The next leg of our journey was a flight from Madrid to Johannesburg, where we planned for about a 22-hour layover so that we could visit with Adrienne's friends, a couple our age and their adorable 2-year-old girl, June. "Abrienne" and I, "Yackie," made quite the impression on young June. She kept asking to play with "the girls," and I taught her the word "whoops!"
We saw 3 different types of antelope: impala (have an M pattern on their rear and tail), springbok (super fast up to 55 mph, South African rugby team named after them), and buskbuck (the most widespread antelope in sub-Saharan Africa). We also saw a hare tear down the path, then put on the brakes, practically skidding like in a cartoon, and run away from us as soon as he noticed us. We enjoyed stretching our legs and walking around the park. It was so great to get outside after so long in airports.
Overall, I found Johannesburg to be interesting, but I don't have much interest in returning. The racial dynamic made me very uncomfortable. I would go to other places in South Africa, such as Capetown, the nature reserves, or the Nelson Mandela/Apartheid museums.
It was great to get their impression of Johannesburg. They moved there about a year and a half ago so that James, an epidemiologist, could do some government work and research. Megan put her school on hold and has focused on raising June in a foreign land, no small task. They technically live in Pretoria. One of the things that has surprised them most is how walled-off everything is. Their neighborhood, and really every neighborhood we drove by, is walled-off, often with a guard and an electric fence. Shopping centers and restaurants are similar. Where we went to dinner had a car guard, who you pay to watch your car. It was interesting hearing Megan talk about the discomfort she felt as a white person living in a nice neighborhood with a gardener and a maid tied into their salary in a country where Apartheid only ended about 25 years ago. In Johannesburg, basically, all black people were kicked out of the city and forced to move into "townships," neighboring communities. Even with Apartheid ending, it is obviously very difficult to undo what was done, and townships are nearly entirely black communities. People of "mixed" race were basically considered illegal, and their parents faced jail time if caught having a relationship with someone of a different race (for example, Trevor Noah of TV and comedy fame). It seems so unbelievable that this policy of racial segregation and discrimination was legal until 1991.
The highlights of our stop over in South Africa included meeting these friends, learning from them about life in South Africa, and going to a nature reserve in the city where the animals are fairly habituated to humans and living without predators, making for consistent sightings. As soon as we drove in the park, 2 zebras were eating grass along the edge of the driveway! Those animals are so striking!
We saw 3 different types of antelope: impala (have an M pattern on their rear and tail), springbok (super fast up to 55 mph, South African rugby team named after them), and buskbuck (the most widespread antelope in sub-Saharan Africa). We also saw a hare tear down the path, then put on the brakes, practically skidding like in a cartoon, and run away from us as soon as he noticed us. We enjoyed stretching our legs and walking around the park. It was so great to get outside after so long in airports.
Antelope!
Impala, which do start to look like deer, except for the long, curly horns.
Don't mess with this spiky tree!
Overall, I found Johannesburg to be interesting, but I don't have much interest in returning. The racial dynamic made me very uncomfortable. I would go to other places in South Africa, such as Capetown, the nature reserves, or the Nelson Mandela/Apartheid museums.
The next morning, we returned to the airport for our final flight, a 50-minute flight to Gabarone, Botswana! Finally! We made it.
No comments:
Post a Comment