Hostel Hostage in Joburg!

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Trip Start Aug 27, 2007 Previous
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  Johannesburg, South Africa
Monday, October 1, 2007

Johannesburg wasn't quite as scary as I expected it to be, I was affraid of coming here by myself because I had heard so many stories about how dangerous it is, and yes it is very dangerous in some areas, the crime rate is really high, but most hostels pick you up from the aiport and arrage transportation for you if you need to go anywhere. So that's why i say hostel hostage because i couldn't actually walk anywhere or go anywhere on my own. I got a lift from the people there to go to the mall a couple of times, yes i spent 2 of 3 days at 2 different malls!  I needed to buy a few things including a sleeping bag, a raincoat/jacket and binoculars, some of the best and most useful purchases i've ever made! I also had to get a few new items of clothing as i was getting quite sick of wearing the same clothes for more than a month. 
Most people only spend 2 days in Joburg and thats sufficiant time to see what there is to see here, i had to stay 3 days because the tour i finally decided on wasn't leaving until Thursday

Soweto township 1

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I did a 1 day tour with Jozi tours , our quide was Eric, a funny man who talked non stop! It was all very interesting though and he explained to us a lot about his culture and specifically we talked about marriage because he has been with his girlfriend for 8 years now, they do not live together as that is against tradition. But the marriage ceremony is very costly.  A mans wealth is measure by his possesion of cows, the more cows he has the richer he is, and he must pay for his wife with cows, depending on the woman, and if she is educated, etc, determines how many cows he would have to give her father.  The wedding takes place over two days with hundreds of people, one day is with the brides family and friends and the other day is with the grooms.  They have to change clothes 3 times from the wedding clothes, casual and then traditional .  A cow would be slaughtered to feed everyone and many women would help prepare many other dishes. 
Eric first dropped us off at the Apartied museum. An excellent museum, we had 2 1/2 hours there but i probably could have spent a couple more, i didn't get to read everything.  Up until 1994, South Africa was segregated, whites only had rights and the blacks and everyone else were very oppressed. The museum goes into detail about the whole history of the era of apartied. In 1994 they had their first democratic elections that everyone could vote in and Nelson Mandela was made president

Soweto boy walking home from school

.  We got to visit his home that he lived in for 15 years in the township of Soweto, that was very interesting.  It was filled with things given to him as gifts from other countries, lots of framed certificates and degrees from colleges, pairs of his shoes, photos..etc. 
We drove around Soweto and got to see how different people live, there are some nice houses in an area they call the Beverly Hills of Soweto, and an area of government built houses, and lots of shacks bult from scrap metal and anything really.  We walked around one of the villages with a local guide and went into the home of a woman while she was preparing dinner and caring for a baby.  There is no electricity and no running water. People have to use gas lamps and candles, carry water in a bucket taken from a pump and use outhouses.  I met some of the children who came running up with big friendly smiles and lots of questions, where do you come from, how many brothers and sisters do you have...  i'm sure they've got the game down pat for the tourists! They obviously want money or something and did ask if i could give them something, i had some candy so i gave them some of that.  I read not to give the children money because it encourages them to stay home from school so they can just work the tourists all day instead.  It was a good to experience this because it makes you realize how fortunate you really are with all that we have when these people have nothing, but they still seem happy. 
Also in Soweto we went to the Hector Peterson Museum, another great museum documenting the Soweto student uprising in 1976.  The students were protesting against the school/gov changing the language that classes are taught in  to Afrikaans instead of their language.  There was a big march planned that day and the students were going to deliver a memorandum to the police station, but the police showed up and chaos broke out and 600 kids were killed

surgery anyone?

. Hector Peterson was a 13 year old boy and the museum was named after him because he is in one of the photos that was shown around the world, him dying, being carryed by another boy and his sister running along side them crying.
It took me a few days to figure out what to do with my time in South Africa, I didn't realize just how much there is to see here and i have severly underestimated the amount of time i would need for this country.  There are hundreds of tour companies and thousands of tours to choose from!  I decided on a 7 day trip with Nomads, from Joburg to Durban,  visiting Kruger National Park and Swaziland along the way. 
When I first arrived here, someone said to me "you are going to fall in love with Africa..."  That just may be happening....  I don't think i have gotten my major travelling out of the way yet, definately not.  I'm considering returning to Africa to do 2 month overland trip, and do some volunteer work with children and also with chimps and gorillas.  There are so many possibilities, so many places to see, so many worthy causes that i want to help with. 

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In front of Nelson Mandela's home in Soweto	Hector Peterson museum	Street in Soweto where the uprising in 1976 happen	Shack houses in Soweto
Kids from the township	Dinner at Mufasa backpackers	Mufasa's

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