Final Day in Africa!

Monday, October 11

We started our final day in Africa at 9:00, with a tour of various areas of Jo-berg, including a “fly-by” of the stadium that hosted the opening and finals of the World Games earlier this summer, a drive down Vilikazi Street, which is the only street in the world that has the residences of two Nobel Peace Prize winners (Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela both lived here at one time), and Soweto (which refers to a combinations of several townships in Jo-berg – a shortened “South Western Townships”).  We also spent time at the Hector Pieterson memorial.  He was a young black man of 13 when he was shot and killed by police on June 16, 1976, during a peaceful march of 16 thousand black school children – a protest to the requirement that all schools be taught in Afrikaans rather than the historical languages of the black people.  That day marked a new beginning to the civil rights movement in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela Bridge

Site of the opening games of the World Cup, and the finals.

Soweto has a population of more than 1.3 million, and a population density of approximately 22,500 per square mile.  (Compare to New York, with a metro population of more than 19 million, but a density under 3,000 per square mile.)

We had a great lunch at Linger Longer, a restaurant that Sarah found in Fodor’s…and that was a great choice!  The owner (and chef) took a personal interest in all of his customers, and the food was a fitting last meal for our African adventure.  (My lunch included springbok and ostrich.)

Typical home in Soweto.

Home to two Nobel Prize winners - Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu

The house where Mandella once lived

This is Winnie Mandela's restaurant

Abandoned cooling towers - Now used for bunge jumping!

(But not by us!)

Hector Pieterson Memorial - Carrying his lifeless body after

the police shooting, with his sister accompanying

Hector Pieterson Memorial

After lunch, we made a short stop at Mandela Square, then a longer stop at the craft market, adjacent to our hotel – Sarah’s insatiable shopping genes had kicked in!   Then back to the hotel for frantic packing.  We headed to the airport around 4:45 p.m., arriving at around 5:30 – rush hour made the journey slower than normal.  Then the usual flurry through check-in, immigration, security screening, etc., and off to home.

With Chef Walter Uhl at his restaurant, Linger Longer

In Nelson Mandela Square

Our airplane home was an Airbus a380 – the largest airliner in the world – a double-decker.  Depending on the configuration, it will transport between 525 and 853 people.  We were on the upper deck, while Sarah and Chuck were in steerage.  We landed in Paris around 6 Tuesday morning, and left on a direct flight to Cincinnati about 4 hours later, arriving around 2:00 Tuesday afternoon.  Then we’re off to Indy.  Welcome home!