Soweto Tour

Monday, July 12, 2010

Soweto is a part of Johannesburg that stands for South Western Townships. This is the area where black South Africans were forced to live during the Apartheid Era. Most of Soweto is slums, but there are also some newer and nicer areas.

We went to a shopping center called Carlton Centre where we ate lunch and then walked to the tour company's office across the street. We arrived a few minutes early, but the office was completely locked and the lights were off. We started to panic a little because we weren't sure if we had missed the tour. A woman came to open the office around 1:40 and checked us in--again, South Africans have a different sense of time. then we waited until 2:00 for the tour guide and driver to arrive. There were a few other people on the tour with us, two gentlemen from Germany and one from London.

Our tour guide, Bonga, was very friendly and also very knowledgeable about Soweto, South African history, and even about America, Germany, and England. Bonga told us we would be seeing "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of Soweto. Our first stop on the tour was the Soccer City Stadium, which we did not get to see yesterday, so we got out and took a few pictures. While we were there, Bonga pointed out the huge mounds of dirt, which looked like mountains. These were mine dumps which the Apartheid Government strategically placed between Soweto and downtown Jo-burg so that the black South Africans would not be able to see or think about the city.

Soccer City Stadium with the Burbank Leader

with our tour driver and our tour guide, Bonga

Next we went to the nice part of Soweto. This newer part has very nice houses which are inhabited mostly by doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs. Only a few hundred yards from this neighborhood is one of the bad parts of Soweto, filled with aluminum shanties and very poor housing. It was interesting to see such contrasting neighborhoods so close together.

A shanty village in Soweto

We drove around and saw several similar neighborhoods, and there were a few places where we could get out of the van and walk around. We made sure to stay close to our group because it didn't feel very safe, and Bonga helped to keep the locals at a distance. As soon as they see foreigners, they come up to you trying to get money.

one of the locals in Soweto

We visited the neighborhood where Nelson Mandela briefly lived after being released from prison in 1990. We met a few young boys who wanted to sing a song for us, and we paid them a few Rands. The oldest boy saw American dollars in Dena's pocket and wanted us to give him some so he could show it off to his friends at school. Unfortunately, she didn't have any small bills, so we couldn't help him.

The shopping in this area was exactly what we had been looking for! Dena found the green South Africa Soccer track jacket that everyone wears, but nobody sells. We also found some African hand-crafted items and bartered with the merchants to buy some gifts for our friends and family.

Dena's new jacket and new best friend

Bonga offered to give us a ride back to our hostel, and we graciously accepted this offer. We did not want to deal with the hassle of trying to find another taxi. We eventually made it back to our home neighborhood, and had the van drop us off at Mike's Kitchen, the restaurant where we had eaten lunch the day before. It's nice to have a familiar restaurant where we know we will like the food, and it is very affordable. From there, we took a short taxi ride back to the hostel and relaxed for the rest of the evening.