Sunday 29th January 2023
Tour today, but participating not presenting! My great tour guide trainer, Maria Louise, organised a day of uncharted territory for me and it was fabulous.
First up, was a 'coloured' area of Johannesburg, Noordgesig. A resident couple welcomed the 17 of us around their neighbourhood in which they are extremely active. Fabian led the tour and pointed out, wife Lavinia's, art murals and projects dotted around the 1,7km route. We saw Blue Plaques and churches, kids playing, car tinkering, haircuts and Sunday best, but I was very excited when a donkey cart came trotting by.
The first section of the tour culminated with Vetkoek and Ginger Beer at the playpark next to the modern new(ish) library. It was a great experience to walk around unexplored streets to get a tiny glimpse of how the 'Bult' people live.
The next part of our tour was a driving tour through Soweto on part of the main roads through the massive city. The 5 million plus residents are spread out over 200km² so we drove a tiny part past more blue plaques, millionaire row, Nobel Peace Prize homes, monuments of uprisings death and despair, hospitals clinics and malls, shacks and shebeens, churches and worshippers under the trees, finally spending time at a fascinating cultural sight, Credo Mutwa village . The local guide, Lebo gave us a brief overview of the sculptures and the Shaman's philosophy and life which left me wanting to come back for more.
On our return trip we passed the 'father of Soweto' James Mpanza's old home. It was he who fought for more houses for the residents of 1934 Orlando. Stories like these are everywhere in the area and it's great seeing how the community spends time outdoors and on the pavements sociaising. To cover it all in such a short time is impossible but it's a worthwhile experience and I'm really glad that I got the opportunity.
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