Shumba Valley Lodge Johannesburg

... Soweto is an area of Johannesburg that is made up of a number of townships – which are basically temporary housing for people that come in from rural areas. Now, the houses in the area actually run the gamut from extremely posh to houses made out of five pieces of sheet metal. It is the area in which Nelson Mandela lived for many years, as did Desmind Tutu – actually on the same street. It was the center of much of the action during the Apartheid era ...

This morning we went to the Apartheid Museum. It reminded me of the Holocaust Museum in LA. South Africa has been through some very hard and tragic times. The racial discrimination of South Africa rivals that of the United States. The Apartheid ended in 1991 and the country has now enjoyed a time of merciful reconciliation thanks to the efforts of people on both sides of the battle lines. 
After finishing up wandering the museum we headed out and picked up a friend of ...

... wood lit and it was time to put our steaks on. There were five rump steaks and one porterhouse. The smallest steak weighed just under 500g and the largest weighed 800g. The average price per steak was about €5. They really know how to eat meat here! In the end we didn't cook our steaks to how we would have liked them and I couldn't eat all of mine but they were nice all the same.
We were having a few beers after dinner with some other people staying at the hostel ...

... feet. I fondly remember taking a huge breath to dive down to the bottom and coming up gasping. I was only 9 or 10 years old. We also drove over to our old house at 53, 9th Avenue. For mum it was really strange. For me it was great, but sadly so much more busy again since last visit and as we heard a little more dangerous too. In the afternoon we went to the huge Mall in Rosebank and wandered around the shops after a ...

... to visit the place Monte Casino, an artificial world inside a huge building. http://montecasino.tsogosun.co.za/conte nt/MontecasinoMap.pdf This was a good end to reflect on the real world that we were able to experience and we are grateful to have been exposed to this part of the world

... last ever ostrich ride. We've visited Cango Caves at the foothills of the Swartberg mountains, an amazing series of limestone cabins, vast halls, towering formations and the best stalagmites and stalactites we have ever seen, definitely a highlight. After finishing at Cango Caves I thought the 1cm, on the map, Swartberg mountain pass might be worth driving along. 2.5 hours later on untarred, steep, bumpy single track dirt road with shear drops and not a hint of Western road safety ...

... beers (VIP tent baby) before settling in on the 18th to watch all the players come home - we even managed to get on South African TV in a crowd shot - although I was caught on camera picking my nose... After the last night we would have for a while in a comfortable bed and with a warm shower we said goodbye to John and Jill and got on our flight to Cape Town (luckily we picked the right airline - the other one we almost went with were grounded that day as an engine fell of the plane!)

... I have to worry here. I will just take SA Rands with me. They are widely accepted in the Forex bureaus there and I think they have a better exchange rate than the Dollar or the Euro. What else do I have to think about? Packing! I do my packing some day... Cool, so 8 days to go!!! Can't wait! It's getting boring here in Joburg. Everyone has left for the coast and there is very little traffic on the road. Everything seems so relaxed here...

... Sam and Ryan (Western Cape, South Africa) 28. Having dinner with Derartu Tulu, 2 time Olympic Champion (10,000m) (Addis ...

... poussé en moi. La Birmanie, ça faisait longtemps que ça me trottait dans la tête... Après une nuit plutôt courte, c'est le retour à l'aéroport. Larguer la voiture, essayer d'envoyer mes colis au Canada (trop cher, je les gardes avec moi) et trouver un billet pour Gabs. Je suis encore et toujours sur mon nuage. La tête pleine de visions, de sons, d'odeurs. Mais le nuage change de couleur. Je le sens devenir plus noir. Le blues ne va pas tarder. Ça ne doit pas finir comme ça. Qu'à cela ne ...