Tourism in Johannesburg

Soweto

The second weekend I spent in Joburg, I was a lot more comfortable traveling around and so visited a couple of touristy places nearby. The first was the township of Soweto. It stands for SOuth WEst TOwnship and is one of the remnants of the Apartheid era. Soweto is spread over 100+ km square and houses more than 2 million people.This is a huge township by any standards, and was created for the African people to stay in. It started out as a place where the gold and diamond miners used to stay close to the mines but then it was forcibly converted into a African area only. Its location was also strategic, away from the city of Joburg, behind a hill so that it wasn't visible from the city!

A visit to Soweto is recommended if you want to get an idea about what Apartheid was about and what it meant for the local people. The basic aim of Apartheid was to segregate society based on colour but it led to much more than that; very congested and low quality living conditions for the local Africans.

Soweto

Today, its visited by tourists and over the years has changed a lot; still there is a long way to go to get it to par with the other areas of the town. As you drive there, you can see all levels of housing. From the barely there shacks to better constructed houses of people who could afford loans. Nowadays, there is government housing provided to the people based on how much they can afford: simple one-bedroom houses to slightly bigger ones. The new immigrants to South Africa stay in the shacks and as they go up in status, get bigger and better houses to stay.

Mandela House

We drove around the general Soweto area and stopped at three places on the way.  One was Mandela House where Nelson Mandela stayed before he was jailed for 27 years.

Pieterson Museum

The second was the Pieterson museum where Hector Pieterson, a 12 year old was shot dead by the police along with 600 other students who were peacefully demonstrating against introduction of Afrikaans as the means of teaching in schools in Soweto. It is said that it was this incident which brought world attention to Apartheid which had been going on quietly in the country for many years. It was this brutal act by the South African government which made governments across the world take notice, protest and put sanctions on South Africa.

And the the third place we stopped at was where the freedom declaration was made. Reading about what was included in the declaration makes you wonder how such basic rights also needed to be fought for!

Freedom declaration

Other than that, Soweto felt like a bustling area with lot of people; small and big businesses springing up everywhere. People from all over Africa come here to make a living. Some while away their time, while some try to make ends meet and go up in life. My guide related closely to Apartheid times and gave me a lot of his personal views.  He had been a part of the fight against Apartheid and reminisced of those times. He thought his people have moved on from those times and want to go up in life.  He realised education is most important for them now and and hence his community now wants to focus on that. He also felt that even though they were badly treated earlier, even now the whites did not consider them as part of the same country. He had also been part of the uprising and was proud of where his people had reached. But still thought there was a long way to go.

Another thing I realised when there was that in the different rungs of society, the Indians in South Africa had fared a lot better. Even though they were also segregated, they still got education and were able to get decent jobs. That is one of the reason, they did not protest as much against Apartheid, and that is why even today, they are doing better than the local Africans.

After the trip to Soweto, I spent a couple of hours at the Apartheid Museum. I had heard a lot about the Museum, but honestly was not impressed. Its a huge museum There is a lot of information in the Museum, it is just not presented in a great manner to create maximum impact. There is a lot of text written everywhere, but not as many exhibits to take the message forward.

Apartheid times

I liked the photo exhibition they had on what life was under the Apartheid Rule which I liked. And of course the entrance, where there is a separate entrance for you depending on the colour you belong to. It kind of gives you a sense of how it might have felt during those times, everything in life separated on colour and of course, quality of those things too!

I also got a chance to look at diamonds and tanzanites which are a speciality of South Africa and Tanzania respectively. The diamonds were the same as they usually are, but the tanzanites were something else. They are blue coloured rare stones found only in a mine near Kilimanjaro, and once exhausted, the stone itself will finish. I checked a couple of those in the Sandton City mall and other wholesalers there, and was impressed. An interesting buy, especially if its going to be extinct soon!

The next day, I visited a historical site, the Cradle of Humankind about an hour away from Joburg. Its the site where fossils of the oldest humanoid have been found. We did a tour of the Sterkfontein Caves, and the guide took us through the archeologists finds over the century and seemed proud of the fact than humanity had originated out of Africa. The cave he took us through was a usual one, with stalactites and stalagmites and some fossil remains still inside. However, what I found interesting was the underground lake that we saw inside the cave, apparently its depth is unknown and after 40 meters, divers had stopped searching for its end. I for one have never before seen an underground lake, so found that most interesting in the tour.

