Garden Court Sandton City Hotel

... Johan explained that people were building them there so that the world would see and feel the government wasn&#8217;t doing an adequate job helping them. Johan seemed to feel this president was doing a lot for the people and he talked about how he was one of the people, not being afraid to walk in the street and shake people&#8217;s hands.<br><br>When we got to the Apartheid Museum we had exactly two hours until closing time. Johan bought our ...

... is overriding what should have been an absolute crash a few hours ago. That, in fact, was my idea. Yeah, right. Reality steps in and somehow moves us in ways we just don't expect. So, not a standard, familiar tiredness but rather a sort of euphoric spaced feeling. Somewhat like being high, if I remember clearly (no pun) but with lucidity. I'll have to adjust my clock to fit my new time-reality, but hey, not tonight.<br><br ...

Fun and games in Johannesburg, where to start?  We spent our last few days up in the Drakensburg Mountains, very beautiful scenery.  We hiked to a waterfall, swimming along the way in rock pools and had cake and tea at a nearby tea garden for my 29th birthday.  Weather was either hot and humid or absolutely pouring down with thunderstorms.  Tis the rainy season. We made it safe and sound to our guest-house in Johannesburg and drove to meet 'Eddie' the ...

... in itself. The funniest thing was as we set off; Chad the guide set off with me and Zane in tow and we looked around at Adam who was just sitting there on his horse, not moving. No matter how much he kicked him and pulled his reins, this horse was not moving! Me and Zane found that pretty hilarious as Adam was getting quite frustrated. When he finally managed to get the 'f*cker' going with the help of a stick, we managed to trot for 2 minutes ...

... The eyes that followed were that of a group of men who worked at the hotel who were standing in the lobby. The word spread quickly that a Black female American was in the midst. I played it cool, but loved the attention - who wouldn't! They weren't aggressive at all - but definitely seemed intrigued! All I could think after living in predominately white areas for the past 10 years is that I am going to soak up every minute of being the majority!

Hello! I am almost on my way home, I fly out tonight. I have had the most amazing trip and have many many stories. However the biggest news that I have is I am now a BEER DRINKER! (I have the beer gut to prove it) Can't wait to catch up with you all! It's been Clapper mate!

... The mine was definitely not a comfortable place to stay long. South African miners had worked in such conditions for years, with little pay. Ironically, exploitation was what made this country the richest one in Africa, and the largest gold producer in the world. Later, we headed up to the town square, where we saw dancers performing a "miners' dance". The dance was supposed to tell stories of the miners' harsh life, but the performers seemed overjoyed - This was ...

So after sitting in this lovely Washington airport, I am about to board the plane for an almost 19 hour flight. I'm getting really excited about teaching. I've actually spent the last five hours downloading all of these cool activities....just not quite sure how to do the teaching thing yet. But I'm a really good babysitter, so hopefully that will help!! Here goes xoxox

... South Africans?" "No...should I? Needless to say, the conversation was short. The kids were great. We played hide and seek, built sand castles, read story books, played games- the best being "my animal is bigger and stronger than your animal... Whheee dooosh! bam bam bam!" Maybe kids aren't so bad after all! I could get used to this kind of hero worship. And all the black South Africans I met were very nice! The Men were cute... but short!!!

... to find fresh farming lands. The Great Trek lasted over 20 years with some bits getting completely wiped out by malaria and wars with tribes, and some settling and founding new towns and republics. We found ourselves feeling rather sorry for these pioneers because every time they carved out a space for themselves, the British came along and took it off them! It all goes a long way to explain the great sense of nationhood and nationalism that was, and still is, felt by the ...