Flying Solo in Joburg

You never really understand what it is like to be travelling alone until it happens to you. Yesterday afternoon I sat in the bar with three perfect strangers for four hours, barely saying a word the entire time, I watched an entire rugby game on TV for the first (and possibly last) time in my life. It seemed that everyone I met at the hotel was starting their African journey, while mine was coming to a close. After dinner I retreated to my room and spent two hours in the bathtub watching a movie. Time seemed to be at a stand still, even compared to sitting in the Ele-truck for hours on end. I also spent hours trying to decide whether or not to spend every last cent I had on a day trip into Joburg, or whether to spend a miserable day alone at the hotel. I would have nine hours to kill after I checked out of my room if I had chosen the later. I eventually made the choice to explore the largest township in South Africa, Soweto.

I was up at 8:00am this morning to make sure I had everything ready before I headed out at 9:30am for my day trip. After eating breakfast and packing myself a lunch, I checked out of the hotel and awaited my tour guide. The drive to Soweto clearly established the line between the upper, middle, and lower classes. I was blown away by how quickly the housing landscape changed as our drive took us closer to Soweto. We even passed communities that were still only “white communities” by regulation. Soweto was originally established as a housing area for the rural workers hired to work in the mines surrounding Joburg. The massive piles of soil can still be found in Joburg, as well as the same-sex hostels that were once used to house hundreds of men. Once a shanty-town, Soweto is now a well-developed area with thousands of houses.

The first stop we made was to the Hector Peterson Museum. Henri Peiterson was the first victim of the Soweto uprising in the late 70’s. He was twelve years old when he was shot and killed during a university march. The museum highlighted the events that took place in the years surrounding this event. I spent an hour or so in the museum reading through the history and viewing photographs. My next stop was Nelson Mandela’s house. The house became the Mandela House Museum in 2009 after it was restored to its original condition. I was given a brief history of the Mandela family and a tour of the house and yard while I was there.The rest of the day went fairly quickly, I had a chance to visit the church that played a huge role in providing a place for secret revolutionary meetings to be held, as well as visit a cultural village.

The last stop of the day was to one of the largest malls in Joburg, situated in Soweto. The mall had two stories and words can’t describe how massive it was. My guide took me inside and I can confidently say that I was the only Caucasian in the mall that day. I couldn’t help but wonder how out of place I looked and was also slightly nervous about being plunged so quickly into the minority position. I have never undergone such an experience in my life, or at least not by myself. Being a Sunday, the mall was bustling with shoppers and every store seemed to be packed with customers.

By the time we returned to the hotel it was 2:00pm. I had originally arranged for the hotel shuttle to take me to the airport at 4:00pm, but I decided to leave at 3:00pm seeing as I didn’t have any reason to stick around. I was through security and into duty free heaven by 4:30pm.... it is now 6:45pm, my flight boards in an hour. I have managed to snoop through every shop here in the airport... twice or maybe even three times... and finally decided to find my gate and relax for awhile. I have been going over the past seven weeks in my head continuously the last few days. I still can’t fathom the fact that by this time tomorrow I will be home. I will board this flight and be gone, just like that. I have developed this sense of urgency to get home, go back to school, graduate, and get on with my life. As if time hasn’t passed fast enough, and after discovering even more possibilities for my future, I can’t wait for my “responsible” life to begin.

At 7:30pm I will board my flight... and oddly enough I am sitting in the same seat as before (weird), the plane will take off at 8:20pm and the eleven hour flight to Heathrow (my most favourite airport in the world... clearly) will begin. Canada, get ready, here I come.

The Journey Home Begins

The first time I rode in the front seat of the Ele-truck, behind Heike, was when it was finally my turn to leave the Pongola Game Reserve. I had never realized the view was so different from my usual spot at the very back, beside the spare tire. As we made our way toward the front gate where I was to be picked up, I viewed the reserve for one last time. The landscape is breathtaking. It had been sunny that morning, creating a faint glow over the waters of the Jozini Dam, the vast mountains formed an amazing backdrop in the distance, and the thickets and floodplains were quivering due to a light breeze. After seven weeks of enjoying the PGR, it was time to go home.

