We awoke this morning to a glorious sunny day, albeit pretty chilly. Which was good because we had several things on our schedule to accomplish!
Meredith, Jim and I are all big Sherlock Holmes fans (although we can’t quite seem to agree whether we like best in role among Jeremy Brett; Robert Downey, Jr.; or Benedict Cumberbatch). Accordingly, we headed off on the Bakerloo, Tube line to Baker St. station, where you can see the imaginative tile art honoring Sherlock Holmes. Then we popped out on Baker St. itself to visit No. 221B, where there is a Sherlock Holmes Museum and gift shop. Conveniently, it is located right next door to the biggest Beatles memorabilia gift shop in London!
After doing a little gift shopping for Merrie’s friends back home, we jumped back on the Tube to go back to the Westminster Bridge area to take a ride on the London Eye. This is a separate ticket, but you can purchase it online ahead of time and pick your own time to go. Since the weather has been so rainy, and since we already got some good aerial pictures from the Shard at sunset, we decided to take advantage of this lovely clear day to go up this afternoon. Hot tip, if you buy the VIP tickets, for a nominal additional charge (I think maybe £12 in total for the three of us), they will serve you champagne when you are up in the capsule. We bought the VIP tickets in order to avoid the line, but by buying the champagne, we also got the added benefit of having very few people in our capsule, so it was easy to take photographs from anywhere inside! The whole trip takes about 45 minutes, and I think we took photos every minute.
Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and the bell tower at Westminster AbbeyWestminster Abbey behind ParliamentThe Shard
We wandered along the south side of the Thames for a bit, and had a late lunch in one of the many restaurants there. Our final “must do” was a visit to a zany bar Jim found online called Mr. Fogg’s Society of Exploration. The whole place was a silly send-up of stuffy British clubs where upper-crust Britishers tell tales of their world travels. Jim really just wanted to sample the Negronis made by the “mechanical mixologist “. The cocktail menu looked like Indiana Jones’ journal from some of his wildest adventures, and the drinks were equally wild. Meredith chose a drink called the Rapa Nui, which came in a tiki head glass (like the moai from Easter Island) with a tuft of cotton candy sprouting from the top like pink flames. All in all, it was a very fun experience!
Mr. Fogg’s Society of ExplorationThe “Mechanical Mixologist” is in the centerThe drink menuMeredith with her “Rapa Nui”A kiss for good luck!
For our final meal of the trip, we all walked into Kensington for Italian food at a very nice restaurant called il Portico. Tummies full with great fresh, authentic Italian food, I think we are all ready to declare this trip a wonderful experience!
Today, our day mostly focused around the Thames River. It’s another cold and blustery day, so we opted to take a river cruise down the Thames, which offers the ability to see many London sights while sitting in the warmth and comfort of the ferry. This is another attraction covered by the London Pass, but it’s a great way to see some of London that can’t be readily seen from the streets. Plus, you can buy hot chocolate and hot mulled wine onboard!
We took the Tube down to the Westminster Tube stop, where you get off, walk by Big Ben (which is sadly scaffolded off for a little facelift, and walk down by the side of Westminster Bridge to the ferry stop. We floated down the Thames, past the lovely building housing the SeaLife London Aquarium and the London Eye. A little further on, on the north side of the river, you could see the Whitehall Gardens. Then we passed under what is formally known as the Millennium Bridge (built in 2000), but which the locals dubbed “the Wibbly-Wobbly Bridge”, because it swayed so much under the weight of its pedestrian traffic. It has now been stabilized, but I still love the nickname!
SeaLife AquariumThe London EyeThe “Wibbley-Wobbly Bridge”
One of the best sights from the river is Shakespeare’s restored Globe Theatre, on the south bank of the Thames. In an odd juxtaposition, The Shard is constructed just beyond it on the same side of the river.
The Globe TheatreThe Globe Theatre with the Shard in the background
Finally, we got off the ferry on the Victoria Embankment, which is an esplanade that runs along the north side of the river roughly from the Golden Jubilee Bridges down to the Tower Bridge. We walked along the perimeter of the Tower of London, and then went to take the tour of the Tower Bridge (also included with the London Pass).
The Tower of LondonTower Bridge from the Victoria EmbankmentThe ramparts of the Tower of LondonThe White Tower, built by William the Conqueror in the 11th Century ADTower BridgeViews from the catwalk between the towersView through the Plexiglass catwalk
Meredith and I thought the coolest part of the tour is that it goes high up on the towers to a Plexiglass walkway, which spans between the towers and allows you to look down on traffic crossing the bridge. Jim, on the other hand, loved going into the engine rooms and watching the machinery which powers the sides of the drawbridge to open and close.
