South Africa 20 May to 02 July (Part 2)
- Lydia Padilla
- Jul 3
- 4 min read
We loved South Africa so much it required two posts. Plus, the last couple of weeks were awesome as some of our best friends, Kari and John, came to meet us in Johannesburg. Amazing how much you can miss your friends after only a little time away!
Lyd and I were talking the other night about WHY S. Africa isn't at or near the top of the popular travel list, as it should be. We both fell in love with the country, the people, geography, ANIMALS, and oh yeah, the wine! I said this in an earlier post, but if you haven't thought of visiting here, you need to. What a wonderful and beautiful country! Sure, there are problems, as with every country, but if you can take the time to wander the streets, hike the parks, meet some locals, eat the foods (Braii!), drink the wine, go animal spotting and try to understand the 12 official languages you can't but fall in love with it. Enough preaching - book the trip now!
Johannesburg, with Kari and John
Pilanesberg National Park
Kruger National Park
Over the past few weeks I have shed a lot of tears. Some amazing (bucket list items like animals, safaris and Victoria Falls - see next post on Zimbabwe and Zambia), some bad (apartheid) but all very memorable and special. I was just getting to college in 1985 when I first heard about Apartheid. I don’t remember the term from high school but as soon as I got to the university campus I saw a huge group of protesters all living in shantytowns in the quad. It was there that I learned of Nelson Mandela and the struggle to freedom for the blacks of South Africa. You hear or read things of far-off places and don’t really put them into proper perspective until you see them first hand or speak with people who have lived through them. It was a similar situation in Northern Ireland with the Troubles…they don’t seem real until you’re there and hear the stories, outside of your protective nationalist cocoon. And then it hits you "Holy Shit - these people really went through hell."
Visiting Robben Island, where Mandela, Tambo and thousands of others were wrongly imprisoned for simply wanting equality, one-man-one-vote or freedom and fighting (non-violently) for their rights, was powerful. But touring the shantytowns of Soweto and the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg was sobering. The atrocities committed over the 20th century by the ruling whites were massive - with thousands tortured, 21,000+ killed, both in and out of police custody. The museum is a must-see, but plan for at least a half day as it is expansive and takes some time to process the sheer magnitude of everything.
Soweto, a black suburb of Jo’burg that was basically ground zero for the resistance movement, is now a mix of black middle class and the very poor. The middle class live in houses very similar to those you'd see in any American suburb, albeit surrounded by high protective walls. The shantytowns, on the other hand, have dirt streets with make-shift houses pieced together from discarded steel and pallets, where using hijacked electricity is the norm. I felt guilty walking through the shanties with the tour guide but this is where I saw the brightest smiles…kids playing soccer in a tiny dirt and rock field or a little boy walking along with a mouth dripping from popsicle or from the guide, who grew up here and was able to excel, attend university and travel abroad…and bring a positive role model back to his community...there were bright spots.
For context, the country is about 90% black and colored and slightly less than 10% white, while the white population still controls & owns roughly 90% of the property and businesses. Due to the mining explosion (gold and diamonds among others) large populations of Indians migrated in the 1800’s to work the mines, so there is a large Indian population as well. Notably, this is where Gandhi first stopped to practice law and where he developed his Satayagraha movement of non-violent demonstration before returning to India. His museum in Durban is worth the visit, but a bit of a drive from the city centre.
But while the nation reels from corruption (we saw this first-hand a few times) there is a wonderful energy. Cape Town is a beautiful Mecca on the sea, the southern coast from Cape Town to Durban has some of the greatest beaches and most affordable seaside housing and towns in the world, and Johannesburg, the big gritty industrial heart of the country mixes some of the worst slums with some of the most opulent mansions in the world. The diversity is astounding, especially in Jo’burg, with mixed groups of Blacks, Whites, Indians, Christians and Muslims all congregating together. Hopefully, over time, like in Northern Ireland, those differences can fade and equality and shared prosperity can manifest. Or it can go the way of America and become more racist and racially divided over time. Who knows.
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