|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Johannesburg, South Africa - 2nd September 2008
By: MrsC
I have arrived!
That was a quick journey. I was in full hibernation mode because I expected to be in the mail a lot longer... Fi really had to wake me up before I realised I was here... in Johannesburg... Yay!
First thing she did was take me to Teddy Bear Central to meet Threadbear, what a thoroughly pleasant fellow he is! And Eloise is simply charming...
He said that it will be a while before we get to the Teddy Bear Clinic so he said I should get out and about with the other TVs to see a bit of the country. Fair enough, but for now I need something to eat... I am starving...
|
Posted Sep 2, 2008, 11:22 pm
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
Museum Africa, South Africa - 4th September 2008
By: MrsC
Fi and Vicki decided to take us to Museum Africa so see what it was all about...well it's not about BEARS that's for sure! But I thought I might as well go along and learn a bit about this country...
Wow! It is pretty huge in here, three open plan floors... the building used to be a fruit and vegetable market in the Old Days (you know, when Fi was a kid!)
Well we found some old suit cases, guess we are going on a journey...
The Museum has all sorts of interesting thinks about South Africa on display, like clothing from the REALLY old days (ie. even BEFORE Fi!) like this...
Here is what it says about that display:
There is a huge hall dedicated to the 'Treason trial' that was held in the 1960s at the height of Apartheid. There are pictures of all the accused. One of the most famous:
Nelson Mandela
This is what he said about it in his book...
Each of the accused has a little red book under their photo that people can write comments in... Mandela's is handled so much that it is falling apart... it is filled with words of love and admiration.
There was a lot more to that section but it was all very political so I won't bore you with it.
Next up: life in Johannesburg, before it was Johannesburg...
This is a replica of an Iron Age Tswana house, impressive...but hey they were smart enough to smelt iron (iron melts at 1100°C / 2012°F) over half a century ago!
This is what the smelt looked like, it was made from mud. It was quite a mission to melt the iron and required the efforts of at least ten people just to make one spear blade. It was always done outside the village because it was considered spiritual and mystical.
From the Iron Age to the Gold age! Johannesburg is a gold mining town, still to this day and the mines go down several kilometres/miles.
The managers lived in fancy big houses and ruled with an iron fist. (we are talking late 1800’s to early 1900’s)
The mine workers lived like this...
Pretty shocking, hmmm? They worked long hours in terrible conditions, way underground, then came up and lived in quarters that were almost as cramped as the mines. They were not allowed to leave the property without a 'pass'. Because the miners came from so many different tribes and even other countries, and the bosses all spoke English or Afrikaans - they had to develop a new language called Funigalore so they could understand each other. It is still spoken in the mines today.
Also around this time, shanty towns were developing. One of these was called Sofiatown - it was the birthplace of modern South African music. Sofiatown was raised to the ground; all of the people who lived there were forcefully evicted, to make way for new developments.
Here we are in a replica of a Sofiatown Shebeen (house where alcohol is sold illegally)
This is the back room - see how it is lined with cardboard? This is still how it is done today, I'll show you in a bit...
This is what the outside would have looked like...
Then we moved on to a section which shows you how the shacks look today. THIS is how MILLIONS of people live in this country; often there is no running water or electricity.
The shack is built from 'found' items, usually corrugated sheet metal. Sometimes it is plastered with mud or old boards. It is then lined with cardboard from packaging boxes for insulation. Sometimes this is decorated with 'wallpaper' - old newspaper, adverts, sheets of uncut food canning labels... Cooking is done on a primus stove (fuelled by paraffin). These shacks are TINY and Fi felt very claustrophobic in them. Often you will find the whole place crowded with people living in there...
The good news is that government is (very slowly) building houses for these people, with running water, electricity and other amenities. There is a huge, huge housing project just up the road from Fi called Cosmo City - proof that it is happening.
Now I am sure you have heard of Ghandi (kind of the Nelson Mandela of his day...)
Well he lived in Johannesburg for a while, and the terrible suffering he witnessed and suffered from led him to start a movement for peace, called Satyagraha, which had a massive influence in India, the USA (with the African American Civil Rights movement) and locally.
There were a lot of other exhibits but we were running out of time as it was a long journey back to fetch children from school. Here we all are signing the visitor’s book...
|
Posted Sep 9, 2008, 10:21 pm
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
Tourism Authority, South Africa - 4th September 2008
By: MrsC
Well, after we left the museum, we went across the road to the Gauteng Tourist Information Centre (Gauteng is the province that Johannesburg is in).
Fi went to pick up some brochures of nice places to take ToyVoyagers...
Look who had also popped in! Hi Madiba! (Madiba is the nick name Mandela is known as in South Africa)
And that is the president, Thabo Mbeki, in the middle photo.
|
Posted Sep 9, 2008, 11:03 pm Last edited Sep 9, 2008, 11:09 pm by MrsC
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
Goblin's Cove, South Africa - 13th September 2008
By: MrsC
Fi said she was taking NormaNikkers somewhere really special today and that we could go with, so in the car we got…
We were heading for the Magaliesburg, a mountain range just past Johannesburg.
After a long winding drive through the beautiful hills of the Magaliesburg, and an unintentional detour (yep, we got a little lost), we stopped to turn right...now what does this mean?
This is looking very interesting...
Oh we seem to be going into the woods...lots of little streams and bridges and woven sticks...Norma went crazy!
LOOK! Little people! I wonder if there are any more of them?
Trust her to find them!
We decided to stop off for a drink and a snack.... Norma was way too excited she went to go explore...Bye! We’ll save you some milkshake...maybe...
When she came back she told us we had to have a little look in the room full of fairies…we were a bit big to sit amongst them, so if you want to see more have a look at her travelog.
She found another little house...
...with some family members inside!
Look what we saw in the woods...pretty hmm?
Norma went inside the restaurant, but it was a bit busy to take photos.
She said it was so cute in there! Lots of little nooks and crannies. Some rooms were only big enough for two people and some were big enough for twenty or more. There was a very large upstairs, open air part but it was rather full so she never went for a look. Some of the doors were so tiny Fi had to hold her breath to squeeze through!
The gardens outside were very pretty too, but it has only just turned spring. I am sure in summer it is a lot greener and more lush.
Ahh, what a dreamy place...Norma hasn't stopped talking about it! We should have maybe left her behind....
|
Posted Sep 14, 2008, 8:19 pm
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
|