After the caves, I visited the Lion Park nearby. Its almost like a zoo with a couple of animals like cheetah, lions, meerkats, hyaenas, leopards and black leopards kept in cages. It also has a game drive where you can see white lions, plus activities like walk with the cheetah and feed the giraffes. So I would say a pretty commercialised zoo. However what drew me to the park was that they have lion cubs there with whom you can play and get photographed with!

I stood in a queue for half an hour to do just that. We got two minutes in an enclosed area where there were three cubs to play with. They were soooo cute and even more lazy, so not at all enthusiastically posing for photos. And surprisingly, their coat is not as soft as it appears to be. I feel for the cubs though, how irritated would anyone be if all day, people come and play with you. But I still loved it:).

That was mostly what touristic stuff there is to do in Johannesburg. Wasn't something out of this world, but was good anyways for a nice hectic weekend. The high for me was playing with the cubs and shopping for tanzanites though:) rather than the historical stuff.

Cape Town

Everyone I mentioned to, that I was going to South Africa asked me not to miss Cape Town. It is supposedly an amazing and unique city. And even though I have found people's reccomendations wrong at times, I felt I had to visit Cape Town to see it for myself. So I decided to go there alone and I am so glad I did. (And I would agree it is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen!). The vibe from the city is very different, it makes you feel very fresh and alive!

I went to Cape Town in winter when the locals said '...don't go to Cape Town now, it has terrible weather..' and 'its freezing there right now!' but to be honest, after staying in London, a temp of 12-17 degrees Celcius during the day is not terrible or freezing! It turned out to be pleasant weather to travel; and even though it did rain a bit on one day, the other was completely sunny and warm. I stayed at the Taj hotel while in the city because I felt closer to the Indian brand. And while staying there I realised what people meant when they said that service in Taj is always a notch better than other hotel chains. It really is, even in a different country. The staff are well trained, friendly and honestly try to help their customers.

Cape Town from Signal Hill

Initially I had planned to take the city tour but later changed to a rental car and it was the best decision I could have made! Cape Town has a lot to offer in terms of a city, it takes a hold on you with the view it offers: surrounded by three huge mountains on one side (table mountain, devils head and lions head); the busy metropolis in between and the sea on the other. Its shaped like a bowl and the main city is enclosed within the bowl. And it has a very European feel to it. People say once in Cape Town, you don't feel its Africa, and I would agree. It feels different, very open, very fresh and close to nature.

Zorgvliet wineyard

But what Cape Town has to offer outside the city is a lot more than within the city. Green lush hills, wineyards, capes, sea drives, penguins, mountain tops and so on.. Its worth driving out of the city to experience all this..

Asara hotel and wineyard

The first day when I started off to drive towards Stellenbosch, (a small town in the Cape Town wine country), the weather was cloudy but still felt so green and fresh, it was the perfect day for driving in the hills. And I loved driving through the area, winding country roads through hills laced with wineyards on both sides.

Asara wineyards

It took 40 mins (about 50 kms) to drive to Stellenbosch and once there, I just drove towards Franschhoek and whenever I saw a wineyard which looked interesting, took a detour in to admire the view. The wineries I stopped at were Asara, Zorgvliet and La motte. All the wineyards offered restaurants, wine tours, wine tasting and some had hotels and lodges to stay in. They all also had chapels! Most of these wineries had European roots (and flags) and had been there since the 1600s. Some were German, some Italian and so on.

La Motte wineyard

The view (and feel) at each of these wineyards and the area was worth many a picture, I don't have words to describe it. It was just heavenly driving there. Plus Cape Town has an Indian radio channel. That proved to be a boon, driving in such pleasant weather with Hindi music playing; can there be anything better than this?

Vierneef restaurant at La Motte

I had lunch at Vierneef a la motte which had Italian musicians and a restaurant with views to die for. The food was tasty, though expensive by South African standards. Don't know much about the wines though, but anything from such an amazing place has to be good;-).

Every photo I took there felt like a picture. The people were very friendly and I loved the experience. And it was the best wineyard experience I have ever had, the most beautiful wineyards I have ever seen (not been to France yet!). I think it had a lot more to do with the weather than just the place. A slight cool cloudy day makes travel so much more pleasant!

