Saturday, June 19
Johannesburg, RSA
We had a BIG first day in Jo’burg. Too big for one post. We’re going to break it down so it doesn’t feel too overwhelming for us to write it out. It was a bit overwhelming as we jumped in, feet first, straight to Constitution Hill and the Apartheid Museum – both recounting the tumultuous past of South Africa.
We started the day at our Bed & Breakfast and Sylvia helped us sort through our plans a bit with what was practical and what wasn’t. It’s hard to determine which sites are in walkable proximity and how best to plan time to make sure we saw and did everything we wanted too. In addition, as advertised, Jo’burg is not a walkable city and everyone warned us to be cautious (a warning we initially heeded and then progressively tried to overcome). After our first amazingly delicious breakfast of Sylvia’s, we were picked up by Justice, a driver she arranged for us for the day.
Our first stop was to the little village shops of Zoo Lake so we could pick up a cheap cell phone and some prepaid minutes. That took no time at all – and now set with a South African phone number, we were on our way to Constitution Hill. This is a heady place and leaves you with a heavy heart. It is the site of the Old Fort Prison complex. There is the Old Fort (where white prisoners were kept), Number Four (for black men), and the Women’s Jail. The prison was still functional until 1983. Now, the beautiful new Constitutional Court building is built on the hill using bricks from one of the demolished prison buildings. We toured through Number Four and it’s exhibits (of note, there is a room documenting Gandhi’s time at Number Four and his time in South Africa) and we walked around the ramparts of the Old Fort.
It was inside Number Four that they posted one of Mandela’s quotes:
“It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by
how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”
— Nelson Mandela
Justice then drove us over to the Apartheid Museum near Soweto. Again it was another thought-provoking experience for us and filled in the gaps of our education. The museum truly illustrates how treating others unequally can get out of control and makes a good case for exercising judicious caution in the present and future.
Our favorite part of the museum was a temporary exhibit celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela. It was awesome! We learned so much from that exhibit. Jeannette thinks it’s crazy that the OJ Simpson trial made more of an impact in her high school than the long-awaited release of Nelson Mandela. Our favorite quote from that exhibit was:
“The cell is an ideal place to know yourself. People tend to measure themselves by external accomplishments, but jail allows a person to focus on internal ones, such as honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, generosity and an absence of variety. You learn to look into yourself.”
— Nelson Mandela
We decompressed from this very serious morning with a cappuccino at the Museum and then continued on our drive with Justice.
Number Four:
Old Fort Ramparts:
Josh taking photos of the city:
The view from the ramparts:
The stairs that lead up Constitution Hill between the Constitutional Court building and the prison:
The Constitutional Court:
The Apartheid Museum:
