Today was another lovely day. I got up, showered, had breakfast (same as yesterday) and was ready to go at 0900 when my driver arrived (a different one from yesterday).
Our first stop was the Carlton Centre, a skyscraper, shopping centre and the tallest building in Africa. It's 223 metres high and has 50 floors. The views from the top were really beautiful, and it was really clear so you could see for miles.
I particularly liked the building painted as the South African flag.
Our next stop was Soweto, my driver told me a bit about its history and how there are the 'rich' parts, 'middle class' parts and the 'poor' parts. It has a population of over 1 million people, around 99% of these are Black Africans. The driver said white people living there just doesn't happen.
Driving around the 'rich' areas, it looks like quite a lovely place to live, then we moved to the 'poor' areas. We met with a guide and he walked me round a bit of a poor area, I went into a house and was introduced to the family. He told me all about how they live, eight people in three rooms, no electricity and only paraffin burners for cooking. They encourage you to take photos so that you can show other people about where these people live. I felt quite intrusive taking pictures of a family home with the family watching and the two small children clinging onto you, but they seemed quite happy with the arrangement. When you compare the 'rich' and 'poor' areas of Soweto there is a huge difference, but even the 'poor' area is luxury compared with a lot of the houses I saw in Madagascar.
I went back to the car and we drove to our next destination, passing Soweto Towers on the way (a bungee jump location).
Our next stop was Nelson Mandela's house, it is on the same street as the house of Desmond Tutu (a social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop) and is said to be the only street in the world where two Nobel Laureates have lived! I was given a little tour and talk about the house and then left to read everything for myself. It was very interesting and quite moving to think of all the events that had taken place right there.
Our next stop was the Hector Pieterson (the first child to be shot in the Soweto uprisings in 1976) museum, we arrived, parked the car and walked to the entrance, only to find that it was temporarily closed due to water damage :( There were a few bits to look at outside though.
Our final stop of the day was the Apartheid Museum. The entrance is slightly strange, your ticket says either 'white' or 'non-white' and you have to follow the signs and enter through the correct entrance according to your segregation - my ticket was 'non-white'.
The museum itself was really interesting and quite moving at times too. I think one of the worst parts about this museum is how recently it all occurred! I really can't comprehend how a person could have a mentality which thinks that the colour of a person's skin determines which class they should be in, how they should be treated, or what they’re going to be like. I just don’t get it! I spent a couple of hours looking around and watching videos and then had a lovely lunch of macaroni cheese and salad (not as good as Mum’s - they replaced the bacon with aubergine and courgette!) and a coke. I had a wander around the gift shop and really really wanted to buy all of the books there! I resisted and didn’t buy a single one! I went back and met my driver and we drove back to the hostel.
I spent the rest of the afternoon deciding what to do tomorrow, reading, uploading photos and relaxing in the sun :) I had a bag of crisps and a couple of cereal bars for dinner (seeing as I had a big lunch) and spent the evening reading and chatting to a couple of guys from Wales.