Monday, June 13, 2016

Sights: Johannesburg, South Africa



As I mentioned in my previous post, I spent last week in the South African cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town. Even though I was there for work and saw more of my hotel than the actual surroundings, it was still pretty memorable.




JOHANNESBURG

I was in South Africa for an energy conference my firm was helping to organize. The conference was in Cape Town but because our headquarters is in Johannesburg, we decided to head there first and work for a couple of days before heading to Cape Town.




I pulled out my beloved Aqua by Aqua flasher jacket which I haven't worn on the blog since 2012 HERE. It was actually being held hostage but luckily it was liberated just in time. Wore it over my TNL scuba dress, seen HERE. for my first day of work in Jo'burg.




Didn't get to see as much of Jo'burg as I wanted because I was in the office pretty much all day. The least I could do was head out to dinner every night after work.

On my first day there, we had a Team dinner at a restaurant called The Butcher Shop and Grill in Mandela Square.



....where I had, I kid you not...the best ribs I've veer tasted in my life. They were the juicy, fall of the bone type the guys over at Eat Drink Lagos are always searching for in Lagos. This thing was like the size of my arm and perfect from start to finish. I highly recommend this restaurant if you're ever in Johannesburg. Absolute quality.



The next day was another work day, and again was in the office till very late.


Managed to get out and have dinner at a restaurant called Trumps, in Mandela Square again. As usual, the food was amazing, the wine was amazing, the people were amazing, the banter was amazing. Honestly, at this point it was starting to get a bit boring how lovely everything was.

The next day we planned a tour of Soweto, but since we were leaving for Cape Town that afternoon, there was no time for the full tour, so we just visited the Apartheid Museum.




The tickets we were given at the Museum classified us into "whites"or "non-whites and part of their shtick was to give white people "non-white"tickets and give non-white people "white"tickets.



and we had to pass through the entrance stated on our tickets, so I went through the "white"entrance.






To say what we saw in that museum was harrowing is an understatement. It evoked in me the same feelings I had when I visited the Holocaust Museum in New York last year HERE. Even with all the physical evidence in front of me I find it so hard to believe that human beings can be so evil to each other, without any provocation.

It boggles the mind.





This panel photo seriously freaked me out.



As the guide explained to us, sometimes an inter-racial family could have children who looked like different races. For instance, if it was one black parent and one white parent and they had 3 kids; they could have one child who looked white, another who looked black and a third who looked coloured. According to Apartheid, all three children would not be allowed to live under one roof because they were considered different races so the family had to go before the panel to prove all three children were from one race. If that couldn't be proven, they'd have to  convert races, basically try and prove that the black child was coloured....or vice versa, just to be able to live as a family.

I saw Sarafina and Invictus, read Wilbur Smiths books and thought I knew Apartheid.

I knew nothing. It is even more amazing to realize how recent it was, up to the early 90s. This isn't the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust or the Vietnam war of decades ago. People my age lived under Apartheid.

Madness.

We weren't allowed to take picture inside the core of the museum, only the entrance and the final exit.





So much went on that I have to split South Africa into two posts. Will blog about the Cape Town leg of the journey in my next post.


Love and Light xx
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14 comments

  1. Yaayy! I have refreshed your page like kilode, I really enjoy your posts, allow me to live through your experiences, my life can like to be a little boring, even your work sounds like fun.....lol. The apertheid museum must have been a life-changing experience....all those things we saw in Sarafina actually being confirmed. Thank goodness we are way past all that now. Do have fun, and please keep the posts coming....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I'm so sorry for the gaps in posting, honest to God, everything is in such a WHIRL!

      The museum was seriously crazy, my Team and I were so depressed when we left it that day, completely messed up our moods. Thank goodness all that's over and done with in some fashion.

      Delete
  2. You look really beautiful, love your makeup and you seem truly happy. Thanks for sharing pictures of the apartheid museum.

    www.wurassecrethair.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Saks first of all your makeup is FIRE!
    I decided to check up on you today as i had to sneak out to have some me time. As much as i love my new baby to bits, me time was needed. I would love to visit South Africa one day. I don't think I would hv the balls to visit the museum tho, I'd bawl my eyes out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Been loving your baby pictures on IG, please keep them coming :)

      Its a really lovely country, I don't know why it took me so long to go there.

      Delete
  4. Madam World Traveler!

    I feel like the only Nigerian who isn't interested in visiting South Africa :-S

    Berry Dakara Blog

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're not alone Berry. There's just nothing about SA that inspires me to visit. Maybe it's coz of the multiple drama between SA and Nigeria.

      Daks girl!!! You gorgeous thang!!! I need lessons on this wing thing.

      Delete
    2. That used to be me o, didn't get the hype at all. It has to be seen to be understood though, it just has such a cool vibe, the culture is ridiculously rich and the South Africans themselves (the ones I met anyway), are super cool. Plus restaurants are crazy affordable with excellent food. What's not to like?

      Thanks guys!

      Delete
  5. Great post,thank you Im in SA this summer doing Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg

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  6. So as a comment on your previous post, I mentioned how I was in Jo'burg the week after you left, for 2 weeks. It was beautiful!!
    You eat in the best restaurants and the meals are totally affordable for such great quality. My friend kept saying the entire meal we had at a particular restaurant at the top of the mall in Nelson Mandela square was cheaper than a plate of salad at Eko hotel. I'm like dude, we're paying for their diesel usage in Nigeria then :(
    Eish, some people got to split a family based on their skintone? Ugh
    You look gorgeous. This your new makeup game ehn. Loving it

    ReplyDelete
  7. So as a comment in your previous post, I mentioned how I was in Jo'burg the week after you left for 2 weeks. It was beautiful!!
    You eat in the best restaurants and the meals are totally affordable for such great quality. My friend kept saying the entire meal we had at a particular restaurant at the top of the mall in Nelson Madela square was cheaper than a plate of salad at Eko hotel. I'm like dude, we're paying for their diesel usage in Nigeria then :(
    Eish, some people got to split a family based on their skintone? Ugh
    You look gorgeous. This your new makeup game ehn. Loving it

    'Fre

    ReplyDelete
  8. Girrrl that last picture! Your makeup's always so on point.

    May I ask the eyeliner you use? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Girl, Your outfit is on fleek! It's horrible what people went through during the apartheid, and cringe worthy to think that it occurred up till the early 90s.



    Whenever you can, I will love you to visit my blog www.lilyofnigeria.blogspot.com and tell me what you think of it.

    ReplyDelete

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