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And here I am, in Africa. The overnight flight was completely straightforward: a little delayed, but friendly, efficient and uneventful. I found myself slightly obsessed by the flight tracker, which traced our journey out of Zurich and south over Italy, down the centre of Africa and finally to Joburg. When I woke we were passing over DRC, Zambia and then Botswana; I was childishly excited to see that placenames like Stuttgart and Geneva had been replaced by Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Livingstone, Lusaka and Gaborone.
I now have my first ever visa in my passport, a mark of how little travelling I’ve really done before. My friend Sandy and her husband Colin were at the airport to pick me up, and by mid-morning I was sipping rooibos tea by the bougainvillea, watching the autumn leaves drift from the maples and oaks in the garden at their lovely Art Deco bungalow in Auckland Park, an area near Wits university.
My first impressions of Joburg have been very different from what I'd expected: leafy avenues, the local shops and craft market, the school - and we’ve done a quick tour of Emmarentia, an affluent neighbouring suburb, where we passed the botanical gardens and
some very grand houses. In many ways I could be in Europe still. The tropical plants, the birds and the brilliant sunshine tell me I’m in a warm country, but the roads, the buildings, the restaurants and the shops could easily be in Spain or Portugal.
Perhaps the biggest culture shock at first has been that we don’t walk. Not anywhere. Life moves from home to school (both enclosed by high walls topped with razor wires, security-gated and metal-shuttered) to shops (with armed security guards in malls and carparks) by locked car. I’ve been warned that to walk, something I do daily at home and without a moment’s thought about security, is to invite trouble - hassle or mugging at best; violent attack at worst.
I have no way of telling how high the risk is, and the broad, sunny, leafy streets look safe enough to my naïve eyes, but it’s clear that people here go to great lengths to avoid becoming victims of crime. Despite their efforts, my friends were carjacked outside their house a couple of years ago, and several people they know have experienced violent crime. Many of the houses are emblazoned with signs warning
‘Security - Armed Response’.
That said, I’ve felt very safe and am being extremely well looked-after. I’ve sampled several South African delicacies, including baby bunny chows (like doughnuts with savoury mince - very moreish), koeksisters (the sweetest food known to man) and my favourite so far, melktert (milk tart, with cinnamon on top).
I’ve visited Sandy’s language school and have been able to sit in on a session in which trainee TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teachers role played half-hour language lessons, taking turns to be either teacher or student. Although they’re only a few weeks into their courses they’re already pretty accomplished and I picked up some useful tips. We also spent a peaceful morning at Joburg Zoo, a welcome opportunity to walk and see some beautiful animals at close quarters. I’ll be visiting Soweto and the Apartheid Museum on Saturday, where I know I will see a very different side of the city and South Africa's history.
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Justin
non-member comment
Light
Great 'first Africa post' Bekka. I've never been so it's all fascinating to me. What's also interesting is the light, especially in the photo of Sandy and Colin. There's clearly something about the southern hemisphere light that's different because I could just tell it wasn't in Europe. Or maybe I'm kidding myself. Anyway, keep up the good work and I look forward to the next instalment.