Apartheid Museum – Khairoon
In 2001, the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa, opened its doors to its first visitors. To this day, it continues to attract people from all walks of life, from all corners of the world. We visited the museum to get a taste of life during the apartheid era in South Africa and we walked away, after our visit, extremely touched. This museum deals with 20th century South Africa, at the heart of which is the apartheid story. We received our tickets, which were plastic sized credit cards, which said “WHITE” or “NON-WHITE.” We then proceeded to the entrance, where we found two entrances, one for the Whites and the other for the Non-Whites. While Shaunna and Steven entered through the WHITE entrance, Khairoon went through the Non-White entrance. At this point, we could already sense the harshness of the apartheid policy that was adopted by the South African government years ago, to segregate the Black, Coloured and Indian populations of South Africa. Spending a few hours at the museum, we came across large blown up photographs, metal cages and many monitors recording continuous replays of apartheid scenes. We paid particular attention to the metal cages which have blown-up copies of the racially-tagged identity cards, identity books and pass books. In one of the rooms, dangling from the roof were 121 nooses representing the political prisoners hanged during apartheid. It was difficult for us to see this cruel chapter of South African history. This museum is exactly what South Africa needs to tell the apartheid story and to show the world how South Africa has overcome this era.

One needs more than two hours at this museum; you need at least one half day here, to go through every isle, looking at every picture and watch the numerous video clips. Approaching the end of our visit, we saw the face of the new South Africa…Images of the Rainbow Nation. This reminded us of the willingness to forgive but never to forget that is here in South Africa. We walked away feeling educated realizing that the end of our visit marks the beginning of the new South Africa…an apartheid-free South Africa. This museum is a beacon of hope; it shows the world how South Africa is coming to terms with its oppressive past and working towards a future all South Africans can call their own.

Cotlands Orphanage - Steve
Traveling south-west out of the city of Johannesburg toward Soweto we exit at the ramp leading to Gold Reef City, Johannesburg’s version of Canada’s Wonderland. But we are not going to Wonderland. Instead we made our way to a small facility tucked away in a quiet neighborhood where wonders happen on a daily basis…Cotlands.

Cotlands is a South African non-governmental organization that that provides shelter, pre-school education, and palliative care for children who are abused, abandoned, HIV positive and/or terminally ill. For the past two years, Cotlands has been funded in part by the York Region District School Board through the Stephen Lewis Foundation. The funding has been used to provide for the needs of the children at the shelter, namely food, clothing, medical supplies, and school materials. Most recently with the success of anti-retroviral therapy Cotlands has been able to reallocate some of this funding to support community outreach and income generating projects that enable families to better provide for the needs of their children in the home.

Currently the needs include creating an infrastructure that supports the storage of ARV rugs which require refrigeration. This means providing electricity in every home or at least placing a portable refrigeration unit in each home. In addition, there is a tremendous need to deal with the many factors that exacerbate the incidence of HIV, namely poverty, the stigma of being identified as HIV positive, denial of the reality of the problem, the status of women and children, and cultural myths and beliefs surrounding the disease. As a nation-wide organization Cotlands, with the help of local and international volunteers, currently serves approximately 2000 children. The day we arrived they had just received a load of clothing that had been donated. As well, volunteers where opening donation cans that are placed around the city in grocery and convenience stores. It is evident that no source of assistance, be it monetary, volunteer or kindness is overlooked or taken for granted. And yet there is so much more that can be done. As Canadians, we can continue to raise awareness of the global impact of HIV, work to ensure gender equity and human rights, lobby local politicians to meet commitments made by the Canadian government in the fight against HIV…in short become activists for a just and socially responsible world.

Our Travels in South Africa - Steve
As we travel south from Johannesburg on our way to Lesotho the city skyline and suburbs quickly disappear and the plains of central South Africa envelope us. In the distance a storm is brewing and lightening strikes flash against the darkening sky. We have entered a world that could easily be mistaken for our Canadian mid-west. All around us is evidence of cattle ranching…in fact this appears to be the primary form of agriculture in a landscape sparsely dotted with small towns and homesteads. Everywhere we look, the Afrikaans influence is present…the language, architecture, the ordered structure of the towns we visit.  It is understandable what drew the voortrekkers to this part of the country. Its openness and beautiful space is unsurpassed by anything I have yet seen.

This is indeed a special place and the people who live here are special people. Isolated for the most part from the rest of the country, they may be considered South Africa’s pioneers carving out a life in this a hard, yet beautiful place. Moving on to Lesotho, the terrain quickly changes from open plain to almost semi-arid desert. The transition from one zone to the next is dramatic. I don’t think any of us would be surprised to see a lonely cowboy ride down from the flat-topped hills that mark this unique landscape as in the distance the faint outline and spell of Lesotho’s mountains draw us closer.

Bed and Breakfasts – Shaunna
The team stayed at a Bed & Breakfast in Kronstad (a region of the country that is almost entirely Afrikaaner) on route to Lesotho. This particular B&B was a farm in what is known as the homelands of South Africa. It was a typical African farm with lots of blooming flowers, roaming cattle, and wild game close by. The family we stayed with had a lot of house pets including two chocolate labs, a schnauzer, a few cats, and interestingly a meerkat. A meerkat, for those who are not familiar with it, is the character Timon in the Lion King. It turns out that a meerkat makes a great pet. Not only are they loveable but they are also the great snake killers of Africa. For this reason, the farm that we stayed at is snake free. Interestingly, to kill a snake meerkats work in pairs - as one of the meerkats distracts the snake the second meerkat attacks it from behind, striking it in the back of the head. Usually it takes two strikes to kill the snake.

Visa Issues - Ish
Lately, traveling around the world has been more complicated for the average person than it was a dozen years ago. Ever since the 9/11 attacks, and the increased caution due to the threat of terrorism, numerous laws and regulations have been changed that affect the world of international travel, making it much harder to get access into countries such as the United States, Canada, France, England and so on…
From my debut on Expedition Africa, I faced new realities that were unknown to me as an African in terms of gaining access into other African countries; visa related realities, which are unrelated to terrorism. Thanks to the ECOWAS (Economic Community of Western African States, I have been able to travel through borders on the West African coast with no issues for as long as I can remember. On the Eastern and Southern coast of the continent though, it has proved much more difficult to travel freely. My troubles started in Tanzania, where I was almost not allowed passage because as a West African, my visa could only be issued from the government itself in Dar. In Zambia, my West African background was used as an excuse to put a hold on my VISA application. Thus, I flew down to South Africa to join the Expedition Team and bypass Zambia, only to be greeted with similar issues in the Republic of Lesotho.

We are down to the last four days of our Expedition. Our next few days will be spent traveling to Stellenbosch and then to Cape Town, where our Expedition ends. In Cape Town, we will spend a few days visiting some more non-governmental organizations as well as touring Robben Island, the prison where the former President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr. Nelson Mandela, spent many years. But before that, we will spend some time at a Vineyard just outside of Cape Town to learn all about South African winemaking. We will keep you informed with the activities of our last week of Expedition Africa.

Until next time
Expedition Africa Team