Day 6 - Tour of Soweto

Trivia Question: What is the white, sticky, South African food that they eat with everything?
Answer: Keep reading!

The morning after returning from the safari we mostly slept, ate, and relaxed. Mom, Ben, and I walked down to 4th Avenue to find some sort of a treat, and ended up in a gelato shop. I had Vanilla-Honey, and Ben got Chocolate, Nutella, Oreo. Why am I not surprised? He is seriously the younger, male version of my grandma. By the time we got home, our driver, Thulani, was waiting to take us to Soweto, a suburb of Johannesburg. When we arrived at the tour company, we were told to make ourselves comfortable until lunch was ready. Ben and Dad watched some African boys play soccer, though they call it football, which makes much more sense, while my mom and I watched some women cook around a fire. They were preparing the traditional African meal we were going to have for lunch. It was fascinating to watch them tend to the fires beneath the massive cauldrons. Once the food was done, we gathered around to fill our plates. We had the choice between bread or paap, the white, sticky food that has forced you to read this. It's basically sticky polenta. We then got carrots, spinach, and our choice of either beef, chicken, or vegetarian stew. I was in hog-heaven. The food melted in your mouth, and I had never tasted anything like it before. It turns out, I could totally live in South Africa.

After we had eaten lunch, we met our tour guide, Mfundo. He showed us the tuk-tuks we would be riding in on the tour through Soweto. They are basically three-wheeled golf carts. I road with dad, and Ben with mom. We drove up to a spot where you could look down on Soweto and got out. Mfundo explained the history of the apartheid government and how the natives had been brought to Soweto from their homes in Johannesburg. He also explained that the black kids we would meet along the way love high-fives and pictures, and he taught us how to say "hello" in Zulu. It's "sonibonani". I have no idea how it's spelled, but that's it's phonetic spelling. As we started to drive again, we discovered that he was definitely right about the kids. Lots of them were walking home from school. They would give us high-fives as we drove by, and then run after us just for fun. I loved it. I think it was the fact that it felt so much like how the world really should be. No one caring about class or color, and everyone going through life together. It makes a lot more sense that way. We stoped at a fruit stand in a very poor neighbor hood and bought some tomatoes, avocados, and candied popcorn. The roads were dirt and full of potholes, along with being lined in trash as the government only pays to have a garbage truck come up those roads once a month. The houses had no bathrooms, and the residents were forced to walk all the way to the end of the block just to use one. Also, because of the neighborhood's lack of a school, children as young as five years old had to cross a four lane highway in order to get to school. It made my insides boil just hearing about it. We then went to the house of Nelson and Winnie Mandela's during the time Mr. Mandela was in jail. 

Three street dancers sung and danced "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", which was sung in the mines during the apartheid government. Unfortunately, the song was later stolen by Disney and changed slightly.

After that, we went back to the tour company, and got to taste some local beer, or in mine and Ben's case, an African smoothie. Then we put on some traditional African decorations for a picture. Jen Riffle, this one's for you, as my mom is actually in it.

My dad's furs really do bring out his baldness don't you think?

The tour was wonderful, and we learned a lot about African history and culture. The next post will be about Port Elizabeth, my parent's biggest blowup of the trip, my dad attempting to drive on the left side of the road, and much more!

Bye for now!

-Abby