I wasn’t sure I would ever return to the complex city of Johannesburg after I was there with Overseas Adventure Travel in 2016. However, I knew that if I did return, there were things I wanted to see that our tour didn’t cover, or not comprehensively enough for me, anyway. I wanted to truly go off the beaten path and learn more about the Apartheid legacy of South Africa.
Once I arrived and was settled in, I hired a private driver to take me to the Apartheid Museum. I was there last time, but not for long enough. It was definitely the right thing to return, since two hours is all it takes, and there are three movies to watch, some of which any right thinking person would feel uncomfortable watching. But that is the whole point of the museum. Human rights need to be fought for, and as I looked at the exhibits I realized it is a never-ending struggle which continues today. There are people in our lives who have quietly struggled with this for years. So just as it struck me at the core last time, it did again, only I had the chance to fully absorb it. There are special exhibits as well, and I enjoyed the Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu exhibits. Amazingly, they grew upon the same street.
I also ventured outside of the city on a Viator tour to Pilanesberg National Park for a day of game drives. I was surprised at how active animal life was all day, especially among elephants. I had seroously been considering staying there for several days in between my Namibia trip and my OAT Ultimate Africa trip, but I was going to have to pay the single supplement at Pilanesberg, in addition to transportation both ways. So, in the end a day suited me best. I only saw two of the big five and a smattering of fabulous birds, but it was great. It is a private reserve and malaria free all year round, so it is a great option for those who want some additional safari time. I surprised myself at how much I was genuinely enjoying all the safari time built into my five-week trip.
I had two fantastic days with a private guide, Lucille from Cresco Tours. We focused on things tourists do not typically see, but which are still representative of South Africa. First, we went to a place called Origins Center, which focused on the origins of Africa in both art and archeology. It was such a fascinating place with an intriguing rock art exhibit. I had no Idea that tribal shamans had spiritual experiences and performed healing ceremonies around ancient rock art, or petroglyphs. We saw a park full of them in Namibia, and between Namibia and South Africa there are over three thousand locations where ancient rock art are located. When I saw them in Namibia, they were in fact near tribal people we visited. Exhibits change regularly, so check online. It is on the grounds of a university.
We also went to historical places related to apartheid and Nelson Mandela, the first being the Mandela Center. It is where he used to work, and his office is still there as well as his Nobel Prize. But before he had all those distinctions, he tried to overthrow the government with an organized group of people at a place called Liliesleaf, where the African National Congress was born. Some of that was shown in the Apartheid Museum but being there was a real history lesson.
Nelson Mandela was one of ten who lived there to work to end apartheid and start the ANC.A white Jewish family was their cover so nobody would suspect what they were up to. All Black people had to carry passports in Apartheid South Africa, and he was arrested because he had the wrong passport, an Ethiopian one. But his intentions were well documented and ultimately discovered because they were written in a diary hidden on the premises of Liliesleaf and discovered through a betrayal. So that is what sent him to prison for 27 years.
We ended the day with some great shopping in a re gentrified part of Johannesburg, with numerous art galleries. I loved one store in particular, Shabalala, which focuses on whimsical animal art, cheetahs in particular.
On my second day with Lucille, she drove me to the Cradle of Humankind, which I had been reluctant to visit. Going with Viator tours sounded more like a kid’s adventure, but it turns out they have different tours. The manager was our private guide, and he is a zoologist and anthropologist. He explained that everyone thought that humanoids were from Ethiopia with the discovery of Lucy. But a Paleo anthropologist named Lee Burger, accidentally discovered humanoid and canine remains in South Africa which are pointing to other remains which predate Lucy. The National Geographic Society has since taken over funding of the project there. We hiked to areas with exposed fossils in the calcamite, and I even had the opportunity to climb up two ladders to see more in addition to the hole left by the crater almost three million years ago which exposed all these remains.
Africa’s deep and rich history is about so much more than safari drives. Do yourself a favor and try to see Johannesburg when you are there for the start of an OAT trip. Being my second time, I feel I’d gotten into more depth than before .I heard people saying that life was better there under Apartheid. And to that I said….but better for who?
I went to Nelson Mandela Square for lunch, which is right next to the hotel on my last free day before the OAT tour started. This entire Stanton area has really changed in the last 8 years. It is now a hotel, restaurant, and financial district. I remember seeing the huge statue of Mandela from the street. Now it is all enclosed, which shops everywhere, and exterior wall art as well.
But the building and modernization of Johannesburg is striking compared to the poverty of the over 500 townships, many of them I passed. SOWETO is the largest and most prosperous of them, but there is poverty not that far outside the city. I could not help but notice in the shanty structures, how so many would gather in a single township home for food, shade from the sun, and a community atmosphere that I have seen in other African nations. It is probably how they survive harsh living conditions.
While I was eating lunch at a restaurant in Mandela Square, the restaurant manager was talking to me about the state of South Africa. He said that the reason I keep hearing that everything was better under Apartheid, was because there is more corruption now, and even in the upgrade to Mandela Square and all the building I had observed, a lot of the money allocated for the project was corrupted by the government, and job growth for many was stifled. I do not know how much corruption existed before Apartheid ended, but I am hard pressed to believe that people were better off being treated as second class citizens and being arrested at the drop of a hat. Some countries never escape from the cycles of corruption and oppression, and likely no government truly escapes it. Johannesburg is a history lesson on the oppressed, how they are struggling to live better lives, and on the origin of our species.
Overseas Adventure Travel offers two trips which begin in Johannesburg and enable you to explore it in more depth before you depart for the base tour. One is their new Southern Africa Discovery offering and one is their tried and true Ultimate Africa. Do yourself a favor and book either of these tours, with extra tine in Johannesburg beforehand. You will not be disappointed.
All photos Jann Segal
Travel the World with Passion 