Just as we left the Tower Bridge, it began to rain, so we beat feet to walk over to the Shipwright’s Arms pub to have lunch. Tummies satisfied, we went back to the flat to outwait the rain.Then we had an excellent dinner at the Dalloway Terrrace, voted one of the 10 most romantic and cozy restaurants to have dinner in London in the winter. It well lived up to its reputation!
We awoke this morning to more rain clouds, but we had a schedule, and we were determined to fully meet its demands.
We started off the morning by walking again through Kensington toward Notting Hill and Portobello Road. To get there from our flat, we walked through Holland Park, which was full of families, young and old, playing football (soccer) and walking their dogs. Our first destination was at the farmers’ market in Notting Hill. However, not only did Notting Hill not look much like it was shown in the Julia Roberts movie, the farmers’ market was seriously pathetic! OK, I get it that it is January, but what about a few jams and jellies, or artisan cheeses?!
Typical Street Scene in Notting Hill
To make matters worse, it started to rain just as we got there. Since the Portobello Road market is mostly an antiques market (Jim’s least favorite type of shopping), he and Meredith both voted to continue our day elsewhere. So we took the Tube down to Trafalgar Square, so Meredith could snap some photos of it. Since it is very near to the St. Martin’s in the Fields Church, which usedto have an excellent café down in its crypt (called, appropriately, the Café in the Crypt), I urged Jim and Meredith to go to lunch there. Big mistake!!! Apparently, the Café is now doing its best to channel the worst of British cuisine. I thought Jim and Meredith were going to kill me! But don’t completely write off St. Martin’s in the Fields! Not only do they frequently have free concerts in the church with world class musicians, but the crypt is also the home of the London Brass Rubbing Center, where, for a few pounds, you can make a rubbing of one of several medieval era tomb sculptures. If you haven’t done it before, or if you have younger children with you, it’s a great hit!
View across Trafalgar Square towards the National GalleryStreet art in Trafalgar SquareJim descending into the Café in the CryptJim and Meredith registering their disapproval of their meal
Next, we walked over to Piccadilly Circus to take a tour which was included in our London Pass; the Rock & Roll tour. Hands down, this was the winner of the day! Our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable, and had lived through most of the high points in the British Rock scene, and really enjoyed telling us all about it.
Piccadilly Circus
We saw Soho, and Carnaby Street, and the place in Savile Row where the Beatles held their last concert together from the rooftop of a building they owned exactly 50 years ago this week. We all highly recommend this tour!
No. 3 Savile Row. The Beatles final concert was played on the roof of this building.Carnaby StreetThe shop, Sherry’s Stock, carries all sorts of clothing from the 60’s and 70’s.Home of Trident StudiosLook at all the noteworthy bands who recorded here in the age of rock and roll!Check out these marquis rock bands who played here!
We then stopped to wet our whistles at a pub Meredith had found called “Blame Gloria”. What a cute bar! We were a little early for the serious clubbing action to begin, but that was a good thing as most of the tables were reserved from 6:00 onwards.
“Blame Gloria”
Then we beat feet to catch the Tube down to the Southwark neighborhood south of the Thames. This used to be a marginal (read: scary) area, but it has undergone some gentrification. Our goal was to reach the Beefeater’s Distillery (and tasting room). Another included tour on the London Pass is a free tour of the facilities. I wasn’t that keen on it until I learned that a friend of mine had done the tour, and there were special gin batches available to taste and buy not for sale anywhere else. Sadly for us, just before we got there, and entire busload of “old age pensioners” (i.e., retired folks like us), who had driven in from Wales for a day in London. Thus, there were no tour spots available for us. Strike Three on today’s agenda.
We went back to the flat to rest a bit. Meredith was ravenous because of her poor lunch, so she wolfed down most of the Indian leftovers from Zayna last night. I guess it doesn’t work to tell a 26 year old not to spoil her appetite, because the result was predictable. So Jim and I alone headed down to the area near Parliament to try a Chinese restaurant I had found on Trip Advisor, Ma La Sichuan. While the meal was good, there are much better Chinese restaurants in London. Hopefully, tomorrow is a more fruitful day!
Today, we ended up spending most of our time close to our flat in Earl’s Court. We walked up into Kensington, which is right next to Earl’s Court.
St. Mary Abbott’s ChurchKensington Street Scenes
Our first activity of the day was to visit Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana had once lived. In all the times I’ve been to London, I’ve never visited this palace, although Ryan and Meredith had visited the children’s playground dedicated to Diana on the grounds of the palace when we visited here before. This was another venue covered by our London Pass, and I was delighted to learn that there was currently an exhibit dedicated to Diana’s fashion sense, featuring many of her outfits and sketches by the designers she worked with. Jim and Meredith were less than enthusiastic about this visit, and they subjected me to many eye-rolls! I thought the exhibit was very well-curated, but there were scads of people wandering through the Palace for the exhibit. Still, I made short work of it, and then we went off to enjoy lunch.
Outside Kensington Palace
However, after all that designer exposure, Meredith decided she wanted to do some shopping in Kensington (London’s “high street”), which is a major shopping mecca to Londoners and visitors alike. It is the home of Harrod’s department store, after all! Jim patiently put up with us both, and Meredith managed to find an outfit to her liking.
We spent some time back at the flat getting ready, and then ventured off for the main event of the day; a visit to the observation deck at the Shard office tower. This is another venue covered by the London Pass, and we timed our visit to coincide with the sunset. The views from the observation deck are stunning, but the architecture is somewhat contrived. As you saw in my earlier post, the building really does look like a giant shard of glass sticking up into the air. The illusion is further carried out by the use of huge individual panels of glass rising upward from the observation deck, but serving no architectural purpose. Besides, the tips of those glass pieces are not fully connected to the building so that cold breezes whistle down into the viewing area. The only saving grace is that there is also a cocktail bar on the viewing platform. Nonetheless, it really is worth a visit for the views, particularly after sunset, when the various attractions in the area are all lit up.
The openings above the viewing deckViews of St. Paul’s Cathedral to the rightThe London Eye ferris wheel lit in red on the leftLooking down on the City of LondonTower BridgeThe Tower of London )on the left) next to Tower BridgeSt. Paul’s Cathedral
We finished the evening with dinner at a very good Indian restaurant called Zayna!
Greetings from Merry Olde England! Jim, Meredith and I are staying here for a few days because when we booked our trip using frequent flyer miles, we could get from home to South Africa, and back to London, but we couldn’t get all the way home to Los Angles. However, the booking company we use to get us screaming deals using all our mileage points, AwardMagic.com, was able to get us three business class tickets home six days after the tour ended. That was enough for us; we decided to stay in London for those days and revisit our trip there with Ryan and Meredith.
Monday (the 22nd), we packed up our stuff and departed Zimbabwe. The ringed mongooses (mongeese?) lined up outside the Victoria Falls Hotel to say goodbye, and then we flew back to Johannesburg, where we overnighted at the Protea Hotel right next to the airport.
Ringed Mongoose
Early yesterday morning, we arrived at the airport, only to find our flight delayed. Then we boarded the plane in the bright hot South African sun, only to find out that our plane had lost its auxiliary power unit (APU) inbound from London. Apparently, the APU is like a generator, and is the part necessary to power up the engines. So we sat in the very warm plane for nearly two hours while the ground crew in Jo’burg tried to cobble together enough external generators to jump start our plane. Jim quickly went online to assure himself that a plane can fly safely without an APU (it can), and then finally three external generators were enough to get us jump-started. All in all, it made for a very long travel day into London.
This morning after a luxurious sleep in, and lattes from Starbuck’s around the corner from our flat in Earl’s Court, we set off in the rain to do some exploring. On this visit to London, we are trying out something new; The London Pass, which is kind of like a tourist passport which gets you in to something like 98 London attractions. You can buy the pass for any number of days you are there, and for an extra charge, you can couple it with a visitor’s pass for the London transport system, which is called an Oyster card. In planning the trip with Meredith, we figured that we would need the Pass for four of the days of our stay. One of the prime attractions covered by the card is a one day use on one of two different Hop On, Hop Off double-decker busses. We find these bus routes are a great way to acclimate yourself to a city, and manage to show you most of the main tourist sights in a fairly efficient manner, while providing commentary on those sights by a trained tour guide. In the final analysis, the London Pass more than paid for itself with all the things we chose to see.
