Nov'06 | Oct'06 | Sep'06
Aug'06 | Jul'06 | Jun'06
May'06 | Apr'06 | Jan'06
Dec'05 | Sep'05 | Aug'05

Day 104 - Kalkfontein

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Day 101 - goodbye, Swazis

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Day 100 - cultural village

Friday, August 11, 2006

Day 99 - Swaziland

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Day 97 - Soweto

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

Day 96 - Diamond mine tour

Monday, August 7, 2006

Day 93 - District Six Museum

Friday, August 4, 2006

Day 97 - Soweto

Soweto (South Western Township) - one of the largest townships in South Africa - is now considered a part of Johannesburg. It's famous for violent Soweto Riots of 1976 (kids were protesting against use of Afrikaans in schools) and the fact that is has a street where two Nobel Peace prize winners lived (Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela). Our guide, a native of Soweto, claimed she could speak all 11 official languages since all of them are widely used in Soweto. I believe her.

Houses in Soweto range from tiny delapidated shanties made out of sheet metal and still covered with barbed wire to nice large homes without any fences around them. A lot people who get wealthy do not want to move from Soweto to more upscale neighborhoods - instead, they just build nicer houses. Property there is pretty cheap - you could buy a decent house for about $100K. Not sure I'd want to live in Jo'burg though.

A house where Mandela lived is now a small museum. Hector Peterson museum is also in Soweto - it's an exteremely powerful space that talks about apartheid in general and the riots specifically. Sadly, 30 years later kids still have to take matriculation exams in English or Afrikaans. African languages are not offered as an option.

Workers' housing Public phone Shanty houses
People live there He wanted me to take his photo Advertising
Stained glass window Riots Woman
Away with Afrikaans Welcome to Soweto