Day 2

2011

Tuesday, 6 September

I only have one full day in Johannesburg so was determined to see as much as I could. After meeting Dad for breakfast at 7am, I went to the tour desk to see what I could organise. They were kind enough to customise a tour for me that took in the sites of Soweto and the Apartheid Museum. The tour was to start at 10am which was perfect as the phone shops opened at 9am.

After several visits to different phone shops I eventually managed to get a SIM card after obtaining a letter of residence from the hotel first. I sent a quick test text to my BFF only to get a response saying “Did you just group text me?”. At least the phone was working now and I felt more connected again! 

My driver picked me up in a new C class Mercedes and our first stop was Nelson Mandela’s current house. The suburb was very nice but due to security walls up everywhere it was hard to see the actual houses. After doing a drive by, we got back on the freeway to head to Soweto.

The first place we went to was the Soweto Memorial. It was an incredibly moving museum with stories and pictures of events leading up to that tragic day in 1976. I was a little disappointed with the layout of the museum and most of the photos didn’t have captions stating what was going on in them. Still it was worth the journey.

Next stop was Nelson Mandela’s home. This was the home that he and Winnie lived in. He spent about 15 years in the house but Winnie was there for the entire time of his incarceration. Despite being a tiny house it was crammed with memorabilia from his time there including his education qualifications.

After Nelson Mandela’s home we went to Bishop Desmond Tutu’s place which is quite literally down the road. No tour of this though. We then went to Winnie Mandela’s current residence. It was again, not far away and a lot more modest than I was expecting. Only the array of security cameras and deterrents gave an indication to the status of the houses resident. Some of the houses neighbouring Winnie’s were very humble indeed, with unrendered brick walls and broken gates or cracked windows. Certainly not the sort of neighbours you’d be expecting for a former First Lady.

The Regina Mundi Catholic Church was next. It’s one of the largest in the area and was famous for amongst other things, being the primary meeting place of the ANC during the troubled times. Inside you can still see bullet holes from the South African police that surrounded the church many times to try and arrest students or other dissenters. There’s further evidence inside of the rough treatment the police were dishing out in that period including the corner smashed off the marble altar.

The final stop on the tour was the Apartheid Museum. As the brochure states, Apartheid is exactly where it belongs, in a museum. It was an amazing experience. You could honestly spend 3 - 4 hours in there but I moved through relatively quickly and was out in about 2 hours. It’s a fantastic documentation of this sorry period in South Africa’s history and an absolute must see for anyone going to Johannesburg.

That night I met up with Dad and some of his colleagues. We had a drink at their hotel in Melrose Arch which whilst lovely lacked the edginess of Fire and Ice, and then went to dinner. Our first choice was a combination Asian restaurant that was reputed to be quite good but they fluffed around with the fact that there were 7 of us, even though the restaurant looked deserted so we moved on and ended up back at Pigalles. I had the langoustines again which were just as amazing as they were the previous night. So sweet and moist and a new favourite crustacean of mine along with Moreton Bay Bugs and Mud Crab. 

Everyone else left a little early so Dad and I wandered off to a unique little bar that he knew. It was called Try Before You Buy. You were given a smart card as you walked in and around the bar were dozens of bottles of wine behind glass. Each bottle had a tube going into it and a spout out the front. You inserted your card, selected whether you wanted a small, medium or large glass (all priced accordingly) and it was poured for you automatically. Such a great concept which I'm sure would go well in Australia. My mate Alok tells me there is place like this in South Bank in Brisbane so I will have to try it on my return. 

After sampling several (okay many) different wines and resampling a few favourites we decided enough was enough and went back to the hotel. A great day in Joburg.