We chose to do the Hop On, Hop Off bus on our first day both because it was raining hard, and because Meredith needed a refresher on how the city was laid out since she has not been here since she was 8. We found out that there was a stop for the “Big Bus” Hop On/Hop Off system at Hyde Park, which was a short “Tube” (subway) trip for us from our flat in Earl’s Court. Here is the map.
We chose to take the Red Route, which takes in many of the most historical sights in London. Each route takes between 2 and 3 hours. With the London Pass, you can ride all the routes on the same company’s busses, so long as you get done in that one day. Here on this map you can see the red route we took. All the rest of the photos in this post were taken by Meredith.
We all got off the bus near Chinatown and the Theatre District to have lunch. Meredith was very keen to try her first London pub, so we found a brewpub named Brewmaster, and enjoyed a good lunch there.
The Underground station in Earls CourtMarble ArchRoyal Gates near Buckingham PalaceStatue of Arthur, Duke of Wellington (the general who defeated Bonaparte)Our view from the Big BusChinatown
After we finished lunch, we caught the next Big Bus, and finished our tour.
One of the Dragons guarding the entrance to the City of LondonIn the old city of London approaching St. Paul’s CathedralView of The Shard office building across London BridgeThe Shipwright’s Arms pub (one of the oldest pubs in London)London Stock ExchangeSt. Paul’s CathedralTower Bridge
We made a quick return to the flat to change clothes, and then went back to the Theatre District in order to see the play, “Book of Mormon”. We dined first at Leicester Square Kitchen, a very good Mexican/Peruvian restaurant near the theatres. We loved the food and the play!
Cocktails at the Leicester Square KitchenAssorted tacos at Leicester Square Kitchen
Well, today was an EPIC last day on our tour! We started out this morning by going directly to the Falls to walk the pathway along the top.
The trail is about two and half miles in total, but there are cutoffs that get you back to the entrance in a much shorter distance. One thing to know about visiting the Falls at anytime other than when they are full and overflowing (mostly late September to late October) is that you WILL get wet; really wet! There are lots of vendors outside the entrance renting heavy duty ponchos, but as it was a hot, sunny day, Jim and I opted not to use the ponchos. Meredith soon abandoned hers when she discovered that it was causing her to sweat more moisture than the poncho was keeping off her.
While the trail is not particularly challenging, it is sloped in a few areas, and becomes very slippery with the overspray from the falls. Also, having a raincoat for your camera is a MUST. To get properly in the spirit of exploration, the trail starts off at the large statue of David Livingstone looking out to the falls and Livingstone Island. Between Meredith and me, I’ll bet we took close to a thousand pictures today, but I promise not to torture you with all of them. Just sit back and enjoy the photos!
Most Oa Tunya – The Smoke That Thunders(photo credit to Meredith McDaniel)(photo credit to Meredith McDaniel)Meredith channeling her best “Eliza Thornberry” imitation(photo credit to Meredith McDaniel)(photo credit to Meredith McDaniel)
But wait, there’s more! After we loaded our still damp bodies back on the bus, we went to the Wild Horizons Wildlife Sanctuary (operated by the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust), which exists mainly as an elephant sanctuary. We were greeted at the entrance by Sylvester, the Cheetah Ambassador, who was rescued as a kitten. Sadly, he could not be reintroduced to the wild because he had imprinted on humans, but it was better than starving to death after his mother and sibling were killed in the bush. What a gorgeous beast!*
The Wild Horizons SanctuarySylvester, the Cheetah Ambassador*Sadly, shortly after we visited the Wild Horizons Sanctuary, Sylvester was attacked by a small female leopard. He died from his wounds shortly thereafter.
After our photos with Sylvester, we went on to meet the elephants!
(photo credit to Meredith McDaniel)Check out those eyelashes!
Then it was time to go down and feed the elephants!
(photo credit to Meredith McDaniel)
The warthogs in the area have figured out that with inexperienced tourists like us, lots of elephant food pellets drop to the ground. Thus, they are the official cleaning crew who moves in after the elephants are done.
Finally, we got to see the elephants go down to the watering hole and take a mud bath. Much fun was had by all the participants.
Elephant Nirvana
Following lunch and a short film on the work that the Wildlife Trust is doing, we returned to the lovely Victoria Falls Hotel to enjoy the rest of the afternoon on their beautiful grounds. We even took high tea on the portico overlooking the falls!
Sadly, it is now time to bid farewell to our tour companions. We enjoyed a great farewell dinner, and then said goodnight. Tomorrow, it is back to Johannesburg, where Jim, Meredith and I will overnight, before heading on to London for a few days on our way home. Stay tuned, there are sure to be more adventures to experience!
