Saturday, Aug 6 2022, Arriving in Johannesburg, South Africa
The Flight to South Africa
Today we spent the day on the airplane. Our previous flight on August 4th got canceled due to weather in New Your. But it actually turned out really well. Before we left, we slept at our house and then we went to our local pool and got Domino’s Pizza for lunch. After our last goodbyes we left for the airport and we boarded the plane to Atlanta. The plane ride was supposed to be less than an hour, but we got stuck on the tarmac for a long time so it turned into a 2 and a half hour flight. So many weather problems! Once we landed in Atlanta, we scrambled to our gate for our flight to Johannesburg. My parents wanted to see if we could get upgraded. While we were waiting for our plane to be ready to board, we went to the delta sky club, and we all got a good snack and lots of Rice Krispies and gluten free brownies.
Finally the plane was ready and we boarded. Super amazing, but we did get upgraded! To business class! The seats were so cool. They even had their own Private doors! The ride was VERY long. 15.5 hours.
Arriving in Johannesburg
We got off the plane at 6:00 South African time and got in a taxi to the place we are staying at. It’s called a Hostile.
It’s a place where all different people stay in one big house. Breakfast is always made everyday by Angelique, who is the house manager and the morning chef!
Once we got somewhat settled in, we headed out to go grab a bite to eat because we’re very hungry from the plane ride. Mom chose a spot called Hell’s Kitchen. It was very dark because most of Johannesburg was out of power and was in something called load shedding. So the restaurant had to use candles. We sat down, and got lots of great food. Me and my brother Zeb shared the nachos. They were the best. Us kids took lots of photos and practiced editing them. The rest of dinner was amazing and all of us kids got a milkshake each, which we probably could have shared.
After dinner we went back to the house and had a rough night’s sleep because of the jet lag.
Sunday, August 7th, Johannesburg, South Africa
Visiting a Local Church, Coffee and Brunch
Today was cool because we went to a new church. It was called Cornerstone. They have 10 different locations in Johannesburg, so we went to the Mediterranean spot. But before we went to church, we went to a cool coffee shop called Home of the Bean, I got the most amazing almond milk hot chocolate ever. We sat there for about 30 minutes, then we headed to church.
After church, we walked around Maropeng and my little brother Bardez got a snazzy hat and sunglasses. We looked at many different street shops and cool artifacts.
We went to The Four Seasons for brunch. We kinda celebrated mom’s birthday, which was today! The food was good, but the view was better. Inside, they had a buffet with lots of different foods. They also had an elaborate display of desserts. And they had a popcorn machine!
After lunch, we tried to take a walk to a mall so that we could get Sim Cards, which means that we can operate our phones without wifi. But it was too far, and so we called a taxi, went home, and went to bed or worked. For dinner, I had rice cakes and peanut butter.
Monday, August 8th, Johannesburg, South Africa
Military Museum of South Africa
Today was good. First we had an amazing breakfast made by Angelique. I had scrambled eggs and spinach, cornflakes with pineapples and oranges. Then we took an Uber to the Apartheid museum, which happened to be by an amusement park. But the museum was closed and mom had another place for us to go. The South African Military Museum. It had lots of planes and tanks, but the museum itself I didn’t really like. The sections were all sorted by category, not by war. I would totally recommend this museum if you are someone who really likes looking at huge tanks and planes. I know that my brothers had the best time of their life!
Holocaust and Genocide Museum
Next we went to The Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide museum. This museum was very interesting because I learned about Rwanda, and the geniuses that happened there. While Bill Clinton was president in America, Rwanda was in a state of chaos. From April to July in 1994, almost 1 million people were killed. There were 2 different people, one was called the Tutsi, and the other Hutu. There were not really any big differences between those 2 people, they didn’t have different religions, skin color, race, or tribe, they were simply either Tutsi or Hutu.
For a while, the Tutsi were the more wealthy and considered the higher class for a good amount of time, but after a while, the Hutu wanted to take that power. So they did. The slaughtered 800 – 900,000 Tutsi. They would burn their houses and apartments, kill the men, and rape the women. Though not all the Hutu were bad. Some would hide Tutsi in their home. It was truly a horrible genocide. After 100 days of war, the United Kingdom established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to bring peace to the country.
Kaftan Making Class
After that museum, we went to a woman’s house named Mrs. Victoria. She is a Kaftan maker. A Kaftan is something kind of like a shall, but it is something that you can wear everyday like a shirt. It is a territorial African piece of clothing and it can be made in many different ways too. Some people like to wear it like a dress, some cut it to just be a shirt; and, it can be for men and women!
Dinner Out at an Amazing Restaurant Called Marble
Next, we went to a really good restaurant called Marble. It was very fancy, and the bathrooms were especially cool. They had an attendant in the hall of the bathrooms, and they would direct you to a clean stall. After you were done, they would go into, and clean the bathroom. It was very high maintenance. One thing I really appreciated about this restaurant is that they had a good amount of Gluten Free stuff. Along with GF bread. This might not seem like a big thing to you, but for my family, it’s really awesome when a restaurant has gluten free bread because most restaurants don’t have much starch that is gluten free.
