Sunny Soweto and Sun City, Family trip part I

Arriving in Soweto on the first day of your South African trip makes for rather a culture shock. The hustle and bustle of the SOuth-WEstern TOwnships is maybe not what your exhausted body and mind is prepared for after a long journey, especially when the temperature difference from home is more than thirty degrees in the blazing sun.

Very few white people have made this part of Johannesburg their home, but one of the guest houses, Lebo's Backpackers, actually has a Swedish hostess. This is where we met up with our township guide on the South African Reconciliation Day, which is also the anniversary of ANC's military branch, Umkhonto we Sizwe or MK.

The last time I was in Soweto was on the day Mandela died and the streets were crowded with people quietly gathered to show him their love and respect. The general feeling was that of relieved emptiness, if there is such a thing... On this occasion there was a more celebratory vibe in the air, with flags all over the place as well as pictures of the former great leader and hero, while ANC members were on a recruiting spree.

One vivid memory of this day was the meeting with the church guide in the iconic Regina Mundi church, with its beautiful windows depicting important parts of The Struggle. If you're not used to South African township English, you sometimes need someone to translate and this guy was an extreme example of that. We did however manage to understand what spots Michelle Obama had been standing in, something that seemed very important to the guide of this historically important place...

Another encounter that stands out on this day is the one with two small boys close to Walter Sisulu square, whom we took a couple of pictures of. The joy when they got to see their own faces on our displays was very contagious and moving. They were jumping around like crazy, clapping their hands and screaming out loud, making us laugh... although with a tear or two in our hearts.

Back at Lebo's we had traditional South African food for lunch, while the resident tortoise and some chicken ran around, hoping for some scraps. This is when I started questioning bringing the family into the bush... Some people apparently have a fear of chicken-like birds! The excuse was that it looked you in the eye, nodding its head viciously thinking “What do you want? What What, WHAt, WHAT!!? Weird people, these bonus-family creatures!

After visiting the most important sites we did cut the day a bit shorter than planned, because of the tired travellers and hot weather. So, we slowly made our way towards Sun City for a total contrast to the morning in Soweto.

Unfortunately I didn't get time to enjoy the two days here as much as I would have liked, as I had to make my way to Pretoria for some tedious paper work... I did get company on this full day outing however, as Jens needed to see a dentist. Seeing doctors of different kinds and getting medicine is almost always an ordeal back home while abroad, easy-peasy. While he was experiencing South Africa at its best, I was having an awful day, as bureaucracy is possibly South Africa at its worst. The day, of course, ended in tears and colourful language!

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