provided quite the entertainment for those around us on the street and in the restaurant.
We jumped on the bus and drove the hour back to the city of Jo-burg. When we got back we had a few hours to rest and then were to meet up for dinner. A group of us decided to walk to Mandela Square to see the area. We got there and explored the mall and ended up taking an hour just to find the grocery store! But we found it eventually and were able to head home with enough time to get ready for our dinner. Our dinner that night was in a place called Monte Casino and boy was it fun. We ate a delicious buffet dinner then got to walk around for a bit.
Our fourth day in Jo'burg was nice, but hot. We went on a tour of the city by the Jo’burg Development Agency and got to learn about everything they are doing to help build up the city. I think the agency was extremely important for the development of the city and its image as well. After that we headed back to Soweto to have lunch in the mall and then head to one of the best parts of the trip.
Around 2 that day, we met up and went to volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club of South Africa. We spent the afternoon playing, reading, running, jumping, hop-scotching, hula-hooping and just having the best time ever with a huge group of children. I loved every second of it. There were so many kids and you could just tell they loved having all 25 of us there. In the end, it was really hard to say goodbye because you know just how much it meant to them (and us) to get to play.
After our fun afternoon we went back to the hotel and got ready in five minutes for a play a few of us signed up for. We got a delicious dinner all together then some of us went to the play. It was called Scenes from Soweto and had excellent music and singing in it. That night I slept like a rock and was so excited to see what they next day brought.
The next day was good as well. The morning was a bit heavy emotionally, but I learned so much. We spent the morning at the Apartheid Museum learning about the racism and segregation that separated the nation for so many years. It gave me a heavy heart after going through there and felt so sad for everything that had happened to South Africa and its people. I wish there were words for me to describe everything I saw and learned in the museum, but words don’t do it justice. Following the museum, we got lunch (which for me consisted of 28 pieces of sushi (which I only at 26 of thank you very much!) I was hungry!) and we drove to Constitution Hill and the Old Johannesburg Prison. The Old Johannesburg Prison was astounding and eerie all at the same time. We learned about who went there and the living situation these people faced daily. It was also interesting to find out that Gandhi stayed in that exact prison for few months too. It truly was upsetting.
The next morning was very exciting because WE WERE HEADING TO KRUGER! We woke up super early and hopped on the bus for the one and only Kruger National Park! The eight-hour bus ride was decently long, but once we got there it was completely worth it. Once we finally got to Kruger (after sleeping on the floor of the bus next to the steps that lead out the ‘out’ back door) we had finally made it. I was so excited that I couldn’t think about anything but the safari we were going on in the hour. We brought all of our stuff to our room and then went quickly back to the meeting point for the safari. We all waited there patiently and then it was finally time to load the safari vehicle and get on our way.
One of the coolest things in the world was the safari rides. They were like a completely open big truck with seats and everything. I loved it! it made it more bearable to wake up at 4 am to go on another amazing morning safari! We saw so many animals, including a giant elephant that looked like it wanted to charge at our car and a lovely zebra crossing the road right as the sun rose! It was breathtaking. After our morning safari, we went back and rest a lot for the second half of our day. we would be participating in a walking safari and needed to gather our strength. I was so excited for this walk and had been looking forward to it all day! Finally, 3:45 pm rolled around and we looked to see what the officers were staying for the walk and its rules.
The walking safari was probably one of the coolest things in the whole world. We were literally one with nature and watched as our two guards carried huge guns with them to scare the animals (they would never shoot , just let them go off so the animals can hear them and get scared away). We walked through the bush and got to see so much more to nature then I expected. We learned different plants names, different ways the animals interact with the environment and we even tracked a rhino (but he was too scared of us so he ran away).
I had the best time ever on the safaris and was so happy to see all of the animals. I am going to write a big list of everything we saw!
Elephants
Zebras
White rhino
Giraffes
Warthogs
Impala
Kudu
Mere cat
Lion
Puff otter
Spider
Monkey and baby monkey
Hippo
Hornbill
Guinea fowls
Water buffalos
We saw all of those animals during our safaris and our stay in Kruger. It was amazing to see them completely in their native environments just walking around safely. I am so excited to put the pictures online for everyone to see.
Finally our day to depart Jo-burg came. We left Kruger early early on Saturday morning and headed back on the 8 hours drive to Jo-burg to the airport. On our way home we stopped at many rest stops, but one in particular has a story to go with it. At one stop we met a women who had a little baby monkey on her shoulder! The monkey was literally two inches tall, with fluffy fur and the CUTEST little monkey face you have ever seen. Apparently you can buy pet marmoset monkeys here and just have them as pets! I got to pet this little baby monkey named Martin- and that made my whole day.
So, I definitely could say my trip to Jo'burg and Kruger was PHENOMENAL. I learned so much and had the most incredible time in Kruger with the animals. I am so grateful for such an awesome spring break and I don’t think any other spring break can compare to that.
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