Anyway, I got Risotto and asparagus, and it was super good. The rest of dinner was amazing, and soon we were heading back to our Hostil.
Tuesday, August 9th, Johannesburg, South Africa
Old Fort Prison Tour
Today we went to a museum called The Old Fort. It was a fort that was converted into a jail. At this jail, many of South Africa’s biggest political people went to jail. For example: Nelson Mandela, who became the first black president of South Africa after he was let out, Mahatma Gandhi, who was a resistance leader and he invented the word Satyagraha, which means “holding firmly to the truth”.
Some interesting things that I learned about the jail were about the segregation, or, as they call it here, Apartheid. The living conditions in the jail were vastly different, and it all had depended on the color of your skin and status in life. The white men had far better living spay than the black men. For example, the white’s got a mattress and a pillow, three blankets, four sheets, 2 pillowcases, and a bedspread. While the black’s got: 2 sleeping mats, and three blankets. Also, the white men slept upstairs on the 2nd floor where it was much warmer and the plumbing was better. The whites also got far less beatings, and about 200 carbs per day with meat, bread, jam, and clean porridge. Downstairs, the black men slept in cramped spaces, head to toe, and with usually only one or two toilets with no privacy. In a room that was meant to hold 51 people, would be holding over 151 people.
Soweto Township Walking Tour
After the Old Fort, we headed to Soweto for a tour. I learned so many things. Right away, I learned about the Soweto uprising that transpired in 1976. There was a student protest that was supposed to be peaceful, but the police interfered and started shooting all the kids. The youngest kid to be shot and killed was an 8 year old girl, but before everyone thought it was a 12 year old boy named Hector Pieterson. A photographer took a photo of Mbuyisa Makhubu carrying Hector, and his sister running behind him. This photo went viral. It was published in newspapers all over South Africa.
We walked through Soweto, and at one point, we stopped to watch a group of boys, who were dressed up, dancing and traditional dance. It was really cool.
Next we walked to Nelson Mandela’s house in Vilakazi Street. It was built in 1945, where he lived until he was imprisoned for 27 years on Robin Island.
Orlando East and Up the Soweto Towers
We continued though Orlando East, where the first formal settlement of Soweto is. There is also Orlando Stadium which is where the student protest was trying to get to. The Soweto football giants, along with the Orlando Pirates played Rugby. We then took a minibus/taxi to the last stop which was the Orlando Towers. We took a crate-ish elevator up one tower, and took pictures at the top. It was very frightening but amazing. The view was the best.
Dinner at Saint Restaurant
After all that, we went to an amazing dinner called Saint. It’s actually a sister restaurant to Marble, which we went to yesterday night! Though I think I like this place better. They had gluten free pizza and pasta! Happy night! I shared a pizza and pasta with Zeb. I also tried grilled octopus for the first time while I was there. It was ok. Very chewy.
I got this amazing contraption for dessert with Pineapple sorbet, Tropicana Assorted Gelatins, coconut Meringues, and this, like, edible gold, and gold sheets. It was amazing. The others got milkshakes, which were made with vanilla ice cream and Nutella. I did try it, and it was good!
The rest of the evening was good. We went back and had a good night’s rest.
Wednesday, August 10th, Johannesburg, South Africa
Cullinan Diamond Mine Tour
Today we went to the Cullinan mine. It’s a diamond mine, and it’s still in operation. The mill has 1200 workers. The stock of the mine is divided so that the workers own 12%, Petra ( the mining company) owns 74%, and all its partners own 14% in all.
The biggest diamond ever was found here. It was split into 9 larger pieces, and 64 smaller pieces. The owner of Petra gave the biggest peace to King Richord the III as a birthday present for his 60th birthday present. The biggest piece is called the Star of Africa, and is in the queen of England’s septer. There is also the Lesser Star of Africa, which is in the king’s crown.
Another interesting fact about this mine is that they bring up about 110,00 tons of Kimberlite everyday. Kimberlite is the type of rock that the diamond grows in. 13 tones in each load, and each load comes up in exactly every 52 seconds.
Gluten Free “Pancakes” (South African Style!) for Lunch
After the mine, we went to a really cool lunch place called Harry’s Pancakes. What we had were not exactly pancakes, they were something that in the United States, we call Dutch Babe’s. It’s like a crape, but you eat it with a fork and knife. It was very delicious. I had one with shredded cheese and bacon bits. I also shared a sweet one with mom, and it had Cinnamon and sugar in it.
Cooking Class with a Chef at her home in Joburg
After our adventure in the mines, we took our taxi back. Mom had scheduled a cooking class for us, and someone’s home. Just like the Kaftan experience! This lady was going to teach us how to make a common African dinner. We made a Chakalaka salad, which is commonly eaten with barbecue. We also made Magwinya, which is kind of like frye-bread, but you put stuff inside of it. It was the best. I tried many new foods. Some of them I thought were good, some of them I thought were not so good. I had cow intestines, pork foot, chicken feet, porridge, (which is basically white grits, but a little pasty) and Chakalaka, and Magwinya. The cow intestines were not so great. But the chicken feet and pork feet were kind of good. I loved the porridge.
We had an amazing time there.
After that we went home and had a great night’s rest.