This morning, we flew into Zimbabwe. If you’ve been following the news, you know that Zimbabwe is in active protests against the government and the circumstances which resulted in gas prices of over $12.00/gallon; the highest in the world. We’ve been monitoring the situation all week with the help of our Tauck director, and Tauck’s home office team. Plus, Jim and I signed up for the US State Department’s traveler notification service, and they kept us updated almost daily. In the end, the common wisdom was that since we are not going anywhere but Victoria Falls, which is the economic powerhouse of the Zimbabwean economy, and it is a direct flight to and from Johannesburg, we will proceed.
The flight from Jo’burg is lovely as you fly over hundreds of miles of forested jungle. As you approach the Victoria Falls airport, all you can see from the Zambezi River are heavy clouds of mist. The local tribes refer to Victoria Falls as “Mosi Oa Tunya”, meaning “the smoke that thunders”.
Once again, our tour director, Barbara, prepared an excellent summary of the history and recent political history about Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is the country formerly known as Rhodesia, after Englishman Cecil Rhodes, who exploited the gold and diamond wealth of South Africa and advocated a British version of “manifest destiny” whereby England should rule the entire African continent from Cape Town to Cairo. The British began exploring the area in the 1850s and then founded a colony there known as Rhodesia. In 1923, the white foreign transplants voted to become the self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia as part of the British Empire.
Following World War II, after a brief union with Zambia (formerly known as Northern Rhodesia) and Malawi (formerly known as Nyasaland), The white minority government of Southern Rhodesia voted to remain a colony when its two federation partners elected to declare their independence from Britain in 1963. However, in 1965, the minority white government, under Ian Smith as Prime Minister, declared its independence from Britain. The majority black African population opposed this move as it promoted a white ruled government like that of South Africa. In 1970, Rhodesia declared itself a republic, with help from South African guerrillas, but after years of internal warfare, in 1978, announced a power sharing government with the black Rhodesians. Free elections were held in 1980, and Robert Mugabe was elected by a landslide. He then ruled as a semi-dictator by the use of rigged elections until he was finally ousted in 2017. He was succeeded by Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was formerly one of Mugabe’s close aides. As I write this, there are violent uprisings in the capital, Harare, and some of the larger cities over the stratospheric inflation rate, and the inability to purchase such basic necessities as gasoline.
Zimbabwe has a total population of slightly over 14 million people today, and about 99.7% of them are Africans. There used to be a larger minority population, but the Mugabe government promoted a policy of forced land redistribution, and many of the former white farmers in Zimbabwe left the country. Sadly, Zimbabwe used to be known as “the breadbasket of Africa”, but food production has dropped precipitously since the forced dispossession of the farmers began.
Nonetheless, we arrived in good order, and with a minimum of disruption. Outside the airport, we were greeted by some performance artists in their tribal dress, singing and dancing for us.
After a short drive, (and a view of the railstation complete with warthogs), we arrived at our very posh hotel, The Victoria Falls Hotel, built in the best British Empire tradition and completed in 1904. The property is just stunning, and looks toward the edge of the falls, although you can’t actually see the cataracts from the grounds.
Our main activity for the afternoon is a sunset cruise along the Zambezi. Unfortunately, right as we are setting off, a huge rainstorm hits, so we had to drop the plastic curtains on the boat. Meredith is in her element, though, as she’s been missing Oregon’s rains. We’re not fazed by the weather, though, as we have sundowner cocktails for the whole trip. Our little trio is joined by Lee and Marlene Alexander, who Meredith has decided will be her next adoptive parents. Medicinally speaking, we all decided we had to have gin and tonics so the quinine could ward off any potential malaria attack!
Lee & Marlene Alexander (photo credit to Ginny Tinner) (photo credit to Ginny Tinner) (photo credit to Ginny Tinner)
The “jungle cruise” started out with a bang, as we saw a juvenile crocodile lying on a nearby bank. Then we cruised upstream, while listening to a really good local author give a rousing lecture about David Livingstone, who discovered Victoria Falls for the western world. He told us some amazing tales of Livingstone’s explorations. We made a brief stop in one of the bywaters of the Zambezi, where we could see giant lily pads and water lilies (lotuses?) beginning to bloom. Meredith captured some great shots of a bird like a sandpiper walking on the surface of the lily pads, and then the heavens graced us with a rainbow as we started back downstream.
