Johannesburg (8/9)

We had only a half a day to really spend in Johannesburg, so we barely scratched the surface...even though we flew through the Jburg airport several times... Contrary to what other fellow travelers had warned us about security/safety concerns and "nothing to see," we found the city to be interesting and wish we had spent more time there.

For photos, click here.

Kimberly

We had heard the typical warning from fellow travelers when referring to
Jburg...as in, "stay away if at all possible." Despite the well documented dangers, Johannesburg has a lot to offer visitors. We had only a half a day really in the city, so we had our hotel send a driver to pick us up from the airport and take us straight to the Apartheid Museum--for a whirlwind tour in the 45 minutes before it closed (our flight to Jburg had been delayed...as were all our African flights...) The museum was fascinating and chocked full of personal narratives and stories that provide a more poignant understanding of life before, during, and after the Apartheid Era. I had just finished reading a really thought-provoking book on Apartheid written from the White perspective, "My Traitor's Heart" by Rian Malan, which made visiting the museum that much more rewarding.

When you enter the museum, they have you walk through a specific aisle, depending on your racial categorization....they explain how they decided who was "black" v. "white" v. "coloured"--often decided based on things such as "sport preference" or "if a pencil would stay if stuck in your hair." I'm not joking. The museum then takes you through the roots and history of Apartheid. The majority of the exhibition is dedicated to explaining life under apartheid. One picture which I found very disturbing was of a few White men peeking in through a window of another White man's house...who they suspected was having a (illegal) relationship with a black woman. The pictures and videos of the violence in the townships and mistreatment of Blacks and Coloureds in the mines and jails were heartbreaking.

The last section of the museum is dedicated to life after Apartheid, much of which is focused on the "Reconciliation." What is so promising about the situation is that it did end in a peaceful way, the living conditions for Blacks in the country is improving, with many Blacks have now taken over positions of power in the government and elsewhere, and there is very little resentment or discussion of the past. Everyone seems eager to move forward and fulfill the promising future they know South Africa can achieve if they work together. And that is very heartwarming and uplifting. Our entire time in South Africa, we kept wondering what lessons the U.S. could learn from the race relations and reconciliation in this country.

I mentioned we had our hotel send a driver: I have to give him a plug. All he was supposed to do was drive us from the airport to the museum and then to the hotel--and then to the airport the next morning. What we got was a fabulous guide with a very interesting perspective. If anyone is planning to visit Johannesburg, I strongly recommend you call him up and book a proper tour with him, we wish we had made the time to have him take us to the township of Soweto. His name is Blythe: and his phone number is +27 (0)82 695 1987. He gave a lot of interesting commentary on the history of the country and was quite open in sharing his personal experiences as well.

After the museum, we went to our Bed & Breakfast to get settled before dinner. I should mention that anyone planning to visit South Africa should know that the hotels are very overpriced there, where as what they call Bed & Breakfasts are a wonderful deal. These places are beautiful, very well appointed, and nothing like an American B&B....and most of them are around $100-150 a night! We actually stayed in two different ones in Johannesburg during our jaunts to/from the airport and loved both of them. The Guesthouse on 65th in Melville was very modern and in a trendy neighborhood walking distance to a strip of restaurants & bars, the up & coming area. (I don't think they have a website, you can book on www.portfoliocollection.com
And our favorite was The Parkwood, an absolutely beautiful place...we wanted to move in! It is in a more upscale neighborhood, but you can't walk anywhere. It is only a five minute taxi to Rosebank, 10 minutes to Melrose Arch. www.theparkwood.com (also on portfolio collection)

Lastly, I must tell you about our experience eating at Moyo, in the Melrose Arch neighborhood (which looks a lot like those combined residential/commercial districts in southern California, where there are high rise apartments/condos with a little square with shops and restaurants in the middle of the complex.) So, Moyo. It was not just a meal, but rather an experience! When we arrived, we walked downstairs, passing people dressed in authentic tribal outfits, drumming. Soon after we sat down, a woman came over and explained she wanted to perform a traditional hand-washing ceremony. She chanted while she washed our hands at our table, pouring water from a pitcher over our hands into a bowl. Later, three young women dressed all in white came over and sang a traditional African lullaby to each table in the dining room...and we got our faces painted with tribal paint (see our photos!)....and yes, the food was outstanding. They serve African food from all over the continent (we had Ethiopian Sig Sig Wat, South African Kudu, and Moroccan Mezzes). It was a memorable evening, and the perfect end to our short stay in Johannesburg!