Spending time in Johannesburg certainly made me appreciate Cape Town and consider it home even more so than I did before! I was immediately homesick for 10 Loch Road as soon as we left. Johannesburg however, was great! It was a much faster pace than slow, crawly Cape Town can often be and felt like Africa’s version of New York City. The Balalaika Hotel was fantastically extravagant and it was nice to eat out and not eat spaghetti every night for a week! Seeing all of the fantastic museums, monuments and memorials was great. One of my favorite stops along the way was definitely the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum. The memorial was beautiful and the sound of the trickling water was incredibly calming and disheartening at the same time, as I was told that the water spilling over the ledge represented the blood of the children that was spilt during the Soweto riots. Imagining innocent school children being shot dead by police officers is a horrible thing to have on ones mind, but it was a reality here in South Africa. At the apartheid museum they split us into whites and non-whites, a great touch that really added to the experience and made you understand how life was here in South Africa. The museum was huge and I could’ve spent days pouring through it’s contents. My favorite item I discovered in the apartheid museum were some old posters advertising all sorts of events and political groups such as the ANC, they were very cool! Seeing the Constitutional Court was also surreal and understanding the great detail put into its design made it seem like such a special place. The court is designed to look like a tree! Having read much about Soweto, Sharpeville, the prisons and apartheid, it was great to finally visit all of the places we have learned so much about. It made everything seem more real and come together as the story of South Africa. Having just completed reading a biography of Winnie Mandela it was very surreal to be standing in her kitchen at House #8115 and remember all she had gone through while there.
One of the greatest parts of the city was when we stopped briefly to see the Freedom Charter Memorial and several of us encountered some adorable children. A little girl came running out of nowhere and hugged Julian and Joe and then some of her friends or siblings showed up. We played with them and told them our names and they played with our cameras taking pictures of us and themselves. A man came over with some inflatable toys and a few of us bought the four of them a toy each. Seeing their faces light up at this small, cheap toy is certainly in my top five moments here in South Africa. They had arrived playing with sticks and an old tire and left with way cool Winnie the Pooh, Hello Kitty and Spider Man toys! When we left I was sad to say goodbye to them but it was nice to know that we had brightened their day.
The end of the week was certainly lighter with a trip to a great craft market and finally to Kruger where we saw tons of animals! Kruger was even greater than I could have ever expected it to be. The first animal our group saw was a beautiful giraffe at the watering hole and I was incredibly excited! Giraffes are my moms and I’s favorites! I took a good 20 pictures of this one giraffe while we sat there and watched him lick his lips. He was too cute! I was literally within feet of a lion and could see the flecks of gold in his eyes and was nearly charged by not one, but two rhinos on our walking safari, which was well worth the money! The huts we stayed in were very cool and it was nice to get back to that scorching African heat we were greeted with when we arrived here in January, which has now given way to cooler weather here in Cape Town. I got to hold the light when we went out on our evening safari and I loved the responsibility! I seemed to be pretty good at it too and may perhaps be considering a career in spotlighting.
Nicole and Emily holding guns toted by guides during their from walking safari
Perhaps the best part of our trip though was arriving home and flying in over the mountains of Cape Town. Hearing how happy everyone else was to be home gave me a nice feeling of community even if we did return to an electricity-less house! Returning to my internship yesterday to hugs and warm welcomes made me truly feel as though this place were home and I have no idea how anyone expects me to leave in 30 days!
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