Courtney's 5 days in Johannesburg

After a two hour flight from Cape Town, our spring break trip began in Johannesburg by checking into the Westford Hotel in Santon, a ritzy part of Johannesburg. We had pizza for lunch, and then headed to the Rosebank Mall and Market. There was a craft market in the basement of one of the buildings. I was hoping there would be different crafts from Cape Town, however, they were exactly the same. The people selling them were just much pushier. It was very overwhelming, and we quickly left without purchasing anything. We then walked around the actual mall, which was pretty similar to other South African malls we have been to, and comparable to U.S. malls. On Sunday night dinner at Trumps Grill in Nelson Mandela Square, which was delicious. Emily and I split a fried halloumi salad (South Africa’s version of mozzarella sticks).

On Monday, we woke up bright and early, and headed first to the Hector Pieterson Museum in Soweto, the largest township in South Africa, right outside of Johannesburg. We then headed to Nelson Mandela’s home he lived in before he went to prison and for 11 days after his release.

Courtney writing her name on the wall at Wandie's Place in Soweto.

Gift & I

On Tuesday, we volunteered at the Pimville Boys and Girls Club, my favourite experience in Johannesburg by far. We started the day by helping in their vegetable garden. We first weeded the garden, and then began creating rows and planting. A large group of children worked with us, and it was evident that they loved garden. I talked to a few young girls about gardening, and they said they wish they could have a garden at home, but they do not have a yard or any space to plant. After lunch we got to play with the children, and I fell in love with two young girls, Gift (10) and Thando (6). They taught me different South African clapping games, and I taught them some games from the U.S. After a sad goodbye, we went to Monte Casino that night, and had dinner at Billy G’s, a buffet restaurant. After dinner, I tried out a few slot machines. I spent 20R ($2), and ended up winning 30R ($3), so I quit while I was ahead.

On Wednesday we started the day off by visiting Constitution Hill where South Africa’s Constitution Court is located (this is their highest court, similar to our Supreme Court). The court was built in a former prison, and the other part of the prison was converted into a museum which we also toured. For lunch we visited another casino, and ate at a diner type restaurant, which took forever. We spent the afternoon touring the Apartheid Museum, which was extremely interesting, and had many great exhibits, but was very overwhelming in its size. They had an exhibit dedicated to Mandela’s life, as well as a new one on sports during Apartheid, which I particularly found interesting. That evening we ate at a restaurant called Poppy’s, and I had by far the worst meal I have had in South Africa. The entire meal took roughly four hours, and I had Thai Chicken Pasta, which caused me to throw up before even leaving the restaurant.

For our final day in Johannesburg we spent the day in Sharpville, where 69 people were killed by the police in an anti-pass law demonstration. We spent time in a museum, a visitor’s center, the old police station, a memorial and then visited the cemetery where they are buried. That evening we had another night off, so I ate at a delicious restaurant, Coobs with Val, Tina, Jessica, Emily, Manuela, Kiya and David.

On Friday we woke up bright and early to head to Kruger! On the way we stopped at a rest stop, and I saw one of the strangest things I have ever seen: They had a zoo behind the rest stop. There were rhinos, buffalo, and ostriches, with viewing windows in the bathroom above the sinks.