Cape Town at night from Signal Hill

In the evening I drove up one of the hills around the city bowl, called Signal Hill. The drive winds up the mountain offering great panoramic views of the city, with the ocean on one side and the mountain tops on the other. At night with the twinkling lights, it looks even better:). And you realise how small the city is, with a central CBD of high rises and then smaller houses all along up the mountains.

Somewhere near Simons Town

The next day I covered a couple of places in the Cape area: the Boulders Beach which is the nesting place for African penguins; Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope which are the southernmost points on the Cape and the Chapman's drive while coming back to Cape Town. The drive in this area was mesmerizing, along hills next to the sea, offering glorious views at every turn. Mountains, forests, wildlife, ocean, sea-side resorts, water sports.. it was all there!

Boulders Beach

The first stop for me was the Boulders Beach which is located near Simons Town. The actual location where the penguins were was Foxy beach next to Boulders. There are hundreds of penguins there, sometimes on the beach but otherwise hiding under the foliage on the beach. While going towards the beach, I did not spot any but while coming back I realised they were all around!

Adult African penguin

Its a beautiful location to stay in:). There were adult - white and black penguins and the children - with the furry brown coat. They looked cute while waddling around, almost like soldiers! It was fun trying to spot them among the foliage too. Some were hiding under trees, some in the man-made covers for them and some just in the shade. They make loud donkey braying sounds too, and hence were called jackass penguins earlier. And they are so smelly, the whole area stinks!

Baby African penguins

Baboons running along the shore

I also ran into a baboon herd while driving along the coast. Apparently they abound in the Cape region and are a menace. There were boards all along the coast road saying ' Baboons are dangerous animals. Please lock your cars and windows at all times' because apparently they are very smart and can even open cars and wreck havoc inside. The herd was just running southwards along the coast and there was an army of rangers following and tracking them. Apparently they do that everyday from 7am - 3pm, following the baboons to make sure they don't harm people. It did look funny though, the baboons running across the coast and a couple of people with walkie talkies and handguns following them along!

Trek to Cape of Good Hope

After that, I drove into the Cape Point national reserve which includes a wide expanse at the tip of the cape. The landscape was hilly with small-shrubs kind of vegetation. I drove till the end of the cape, where is located the Cape Point with the famous lighthouse which has been used by ships sailing between West and East. Cape of Good Hope is also located nearby, again a symbol of when sailors sailed between East and West. This whole area is very rocky, bare and very very windy. Sometimes its difficult to even stand here.

At the Cape Point area, there is a restaurant called 'Two oceans' which offers beautiful views of both the oceans, and a tasty and warm meal for the tired tourist. Though the name of the restaurant is wrong, the Cape is not the meeting point of the two oceans, Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean as everyone likes to think but its still a fabulous setting for a nice meal!

Cape of Good Hope

I went halfway on the trek from Cape Point to Cape of Good Hope and had to give in mid-way because of fear of flying off. It was just easier to drive around to the Cape anyways:). Even when I drove there and parked my car, it felt like my car would blow off. Felt like the most windy place I had ever been to!

Chapmans Peak drive

After leaving the Cape, I drove along the Eastern coast towards Cape Town. Along the way, I drove through the Chapman's Peak drive, a dangerous hilly drive along the coast with views abound. The drive was scenic and so was the sunset.

Views along the coast drive

Once back from Chapman's I tried taking the cable car up the Table Mountain but it was closed due to bad weather. I even tried driving to the Waterfront but did not manage to reach the right waterfront even! Have heard its got eating places and shops there, but missed it! I even got lost in the city as I was not able to stop to change the destination in my GPS. And realised how critical GPS is in a new city. Dread to thing how people managed travel when GPS did not exist!

My whole weekend in Cape Town felt almost like a dream, a beautiful green close-to-nature dream. The town was small and felt open. The places nearby all pretty. Just the perfect weekend away from the city. But along with the beauty, I did notice aspects of a darker and hidden truth. Just outside the city while driving towards the wineyards and the Cape, I noticed densely populated run-down looking townships. These are from the Apartheid times, but now people stay there only because of economic reasons. This is the side of the city and the country that we all try to hide, but is so tough to not notice it when in South Africa.

Views along the coast drive

The demographics of the city also surprise you. Its pre-dominantly white with very few local Africans seen anywhere. There are not that many Indians either, and apparently most of the population is 'Coloured' (which I don't understand). People were very very friendly there which was helpful. And people seemed so much more relaxed than in Joburg. Guess that's because its a sea-side city and such cities are always more relaxed.