It’s a very long flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Johannesburg, South Africa. Luckily, on the longest leg of the trip, from Atlanta to Johannesburg, we had some empty seats around us so that we could spread out and get some sleep. Even so, arriving at our hotel about 9 p.m. local time, we crashed for a full 8 hours.
Because our OAT tour doesn’t begin until Saturday, we booked a day trip with a local tour company to have a quick overview of Johannesburg.
Unfortunately, Good Friday is a major holiday here and all of the museums and historical sites were closed. Nevertheless, we got to see Mandela Square, and to get a very good look at the sharp contrast between the “haves” and the “have nots” here.
A high wall kept us from seeing Mandela’s house, but we could read some of the hundreds of messages written on rocks that people have left outside.
Soweto (the SOuthWEstern TOwnship) is famous as the locus of the fight for racial equality in this country. We were surprised to learn of contrasts even here, where there are modern new homes next to squatter slums.
We were also a little shocked to see goats feeding on garbage and the sidewalk restaurants serving “gentlemen’s menus,” which are parts of a cow one generally would hesitate to eat.
We also got a glimpse of Desmond Tutu’s modest home (somewhat obscured by foliage), and some outdoor monuments to the anti-apartheid struggle. But the tour ended early due to the many closures. Just as well, as we join the OAT group and head to the airport very early tomorrow for our flight to Zimbabwe.
