Johannesburg

Tuesday12 March: Johannesburg. Arrived after a long overnight flight from Istanbul. Arrived hotel and only had 10mins to change before embarking on a half day tour of Soweto and Apartheid Museum.

Soweto being the town ship created by the Apartheid government to house the black workers. I started taking photos but ceased as I felt the life of these people so still appalling and I did not wish to further degrade their dignity. It was bad enough under the Apartheid regime but the current President Jacob Zuma is as bad.  He was previously thrown out for corruption but is now back and once again he has just ripped them of to the tune of $24m using state money for his house renovations. Even though the Constitution committee as declared he has ripped them off the best that he has done is apologies. His supporters have said an apology should be enough.

Still not as bad as Swazi where the government have ordered a new plane for the King at $13.3M and $12M on an unnecessary upgrade to the airport and are asking the world for $9.5M drought relieve. The corruption in Africa is mind boggling.

If Soweto was not enough the Apartheid Museum was so upsetting. It is a fantastic museum but depressing. You get the feeling right away as the entry tickets alternate between white and coloured and depending on your ticket your entry and first part of museum are separate as it was under the old system.  To follow the history of the appalling struggle of these poor people was very upsetting.  To remember the Sharpeville massacre in 1960 in which 69 people were killed and the Soweto riots in 1976 where the police killed between 176 and 700 people depending whose figures you accept, the death of activists such as Steve Biko in 1977 and the reasoning and attitude of the murders government was emotionally draining and can only leave one angry.  I cannot see how Africa will ever be a decent place for the average person.  We really enjoyed this tour but was depressed that it was ever like it was.

 

 



Mandela's bedroom



 

Wed 13 March: Leaving Johannesburg we were conned by the airport staff. An airport porter would not leave us alone and insisting on escorting us to check in.  He then pointed out that we were over our 20kg limited on both cases. He said the clerk was a good man and would not charge us for overweight but as he was so good we should give him some money. The clerk said don't give me any money here but to give our friendly porter 400rand and they would split it later. So our new mate escorted us to security checkin and then asked for the money. After giving him in $US the near equivalent,  as we were worried if we didn't would our luggage arrive, he then said "what about me this is for the clerk I need something". I said you Are to split it and walked off worried about the future of our luggage. Why worry it arrived safely in Hoedspruit. Minus one wheel that had been ripped off including the whole assembly.  Hard to imagine how this could happen to a very strong assembly.  Is this just a coincidence or am I overly suspicious? How can I blame them for being thieves when there government set the example?

However, after 2 hour drive from airport, where we saw a number of wild animals, we arrived at our safari camp with 15mins to spare to get ready for the 4pm afternoon drive to see more wildlife.

Great, we got up close with zebras, impalas ( known as McDonalds as they are fast food good eating and they are on every corner), elephants, rhinos, giraffes, kudus, Buffaloes, wildebeests and many more names which I lost track of.  At one stage an elephant in a group got a bit upset and had a charge at a truck in front of us and when we were close she had a go at us.  No problem but it was scary at the time. Back at about 8pm for dinner under the stars and in to our hut for the night. Only 6 huts that are all set well apart. Really beautiful pointed thatched roofed round hut with outside shower. Not unusual for the poor animals to be scared by the sight of a naked body.

We have to be escorted to our hut after sunset due to the presence of the wild animals. I hope the rangers are considered better eating. No showering while it is dark.