Kimmi's excursion experiences

For my spring break this year we went to visit Johannesburg, South Africa and also Kruger National Park.  I had so much fun at both places. We were in Jo'burg for a couple of days. There we visited many museums. 

The museum that hit me the most and made me very emotional was the Hector Pietersen Museum. We went to this museum one of the first days we were in Jo'burg. If you do not know already Hector Pietersen was 13-year-old boy who was shot by the South African police. He was marching for his right to an equal education. Many of the kids from Soweto, one of the biggest townships in South Africa, marched in protest that day. It was supposed to be a simple protest and turned violent. Students were fighting for the right to an equal education that they deserve. The police came to break it up and started to fire shots into the crowd. That day about 200 kids died and hundreds injured. One of the famous pictures is of Hector Pietersen being carried by an older boy after he was shot. This picture really captured the meaning of Ubuntu because this boy who was carrying Hector did not even know him. But here in South Africa it doesn’t matter if you are a stranger if you see that someone is hurt you are going to help him anyway.

Throughout the museum I learned more and more about what happened that day and how many innocent kids lives were taken. It just made me so sad because to think how young those kids were. I just don’t understand how the police can violently shot at and attack these kids. It was supposed to be a simple protest they were no threat to the police. I just don’t understand why the police felt the need to start killing so many innocent kids. I started to think also some of these kids were as little as my Grade R kids. What if I was a teacher back then and one of my students got shot and killed. I just could not even imagine. These were so many kids killed that day. Kids have so much potential, they have their whole lives ahead of them and they are our future. Kids have so much more to live for and to see that the police killed so many of them I just cannot wrap my mind around. One of the stories I read in the museum touched me as well. This 8-year-old girl was walking down the road when this happened with her mother. She was not even in the protest she was completely innocent and one of the policemen shot and killed her. She was innocent she was not even involved but just because she was a kid the policeman assumed and shot her for nothing. That museum was so sad to learn about and I could not even believe something like this happened.

Kimmi plays hoola hoops with kids at Boys and Girls Club of Soweto

While in Jo'burg we were able to go to many restaurants that had traditional South African food. We went to a casino and I played Black Jack for the first time. I can definitely see how addicting gambling can be. I almost got sucked in and I had to stop myself from putting another R100 in to play. I enjoyed walking around downtown Jo'burg and learning more about the history of South Africa. We were fortunate enough to be able to spend one of the afternoons volunteering with The Boys and Girls Club. There I was reading with one of the boys and we were learning about how muscles worked and how you use them to run and bend your arms. By the end of my time there he understood and really did learn about muscles, which was exciting. I was also able to play with some of the kids outside where one boy and I made up a game with hula-hoops. It reminded me of my childhood and how my sibling and I would always be given something little like a hula hoop and make up a game that would keep us occupied for hours. When we went to Constitution Hill one of the things in the building that I liked the most was there was an area where you can write down whatever you want about South Africa, human rights, etc. I thought that was a good idea and very interesting to look at and read.

When we first came to Johannesburg I was very scared because people told me that it was a lot more dangerous than Cape Town and more crimes occurred there. But in the end I was not so scared. I did find that the people there were not as friendly as the people are in Cape Town. I also felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb. That may have to do with the fact that we were always in a big group of 24 people on a huge coach bus. But I felt that being white made people look at me differently because of my skin color. I think because of Apartheid many may still have some sort of resentment against whites because of the way that they were treated. At times I just felt so bad riding around in this big fancy coach bus to places where many did not have enough money to buy groceries for the week. I guess there was no other way to get around but still. Being stared at by many on the streets made me want to duck my head and hide. I did feel safe in Joburg because we were provided with the private transportation and stayed in a safe area. But Joburg did not feel like home. I found myself missing the familiarity and nice people from Cape Town. Plus I also found myself missing Table Mountain, which in Cape Town I can see, everyday. In Joburg there are no mountains.

Next stop was Kruger National Park. It took us about 7 hours to get there. This long bus ride reminded me of all the trips my family and I went on to Wisconsin. When we arrived in Kruger it was extremely hot and humid. I roomed with two other girls in a chalet. It basically looked like a hut from the outside but once you got inside it looked like a small hotel room that fit three beds and a closet. It was far away from any big city and was kind of in the middle of nowhere. I couldn’t help but think that it felt a little bit like home. I was finally comfortable enough that if I wanted I was not afraid to walk around alone. The only thing I feared there was getting lost or eaten by some animal.

Brittany, Kimmi, Kristin on game drive in Kruger

We went on a game drive/safari that first night where we saw a giraffe, rhino, kudu (antelope), impalas and wart hogs. On the safari we watched the sunset and the beautiful starry night cover the sky. We woke up at 4 in the morning for our morning safari ride. It was so worth it though. We watched the sunrise and we saw elephants, giraffes, a female lion and cool birds. First we saw an elephant from afar then we saw this huge elephant that actually started to cross the road and stopped right in front of our truck. It stood there and started to flap its ears so we remained quiet then it walked across. It was amazing I had never seen an elephant that close before. I took a nap and then we walked around during the day. At lunch we were all sitting outside eating and in the river we saw hippos! In the afternoon I went on a bush walk. I felt like someone from National Geographic. I had my camera with me and although we had to be completely silent I took some videos. There were two armed men with us leading the way. We saw a giraffe from afar and also some impalas crossing the road. We were on an elephant hunt and on the way found some poop and where the elephant laid. We also stomped through tall grass and spider webs ---- it was so much fun. I really enjoyed my time at Kruger and wish that we could have stayed there longer. On the way out of Kruger we saw elephants, water buffalo, giraffe and hippos.

While on excursion I missed the comfort of the pool house and being able to see everyone and make my own dinner. I also missed the comfort and familiarity of Cape Town. During the whole week the only form of technology I had was my phone. I did not use it because it costs so much for people back home so I had no contact with my family or friends for a whole week. It was kind of relaxing to have no technology and no distractions. I read a lot and wrote a lot. But it was very hard not being able to talk to anyone from home for the whole week. I can’t believe how much I rely on the Internet and how much I was craving it while I was gone for such a short period of time. Overall I had an amazing spring break and am so lucky that I was able to visit such amazing places. By the end of the week though I was ready and excited to go back home to Cape Town.