Kristin enjoyed the excursion but happy to be back in Cape Town

We got up early to catch our flight to Johannesburg for the week.  At the airport in Cape Town I couldn't but think of how we would be back there in a little over a month to head back to the US. It was definitely a bit of a disappointed feeling, realizing we will actually be leaving and so soon.  Of course I miss my family and friends back home, but Cape Town has become another home and I'm going to miss the people, the mood, the environment, everything I've come to love about this city.

Back to excursion. In Jo'burg, one of the first things we did was drive through the largest township in South Africa, Soweto. Soweto houses mostly a black population of South Africans that speak a variety of languages like Zulu, Sotho, or Tswana. Looking around at the housing, I compared it to that of Cape Town's black populated townships like Khayelitsha. Soweto's housing actually appeared sturdier, more solid which reminded me more of the housing I have seen in coloured townships of Cape Town, like Ocean View or Mitchell's Plain.  Much of the housing back in Khayelitsha is self constructed, small shacks made of scrap metals which is very different from the housing we saw in most of Soweto. 

The first museum we went to was called the  Hector Pietersen Museum. A photo of a young man carrying 12 year old Hector Pieterson with his sister by their side is an iconic image of the 1976 Soweto uprising. The museum was established to honor him and the youth who were protesting against the government implementing Afrikaans as the language of instruction in their schools; many students couldn't understand or struggled to learn anything as it was taught in a foreign language to them. I could have spent probably a couple more hours walking around, reading and watching clips on the TVs around the museum. Our next stop was the  Mandela Family Home which was right down the street. The house was quaint and no different than the other houses around it, except that it was now like a little museum with pictures of the Mandela's and different awards and letters that Nelson and Winnie had received for their dedication and hard work throughout the struggle.  Later on we shopped around at the Rosebank FleaMarket. That was fun because we could barter with the vendors who definitely tried overcharging - they figured we wouldn't know any better as foreigners. I definitely got ripped off on my first purchase but after that I made sure I didn't.

Kristin, Erica & Nellie in Johannesburg

 Some other museums and memorials we visited throughout our stay include the Apartheid Museum,  Sharpeville Memorial, and Constitution Hill where the Old Johannesburg Prison is.  All of which seemed to get you to empathize with the struggles that people endured and fought against during apartheid. We flew through the Apartheid Museum, but if we didn't have a tour guide pushing us along, we could have spent the entire day and still not have gotten through all its contents.  One of the videos showed the police brutality to those who protested against the system. Seeing images of people being beaten is bad, but knowing that they're being beaten for a belief that is so fundamental, the belief in equality and a desire to be heard, seems even worse. It's a desire anyone can attest to, everyone wants to be heard and treated equally. Seeing that the government so badly wanted to silence these Freedom Fighters ignites a drive in your own self to desperately want them to be heard and for them to succeed in their struggle. And they do succeed to break down apartheid.  

The Sharpeville Memorial was a much smaller museum and memorial site. This was created to honor those who protested and the 69 who were killed during the Sharpeville Massacre on March 21, 1960.  Many of those who were injured or killed by police gunfire were found to have bullet wounds mostly on their backsides, as they were running away from the shots.  People of all ages attended this protest, the youngest to be killed was 12 years old.  The Old Jo'burg Prison was also informative.  We learned that even prisons were no exception to apartheid's influence and policies. White prisoners were treated most royally and black prisoners were treated like animals, or worse.  Any one in between white or black was also treated in between, not the worst but not the best.  The food was different, conditions, clothing, and more was different for different races. 

Kristin and friends watching a game at the Boys and Girls Club

 One afternoon we volunteered with the Boys and Girls Club of SouthAfrica.  This is an organization where young students can come after school to do homework, read books, have a snack, play with other kids, play outside, play soccer, etc.  The idea is to keep these kids busy and out of trouble, engaging them in activities that are productive rather than destructive. In the townships, the youth can easily fall into a path of destruction that could involve drugs, violence, or gangs, for example. All of which are very real issues among many township communities.  We all had a great few hours playing and talking with the children in the club, it took us almost 20 minutes just to say goodbye! 

After our time in Joburg, we travelled to the province known as Mpumalanga where we would be staying at Skukuza Lodge in Kruger National Park! This was probably the highest anticipated part of our excursion! While at Kruger, we went on two game drives; the first was the night we arrived and the next one was the following morning. We saw the sun set and rise. The colors in the sky for both events were beautiful, as one would expect.  On the game drives and just around Kruger we saw lots of native African animals (as well as plants and insects). The animals we saw include rhinos, elephants, giraffes, zebras, kudus, warthogs, hyenas, lions, owls, impalas, hippos, water buffalo, lizards, other exotic birds, and some people even saw a couple leopards.  Some of us also went on a game walk on our last evening. The walk lasted a little over an hour and we were with two men who worked for Kruger, I think they must have been park rangers, so they were very familiar with the game and environment we we walking into.  We walked on game paths, meaning they were made by the animals that live in the environment.  So, along these paths we came across many different animals tracks and droppings.  Some of the many insects we encountered include spiders that were larger than my index finger in length, different species of dung beetles, and of course, flies.  We only saw an impala at a far distance. We were told we probably wouldn't see too many animals on our walk because they can smell and hear us from long distances and will therefore keep far away from us. So I don't think any of us were too worried about being mauled by a lion or charged at by a rhino or elephant - however interesting that may be, it was highly unlikely to happen.  For precautionary purposes though, both of our guides carried loaded guns and always walked in front of us. 

Cape Town 
Table Mountain as seen from Rondebosch Commons

So, the excursion was a success, we all survived Kruger (and each other).  It was fun but it feels really good to be back in Cape Town!