It is almost April- the beginning of the end! These past two and a half months have definitely been the fastest I have ever experienced. When I was recently grocery shopping at Pick and Pay, I thought about our second day in South Africa; we were brought to Main Road to learn where the grocery stores and ATMs were located, and saw our first minibus taxis flying by us. Now I can easily recognize good prices for fresh fruit and jump in a minibus knowing where it will take me! I am not sure at what point I went from feeling like a scared outsider to knowing my way around Cape Town, but it is definitely a relieving and happy feeling.
Last week was our excursion to Johannesburg and Kruger. We were brought back to the friendly familiarity of airplane rides, fabulous restaurants, long bus rides and overall freshness to a new city. We spent five days touring Johannesburg and the surrounding area visiting several interesting museums and an exciting flee market. Personally, my favorite museum we visited was the Hector Pietersen Museum in Soweto, the largest township. Hector Pietersen was one of the first children killed in what started out as a friendly march where school children in surrounding neighborhoods were protesting being taught in Afrikaans (a foreign language to them). By being taught in the colonizers’ language that was completely unfamiliar to them, they were at a complete disadvantage for learning. Thus, when the march turned violent when police shots were fired, it started an uproar and numerous children and adults died. I really enjoyed the museum because the amazing photographs retold the protest’s story; there was a large photo of Hector Pietersen being carried after shot, with his heartbroken and frantic sister running at his side. It is so startling to see students- younger than me- being killed for rights they believed in and deserved.
Susie (in yellow) with co-educators on Safari in Kruger
After Johannesburg we traveled to Kruger Park for a two day safari. As soon as we were driving up to our lodging, we saw impalas and baboons wandering around. I knew this was going to be an adventure! I went on three safaris: one at sunset, sunrise, and an afternoon walk. The highlights were definitely seeing the packs of elephants at night and the stunning giraffes as the sun was rising. The most shocking was when a lion walked right up to our jeep, stared us down, and kept on strutting by- so intimidating! On the hike, we were about twenty meters away from charging rhinos which was absolutely unbelievable! As amazing as the week was, I was excited to get back to Cape Town last Wednesday; it feels like home.
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