Last day in South Africa...whaaaaaa!!!!!

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Today, sadly enough, was our last day in South Africa. It feels like we have been here forever, which is nice because time didn't fly by like it often does on vacations. Looking back, we really took advantage of our time here, seeing some of the most interesting sites in the country, while stumbling upon others we had not heard of that were unique experiences for us. The last main item on my list was to visit the famous township in the southern part of Johannesburg: Soweto. I will have to do some research on the history of Soweto to learn more about it, but it certainly played its role in the apartheid era. Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived there back in the day, and Soweto was the center of dark periods of violence.

The Soweto we were shown today by Terry and his girlfriend Nezi (they are waiters at the restaurant we ate dinner at last night and offered to take us to Soweto) is much, much different of course. The history is still all around, and of course, no white people are seen in the area...at all!!! Nezi is the niece of a former President of Zimbabwe, and she had never been to Soweto herself even though she had been living in Joburg for 2.5 years. We drove right through the center of Joburg, which is an area we had avoided up until now, so that was a bonus. Once in Soweto, we drove to Terry's old neighborhood and met his family. And to me, here's is where we got the experience no other tourist got, because we visited, chatted and drank beers with locals for 2 hours at Terry's aunt's house. They were so interested in us, what we had seen, what we thought of South Africa, what we thought of Soweto, how much I paid Janel's father to marry her (not kidding here), etc... They were astounded that we have to pay the government for a marriage license, when it was the father that worked to provide food, shelter and raised the child (Janel in this case). You should have seen the look on their faces. In total, we met over 15 people, ranging from ages 3 to 65, and all were extremely friendly.

With the 3 year-old, I kept taking photos of him and showing it to him, and he was blown away, thought it was the coolest thing ever. I would then point the camera at the others and have him press the button...that was fun. They all wanted photos with us and it felt as though we had known each other for years. They invited us to come back on the weekend because there is always a party on the weekend. I wish we could have.

I talked to Terry's aunt a little bit about what the outside world thinks of Soweto or South Africa in general, about the fear outsiders have of the violence, etc... She said that in Soweto, if you are friendly and show no fear, people will love you, will invite you into their homes, and that is what was happening with us. I believe your attitude is what makes things happen: if you appear frightened and bring all your camera gear, wallet, etc..., you are asking for trouble. If you appear to be normal, friendly and inviting, good things happen regardless of where you are. This is something we had talked about with Peter and Laini before our trip (they travelled through Africa for over 1 year), and many of our experiences on this trip have been a direct result of the friendliness that both Janel and I exude.
After our visit, we went to Terry's brother's house and met his friends. We then took a walk through the neighborhood to get some food, walking by kids playing soccer on the street, people shopping, etc...we in essence got a real good look at what everyday-Soweto is like, and that was so cool to see. Although people would of course stare at us, they were very friendly and constantly waived or said hello.

After our lunch break, we visited the Nelson Mandela House and the Hector Pieterson Memorial, a memorial that pays tribute to the young boy that was killed by the police during student protests in 1976. From these two places, we got a good look at the Soweto Towers, which are nicely decorated.

The drive back to the hostel took us a while because of the rush hour, so we essentially only had time to get our bags, return the car at the airport and check in. We also got our tax refund and bought a few more souvenirs for the house. We had no room in our bags, and somewhat struggled to bring back the stuff we got ourselves and some of our family members.

As our trip comes to an end, we are so thankful for everything we have seen, for all the wonderful people we have met in our travels, that helped us find where we needed to go, for receiving us late at night in hostels (Nadine and lady in Swellendam), for giving us tips along the way, for finding a boat so that we could go shark-diving (SharkLady), for offering to show us Soweto, etc... South Africa rocks, and in large part because of its people. To all those who like going to Mexico or the Dominican Republic for a brief week of nothing, I suggest you get off your ass and visit Africa, it will for sure be a trip of a lifetime. Having the right partner in crime sure helps, and if I had to pay Trevor Dean (my father-in-law) as is the Zulu custom, I wouldn't hesitate in a million years. hehe

Stay tuned, because2014 is just around the corner, and next thing you know, I hope to be off to Brazil for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. YAY!!!!

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Comments

[Chelsea]

WOW! What an amazing end to an amazing trip!! I am so glad you guys had an amazing trip and I am looking forward to hearing all about it!! And I am glad you are home, safe and sound!!! LOVE!