My official last day before I left had been one of the best days of my entire stay. Heike had arranged for us to take a boat cruise on the lake and the weather was perfect for it. After collecting data on Ntini and OJVM2 that morning we made sure to be back at the Loose by 2:00pm for pickup. Warren took us to the jetti where our boat awaited us. The weather was amazing and warm enough to wear shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops. My feet hadn’t seen daylight in weeks! For the first leg of the trip we headed east towards the river that cuts across Mpalane. We had brought our scan and focal sheets with us in case we were lucky enough to see the elephants on the shoreline. As usual, the elephants didn’t cooperate, but we did manage to see dozens of crocodiles, hippos, ridiculous amounts on birds, as well as any antelope species that were on the shoreline. I managed to really out do myself in terms of taking pictures, during the trip I was deleting older photos to make room for the 350 pictures I somehow managed to take. By the end of the cruise my eyes were aching from the sun’s glare on the water and the vision in my right eye was fuzzy. Obvious indicators of a successful trip!

We were back in camp by 5:30pm and I rushed to finish up a few things that I had left to the last minute so I could focus on packing. Packing turned out to be a challenge. I had decided to leave behind as much as I could to clear up some room in my bags. Unfortunately, my packing skills have decreased and I struggled to make fewer things fit one last time. By 9:30pm I was almost finished and joined Lydia, Kirsti, Heike, Sarah, and Lionel by the fire for one last night. We enjoyed glasses of Amarula, vodka jello, and popcorn. Compared to other send-offs it was much quieter, it was perfect. Lydia, Kirsti, and I managed to stay up until 1:30am discussing the past weeks, elephants, school, relationships, the whole works. By the time we called it a night I was struggling to keep my eyes open. After getting ready for bed, I found Tiny in my room, already curled up at the foot of my bed. The last sleep I had at the Loose Mongoose was dreamless.

I was expecting my transport to arrive at 8:15am yesterday morning to take me to Joburg. I was up at 7:00am to shower, make breakfast, and finish packing. Heike was going to drive me to the front gates of the reserve to meet the transport. At 8:25am I had loaded all my things into the Ele-truck and was ready to say goodbye to everyone. Finally being the person to say goodbye was strange. I had been at the Loose long enough to have said goodbye to numerous amounts of people; being left behind has turned out to be incredibly different from leaving someone behind. I said goodbye to Tula and apologized for causing so much havoc, gave everyone a hug, and before anyone (including myself) got too emotional, I headed for the Ele-truck and hopped in. The transport vehicles pulled up at 8:35am and none other than Eva came hurdling around the front of the vehicle. The transport had been travelling from Mozambique and was picking me up on the way to Joburg. I said goodbye to Heike and told her that I would be seeing her again, I didn’t lie. I may have found my calling here and hopefully will make it back someday.

The first three hours of the drive went by quickly. Eva and I caught each other up on the things that had been happening in Mozie and the PGR. It was nice to see a familiar face and we arranged to stay in the same hotel together. By 5:00pm we had finally made it to Joburg and spent a few hours at the airport exchanging money and waiting for a shuttle to pick us up. By the time we made it to the hotel Eva and I were exhausted. We had a quick dinner and enjoyed a drink at the bar before heading back to our room for the night. The room I am staying in now is larger than the one before and is even equip with a bath. If I can manage to find bubble bath in town today I have found something to do tonight when Eva has left for home.

So many things have happened in the last eight weeks; going home seems like an odd concept. I know that life has carried on at home while I have been away and will continue on as normal when I get home. South Africa will become a memory and will be represented by the images I have managed to capture in photographs and the stories and people I will never forget.