Then the cruise turned into a weird flashback to our childhood visits to Disneyland as we approached a bunch of hippos who were baring their teeth. When you know it’s just their custom to yawn at sunset, they are not as sinister as the D-land “jungle guides” made them out to be. Still, it was a little surreal!
We closed the night out with a dinner under the stars back at the Victoria Falls Hotel, complete with native dancers. Tomorrow, we make the hike along Victoria Falls. Meredith and I can hardly wait!
Johannesburg was founded in 1886, when gold was found on a farm. This makes it the only major city in the world which is not founded on a river. The discovery of diamonds nearby in Kimberly helped cement Jo’burg’s position as the economic center of South Africa. Today, the population of Johannesburg is about 4.5 million people in the city proper, with the total population in the urban agglomeration of about 7.8 million people.
Today’s agenda will have us exploring some of the notable areas in Johannesburg, and exploring the history of apartheid in this nation. To trace the arc of apartheid, you must delve first into the colonial history of South Africa. As mentioned before, the area in the Capelands of South Africa was first discovered by the Portuguese, but quickly supplanted by Dutch colonists and the Dutch East India Company. The Capelands remained a Dutch colony (with French and German transplants) until the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s. However, following those wars, The British established their colonial rights over the Capelands, and established a British colony known as the Cape Colony from 1806 onwards. However, the formerly Dutch descendants chafed under British rule, (and particularly its abolition of slavery in 1834). Starting in 1836 onwards, the Dutch South Africans began migrating to the northeast interior of the country. This migration was known as the Great Trek, and the Dutch settlers were known as voortrekkers(pioneers or settlers in Dutch), which became shortened to “Boers”. The problem with this was that to settle those areas, the voortrekkers engaged in several wars with the Zulu and Ndebele tribes, ultimately defeating them and dispossessing them of their lands. These areas then became known as the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, and remained under Boer rule until the second Boer War between the British and the Afrikaner Dutch in 1902. The leaders of both communities joined together to form the Union of South Africa (under British control) as a “whites only” government, and this was the beginning of the apartheid state. Shortly thereafter, in 1913, the Lands Act was passed, which dispossessed millions of black citizens of their land rights and set up special reserves for them, with severe restrictions on their ability to own or purchase land.
The power struggles between the Dutch and British colonists continued through World War II, but even while a member of the British Empire, additional laws were passed which segregated blacks and whites, and not only limited the rights of blacks to hold certain occupations, but completely deprived them of the right to vote in 1936.
The Union of South Africa continued as a self-governing dominion of the British Empire until 1961 when the Republic of South Africa was formed. Under British law since 1936, all dominionswere treated as equal members of the British Empire. The Crown’s interests were represented in the dominion, but it was governed by a unitary government of elected white South Africans in a bicameral government.
Amazingly, in 1948, just three years after Germany’s defeat in World War II, the South Africans elected a new nationalist government called the Afrikaner National Party, controlled by the Afrikaaners, many of whom had supported Hitler and the Nazis during World War II. They immediately embarked upon legislating changes to strip non-white South Africans of all remaining civil rights under a segregation program known as apartheid (meaning separateness of a state of being separate). It is notable that no other nation with the possible exception of Nazi Germany has ever so completely segregated its citizens by race, and created such a thoroughly second-class set of citizens. All in all, there were about 140 laws passed which governed all aspects of South Africans’ lives. They banned black and white relationships, forced the removal of black and “colored” races into other areas, stripped black South Africans of their citizenship, and banned the existence of opposition parties by declaring them treasonous. The latter was particularly insidious, as the ban was made in the name of forbidding communism, which was defined so broadly as to encompass all opposition groups. However, in the name of fighting communism, this was enough to secure the United States’ tacit acceptance of the South African repression for decades. This Wikipedia article lists most of the major apartheid laws: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid_legislation
The African National Congress came into existence to oppose these apartheid laws, and Nelson Mandela became the leader of the ANC. Initially, the ANC and other opposition groups, employed the methods of peaceful protest advocated by Gandhi, who was one of its founding members. One of the main strategies involved refusing to carry a pass book; the identification documents all black South Africans were required to carry at all times. One such peaceful protest resulted in 36 unarmed protesters being gunned down by the police in what came to be known as the Sharpesville massacre. However, ultimately the opposition leaders came to believe that they must arm their supporters, and they formed armed wings of their opposition. That decision resulted in the government arresting all the opposition leaders and charging them with treason. They were all convicted in the Rivonia Trial. Even though Nelson Mandela was already serving time in prison, he too was convicted of treason. The charges carried a death sentence, but the defendants were all given life sentences. By the early 1960s, all the opposition leaders were in prison or living in exile, and the government continued to pass more and more restrictive segregationist laws. Although there was still an opposition both within and outside South Africa, it was really dormant until certain things started happening in the 1970s and 80s which brought attention and world condemnation down on South Africa.
