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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Day 2: Soweto and Johannesburg




Today I took a wonderful tour of Soweto and Johannesburg. From the resort, we passed a huge "dry harbor" with miles of containers like these (above).


This is the stadium built for the soccer World Cup:


And then we were in Soweto, a historic township that is home to many black South Africans:


Nelson Mandela and his family lived in this Soweto home:


Bullet holes in the Mandela family's home:


Under this tree in Mandela's yard are buried the umbilical cords of his children (the guide told us that this is an African tradition):


Lots of artistic touches everywhere:





Behind this wall, Archbishop Desmond Tuto lived in a house, not open to the public, and not far from Mandela's house:








This is a memorial to all those who died in the June 1976 Soweto uprising. About 600 people died, and thousands were detained after protesting the mandate that Africaans be the only language used in schools.


The uprising was pivotal in the fight against apartheid. Hector Peterson (the boy being carried in this photo) was one of the many children killed that day:


Mario, our guide, was fabulous. He speaks 15 languages!








Another soccer stadium!


Don't the cement roofs on these homes look like they are mimicking thatch?


Johannesburg town hall:


Next, we visited Constitution Hill and it's old fort and prison.


A few cells remain, including one where Mandela was held for a time:





Door to the Constitutional Court:


Beautiful art inside the Constitutional Court:








Yellow wood tree:


Courtyard in part of the old fort and prison on Constitution Hill:





Leaving downtown Johannesburg:


Tomorrow is the start of International Quilt Convention - Africa!

4 comments:

  1. It is nice that you have a guide who knows the area and can show you the history and talk about the stories behind the people who lived and fought there.

    Debbie

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  2. Goodness - what changes in 32 years - so, so very different - thanks for sharing with us

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  3. Two great movies to watch: "Cry Freedom" about Steven Biko and "The Power of One" about aparthate. (The way it should be pronounced.)

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  4. Susan, although I have some of your QA videos, I haven't checked out your blog until today. What a day to begin! Thank you so much for the educational tour. I will be checking back you can be sure.

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