Soweto

A holiday of new experiences. Like the cage diving, something I would never have bothered with is a township tour. Mainly because I don't get the 'sit in a bus and drive through the squalor' type of tourism. Lebo, however solves this problem at his backpackers in Soweto. I'm not sure Soweto can still be called a township. It has a large social and economic diversity, parts of which are well developed, and is certainly big enough to be a city in its own right. Whatever you want to call it, Lebo's backpackers does a tour, by bicycle, where you stop now and then and take in the tastes and smells of Soweto. Everything from the shebeen near the old hostel rooms on the dust roads littered with debris and stagnant water to the upper class houses with luxary 4x4's parked out front, and of course the road where two Nobel prize winners lived. So we grabbed our bikes...

First stop the shabbier end of town, with the old hostel rooms. Here, every month, they set up a market for a couple of days. The same days that the old folk come and collect their pensions / unemployment, which is apparently about R 1 200 per month. In the market you can find just about anything, so in the hope of shocking us, the guide took us to the 'butcher', where the lazy branch waving was doing not much to keep the flies off the tripe that were spread out over a table (they were at least under an umbrella). Suddenly a few folk were feeling a lot more vegetarian than before.
























Above the hostel rooms which would have slept several miners each. Nowadays a street alongside the market.

Next was the shebeen , a tin shack strategically located alongside the market and not far front he source of cash. Our tour guide likened the shebeen's importance to that of a church; somewhere that the elders came to discuss political and social issues. Hmm... I think it looked more like a place where those prematurely aged by alcohol came to drink enough to make them feel like philosophers. With a 2 litre bucket of beer costing seven Rand (60 € cents), there where ample volunteers willing to impart their wisdom.

Another analogy shared with us whilst drinking, is that the African is like a Lion. The male sits on his backside all day, and the female needs to go out there and find food. This is one of the few things the guide sprouted that seemed to make any sense, he was definitely cycling proof that marijuana affects one's brain cells. His lion theory was born out by the man / woman ration of 11:1 in the shebeen. It would have perhaps been 100% men, if she was capable of leaving. Speaking of lions, I've never really seen one in the wild that is regal, but more about that when I write about Kruger. Lions are normally dusty, scruffy and scarred. Could it be from the drunken brawls?
























In addition to the homebrew, you can also get a carton of Joburg Beer, it must be rough stuff as the warning says, "Don't drink and walk on the road. You may be killed." Or perhaps that is a reference to the minibus drivers.

I give the shebeen experience a hard time, but it was actually quite interesting. It's a pity though that the poor madalas are spending the little they have on booze. So, once inside the tin shack, we're told the way it is done is to take a sip from the bucket and then passes it on. Personally, I think this method is just for the visiting mlungus so that the regulars can get more beer. I was very chuffed though when the bucket didn't make it back round to us. Ubuntu is one thing, but communal backwash, no thanks!

So after having seen the fly infested meat, it was time to test drive it. It was better than it looks!

























Cooked in the pots above 'til a fairly innocuous grey, and then served with chili powder and salt to add flavour. The stomach preferred it to shark cage diving.


























Not just a protein diet, you could always get some fruit from the 'shop' next door.
























Below is one of the older houses built during the apartheid era. Pretty solid construction with the can outside. Just down the road one finds the homes where Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived. Nowhere else can a road boast two Nobel prize winners.

















A fair reflection on SA is that the public transport is a mess. The train is the cheapest way to get into town, albeit overcrowded during peak hours. There are also minibus taxis, which are a mafia and law unto to their own. Horrendous drivers, whose incompetence is rivaled only by their arrogance and lack of respect. Nevertheless, the minibus taxi is a huge industry, but it doesn't properly serve the people who need it, e.g. running late into the evenings. So, the city has decided to try do something decent and put in place a modern bus system that serves Soweto. There are even dedicated bus lanes etc. As expected said minibus taxi mafia have decided to defend their turf by trying to destroy the buses and bus stops. So for the moment these are guarded by police. They're just a bunch of gangsters! Below is one of the new bus stops, I hope that it takes off so that there are less bought licenses and heaps of rusty crap on the roads.

Between Soweto and Joburg, one finds the apartheid museum. Another thing I wouldn't normally visit during my Joburg stay, but it is worthwhile. As far as museums go, I think it is very well put together. What with the history being so young, it is also nice to hear the opinions of those who played roles in the development of South Africa. Many of which are still alive today. It really is fresh. Do yourself a favour, it gives an interesting background as to why South Africa is the very interesting country it is today.

A quick glossary in the South African context:

Shebeen: (Irish origin) An illicit bar, selling alcohol without license, perhaps it's own homebrew millet beer called umqombothi.

Hostel: Living quarters for the mine labourers, often migratory workers. Normally men only. Nowadays with less mining in the area, these are no longer dormitories within compounds, but individual 'houses'.

Madala: Is an old man.

M'lungu: A white person.

Ubuntu: No, it's not just an open source operating systems, it's a philosophy: Wikipedia on Ubuntu.

Bring on the different experiences.