Against the backdrop of this history, which was wonderfully synopsized by our Tauck tour director, Barbara Hartman; we first embarked upon a tour of Johannesburg by bus. Like Los Angeles, Johannesburg doesn’t have just one downtown area. There are multiple enclaves in the city, which basically sprawls around the former gold mining areas. For example, our hotel is in the Roseburg section of town. Our tour started in the hoity-toity Houghton Estate area of town, which used to be restricted as a “whites only area under apartheid, but became home to Nelson Mandela and his third wife, Graça, during the time he was president. He also located his Center of Memory nearby.
Interestingly, although Johannesburg remains the economic center of South Africa even today, it is not one of the three recognized governmental centers of the country. One of the things you notice immediately about the houses in Jo-burg is that all of them are heavily fenced and secured with electrified fences and guards. The largest employer in the country is ADT Security. You find yourself wondering how much of it is really necessary (although the crime rate is very high here) and how much of it is because of a lingering fear of “the other” fostered by years of segregation.
In this area, we drove by a couple of incredible private schools, which looked like Ivy League universities. One of them, St. John’s Anglican school, is noteworthy because even during apartheid when black and white students were forbidden to be schooled together, St. John’s still accepted non-white students.
St. John’s Anglican School
As you drive through the city, you notice several areas which are built on the tailings from the gold mines. Almost without exception, they are areas which had formerly been designated as black only or “colored” residential areas. Years later, there is an effort to begin to treat those tailings to remove their poisonous waste, but in most cases, people have already been living in those areas for decades.
Gold tailings
Then we visited an area now known as Constitution Hill, which was originally the fort built by Cecil Rhodes to protect his gold. Later, during apartheid, it became the prison and main court area to try defendants charged with opposition to apartheid, and charged with crimes against the state. We saw the women’s prison where Winnie Mandela was imprisoned for nearly two years for her anti-apartheid protests. Today, it is the main Constitutional Court in South Africa. Nearby is the John Foster Square police station and prison. Anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko died in police captivity there, as did many other activists.
The old fort/prisonThe Women’s Gaol, where Winnie Mandela was imprisoned
We drove past several of the world class universities here, including the University of the Witwatersrand, and then we ventured into Soweto.
Wits University-teaching college
The name Soweto is an acronym meaning South Western Townships, and was the home to many of the leaders of the anti-apartheid movement. Nelson Mandela lived here for several years, and we passed a market, which is still operated by members of the Mandela family. We also passed his home, which can be visited.
Mandela’s House
I was very pleasantly surprised by the conditon of the homes, schools and roads here. The Soweto I imagined was the Soweto I remember seeing in news clips for the ’70s and ’80s, when it always looked like a shanty town in flames and a hail of bullets.
New housing development
These days, with the help of the government’s RBG housing program and other services, the houses are now mostly permanent structures, and the streets are paved. There are still a few “informal settlements” as those older type shantytowns are called, but they are no longer the predominant form of housing for the people.
Informal settlement
As a suburb of Jo’burg, Soweto has about one and a half million residents.
Our first stop was at the memorial to Hector Pieterson, the twelve year old boy shot by police as part of the 1976 student uprising in Soweto. This picture, taken by Sam Nzima, went viral and was the beginning of the end of apartheid.
The high school students at Orlando West Secondary School and several other high schools planned a peaceful march to protest the latest apartheid law, which dictated that all technical subjects must be taught in Afrikaans, which the students viewed as the language of their oppressors. On that day, the police converged on the neighborhoods in Soweto in great force and began firing on the students, killing at least 176 of them. We began by viewing the memorial, and then proceeded to the Apartheid Museum.
In the photo, Mbuyisa is the young man carrying Hector’s body. He was just another student at the march.
