Johannesburg, or as I like to call it- Jo'burg, was great! It had a different feel than Cape Town. Jo'burg is essentially the New York of South Africa. Everything was fast paced and tall buildings lined the streets. One thing that caught my eye was the amount of Black people I saw driving nice cars- something that is very hard to find in Cape Town (The majority of people in Jo'burg are Black, in contrast to Cape Town). Even in the lovely hotel we stayed at there were a lot of successful Black people. For me, it has been a long time, if ever, in which I have been to a place where Black people were the predominantly successful citizens.
Despite, the increase of Blacks I saw in wealthier positions, going to places such as Soweto gave us a reality and a context to the wealth that I saw. The Apartheid Museum, the Hector Pieterson Museum and Sharpeville reminded me of South Africa's dark past. I will not go into detail about everything that I saw, but one of the experiences that really stands out in my mind was walking by the graves of those who died during the Sharpeville Massacre in 1976. Over 60 people were murdered by the police for burning their pass books in resistance to the apartheid government. While walking pass the graves I took a look at the ages of the people who died. A lot of these people were around my age, 21. I kept thinking that these people stood for something. I have to ask myself- “What am I ready to die for?” What is that important to me? While I do have some answers, it is a question that I try to think about daily. These questions serve to motivate me and keep my passion going when I get discouraged.
Now to turn our attention to animals. Kruger National Park (KNP) is located in the province of Mpuma-Langa and the park itself is the size of Israel. I am not an animal or outdoorsy person. However, I do like to observe nature. Thankfully, there were caravans that we rode in- once at sunset and once at sunrise. Everything around me was absolutely breathtaking, from the small chameleon in the tree to the lion that confidently and with ease strolled pass our caravan.
The sunset and sunrise proved to really make the experience. I have always been in love with just standing outside and watching the sunset, sunrise and stars, this was made all the better by having animals compliment the scenery. This experience, combined with my previous trip to Rwanda, further convinced me that there is no continent or place that is more beautiful than Africa.
On the second day most people went on a game walk through the fields to see animals. I chose not to go along since I am not a fan of walking among animals who can run faster than me. Choosing not to go on this game walk did not mean that I missed out on the awesome things that the park had to offer. Just sitting on the deck, little monkeys were leaping around eating food off of plates. They were just too cute, and seemed to have such an interesting life. I would watch as they would stop in pairs and clean each others fur, hug each other and even fight. It was such a cool experience.
Jo'burg, was by far the best Spring Break I ever had. I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to go on this trip. This trip just further emphasized how much I love South Africa- both the people and animals!
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