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Published: December 9th 2007
The second half of our time in South Africa wasn't as cheery as the first. Though we came to experience some of adventures of this country, we also wanted to take in some of its somber history too.
South Africa is a beautiful country... but it is definitely a country divided. There are still so many problems here, and even though we are far from experts on the history and current events of this country, we picked up on the tension amongst the locals almost immediately.
Racism is alive and well in South Africa. It is incredible and unbelievably disturbing. The people here wear their hearts on their sleeves... meaning there is a "no bullshit" attitude, and they tell you exactly what they think in regards to their racial beliefs. Most interesting, is that we felt the racism coming more from the old white people, than from the black or "colored" people (apparently there is a difference between black and colored - it is better to be "colored" because it means you are half and half). More than once we encountered situations with strangers (at a restaurant, in taxi's, etc) where we were subject to the
Us vs
Them mentality that so many carry. We were dumbfounded by it and weren't sure how best to navigate the conversations. Though we were beyond disgusted with the blantant racism, we were also well aware that we were far from home and that violence is rampant in South Africa, so confrontation was the last thing we were looking for. As diplomatically as we could, we usually tried to say something along the lines of believing in the human race ... and equality for all... it was very difficult to deal with.
One of the things we looked forward to most in Cape Town was visiting Robben Island. Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela spent 19 of his 27 years as a political prisoner.
We were not aware that day trips to the Island were in such high demand that bookings for tickets are usually made a week or two in advance. We arrived at the port and were sadly informed that tickets were sold out until 3 days after we were leaving the country. It was so disheartening because going to Robben Island was HUGE on
my list of things I wanted to do when we made a list "must
Little Hams, Cape Town Township
They were sooo excited to get their picture taken!! do's" on the big trip adventure plan. So... we resorted to bribing someone for their tickets. Haha, go Team Canada! We ended up offering a man 500 Rand for 2 tickets (the tickets are 150 Rand each), and voila, off to the Island we went!
Robben Island was the most humbling experience of our travels thus far. It was incredible to think that we were walking on roads that were layed by Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners. We did a small tour of the island, in which our guide delivered a very emotional speech about humanity. He gave many statistics about human atrocities, past and present, and asked the simply question of "
Why??" Why are people still dying?
Why are we still dealing with racism?
Why is there still so much poverty? We were both incredibly moved by what he had to say.
After the Island tour, we were given a guided tour of the maximum security prison by a former political prisoner who had served time there himself. Again, it was such a humbling experience. He told in great detail the ways in which they were treated. We learned that if a man was white or
colored, his meals were better than a man who was black. He told us about the prisoners having to work 16 hour days in the limestone quarry with only a single glass of salt water to drink. They were forced to move stones from one side of the quarry to the other, only to be told to move them back, and the day after that to move them a third time, the point of which was to break their spirits. Seeing Mandela's cell, walking the courtyard, hearing the stories... it was all so heavy and really impacted the way we see our world. Even sadder to us both, was wondering what Mandela must think of the country he spent 27 years imprisoned for when it still has such serious problems today.
On our return ferry trip back to the mainland, we were treated to a spontaneous chorus by dozens of women singing beautiful songs of praise and worship. It was really cool! They just burst into song and some were dancing in the aisles. We really liked the juxtaposition of the joyful singing after experiencing such a somber place. Their passion and joy were delightful to watch!
After
Mandela Made This Ground...
It was amazing (and so sad) to think that we were walking on the gravel that Mandela spent 19 years making. having spent a few days doing touristy things and hanging out at the Waterfront (a fairly ritzy area of Cape Town), we decided we would like to see the other side of the story and arranged a tour of one of the townships. It was a bit of a difficult decision to make, because essentially we were paying money to see how the poorest in Cape Town live... but we feel strongly that it is important to see both the good stuff and the bad stuff while travelling, and did some research to find a company which takes the profits from the township tours and invests them back into the community.
Our expectation of the township was that it would be much like the favela we toured in Brazil. We couldn't have been any more incorrect. In our opinion, the level of poverty in the township is much, much worse than what we witnessed in the favela. Favela's seem to have more structure - they are a community where poor people live, but those poor people are not shunned from society. They are your bus drivers, waitresses, and store clerks. In a township however, unemployment is very high, and
these people are "hidden" away from the rest of the city. The majority of the township consists of wooden huts, hidden behind "nicer" homes on the edge that the government has built so that tourists transfering from the airport do not have to see the shanty shacks. We also saw many freight containers - people use them to set up businesses such as a shoe repair or a barber shop. The homes were incredibly overcrowded. We went into several communal buildings in which rooms housed 8 or more people - and not large rooms - rooms maybe the size of a prison block cell. Rent was based per bed, and there were no doors on individual rooms. We were also able to see more of a family type dwelling, which was more like a small apartment, but even those left a lot to be desired and was worse than any kind of "poor inner city" housing we've ever seen back home.
What blew us away though, and really fascinated us, was that near the end of our tour we happened to come across a random street party where at least a hundred people were joyfully dancing and singing in
the streets. We thought it was awesome to see that even those these people live in such deplorable conditions and have next to nothing, they still had
so much joy and something to sing about! We had a great time taking pictures and chatting them up.
Later that evening on our way home, we stopped by the Waterfront again to get some groceries for dinner, and saw something that really made us stop and think. Hugo Boss had just opened a new store in the Victoria Mall, and Cape Town's finest had come came out to help celebrate with a black tie affair. The contrast between the rich and poor in society really, really struck us. It was interesting to us that we had just spent an afternoon seeing the poorest people in the country, and then in the next breath we saw some of the wealthiest. The injustice of it really weighed on our hearts and we made dinner that night feeling incredibly grateful for the opportunities we've had and the life we live back home.
So, that's pretty much it for South Africa. Final verdict on the country is that it's stunningly beautiful with a lot
to see and do - but we were really disturbed by the level of poverty, violence, and blantant racism. The country has a looong way to go!
We are in Rwanda now - the number one country on my list to see. So excited to be here, will post again in a few days!
Be thankful for the life you live,
Team Canada
**** And for Other Travellers ****
There is a cancellation line near the ticket booth for Robben Island. Every hour, before the ferry departs, any cancelled tickets will be resold, it is first come first serve, and it is worth a shot to try. Better yet, just book your tickets online well in advance!!! Happy Travels!
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Tait
non-member comment
Loooong
Maybe I can read it later cause I gota get some work done now. :P. Nice pics though. The pics are cool. It's nice how you can put some in with the article and then even more after it.