The Apartheid Museum was designed in reference to the Holocaust Museum. When we entered the Museum, our admission tickets randomly said “White” or “Non-white”, and we were made to enter through the doors corresponding to the race on our admission ticket. Once inside, no photos were allowed, but the Museum follows a historical progression of the encroachment of apartheid on the South Africa citizenry. Obviously, the progression gets more horrible and visceral the deeper you go into the museum. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside the Museum.
First, however, we were addressed by Antoinette Sithole, the young girl in the photo who was Hector Pieterson’s big sister. She told us that it was she who planned to attend the march, and that Hector had just shown up looking for her. When she saw the police, she had told Hector they had to go home, but then the police started shooting. She was sixteen at the time, which makes her the exact same age I am. I couldn’t help but reflect on how differently life has treated us, all based on the complete randomness of what skin color we were born with. In her view, although it was a tragedy that Hector and all the other students had died, it was the beginning of the end of apartheid because the world finally had to confront the horror of what was happening in South Africa. Like most black South Africans we have met, I couldn’t help but be struck by the grace and equanimity with which they view the past, and the hope they express for the future of their country.
Me with Antoinette Sithole
The Museum was a world-class collection of exhibits and memorabilia, and was uncomfortably thought-provoking. Jim and I could have stayed at least an hour longer, and will probably return if ever we are in Johannesburg again.
After that grueling morning, we paid a much-appreciated visit to a local brew pub restaurant to sample their beers and eat lunch. The restaurant is called Urbanologi, and its located in a cool converted warehouse in one of the oldest sections of Johannesburg. The interior is very modern, and the food is kind of a small plates take on a South African-Asian fusion. I know it sounds weird, but everything was really good.
We spent a slow afternoon back at the hotel, with a quick side trip to the craft market nearby. Then we ate a meal at the local outpost of the same place we ate in Stellenbosch, called Doppio Zero. They do a mean Neapolitan style pizza, and one of our single travelers, Diane, joined us for the meal. Tomorrow it’s off to Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls.
We are all somewhat nostalgic to be leaving Kruger National Park today. But first, we got to take a final game drive. It felt like all our favorite animal friends came out to say goodbye.
Wahlberg’s EagleHinge-backed tortoises having a shoving matchElephant tracksSteenbokBrown Snake EagleOur tracker missed it, but Meredith spotted this rhino hiding in the bushWhite-backed vultureGoodbye, Kudu!Emerald-spotted wood doves “false mounting”No idea what this pretty boy is.Finally, we found this lovely lady as we were preparing to go back to campFarewell!
About noon, we drove to the Skukuza airport, which is actually located right on the edge of Kruger Park between Lion Sands and Sabi Sabi. The airport is very new, and lovely. From here, we fly to Johannesburg, where we will spend two nights.
We arrived in Johannesburg late this afternoon. We are staying in a very nice boutique hotel called 54 on Bath. Jim and I went up to the outdoors patio on the 4thfloor to enjoy a glass a wine when a giant rainstorm struck, complete with a spectacular lightining show. These pictures don’t do it justice, but the play between the light and the rain clouds was breathtaking.
We enjoyed a really good meal in the hotel’s restaurant, and then got ready for our day tomorrow, where we will do a deep dive into the history of apartheid, and the struggles to overcome it.
After we returned from our dawn game drive, we ate a hearty breakfast. Jim opted to go on a walking safari, but the temperatures are in the 90s here, so Meredith and I opted to laze around and enjoy the amenities of the resort. In my case, that means editing photos and writing blog posts for you, dear Readers.
We wandered down to the central area to gather for our afternoon game drive about 4:15. Although the resort provides a full British “high tea”, I’ve had plenty to eat already. Jim did avail himself of a pre-game drive glass of wine while we both enjoyed watching the animals begin to come down to the watering hole. Then, we were off on another adventure.
Right away, we ventured into a large field area, which was hosting a large herd of zebras, in addition to some wildebeest, impalas, and baboons. The baby zebras were very curious about us.
After spending quite some time admiring the zebras, we continued our drive in this great afternoon sun.
Water mongoose?Kudu Lilac-breasted roller?Our fellow tour mates.
Finally, all our safari vehicles came together for our final “sundowner” gazing out across the African plain. Ally helped us capture some great sunset shots, and took these wonderful pictures of Jim and Meredith together. We even attracted the attention of this spotted hyena, but he quickly slinked (slunk?) away when he noticed us watching him. We will be sad to leave Kruger Park tomorrow, but we have our final game drive to anticipate tomorrow morning. Then, it’s off to Johannesburg.
Vaya con Gringos 