At some point during my many ramblings, I may have mentioned that prior to going on this trip, I was more excited at the thought of travelling somewhere than to any place specific. Perhaps because foreign travel had always seemed so out of reach to me in my life, I never dwelled on the details and just daydreamed about going somewhere. Upon hearing about our trip, people would ask which country I was most excited about seeing. Since all of them never seemed to appease the questioner, I usually selected South Africa.
It probably was the most accurate answer. In college, I randomly took a class about South Africa because it was interdisciplinary and taught by two of my favorite professors. It was about seven years after the fall of apartheid, and we studied the country from a political perspective and a literary perspective. When I was done with the class, I thought, I want to visit South Africa someday. But it always seemed so far, so expensive, so foreign, so dangerous. I didn’t really believe that I would go there.
My 21 year old self was practical and didn’t let myself dream so big. Of course, my 21 year old self didn’t know my 31 year old self.
When it came to selecting countries to fill our crazy journey, South Africa was always on the list, even though I didn’t even know what there was to see besides Johannesburg and Cape Town. My 31 year old self forgot much of what my 21 year old self soaked up 10 years ago in the class room. All I could remember was that South Africa’s history is recent, tumultuous, and fascinating. And that I wrote my paper for the class on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was a post-apartheid commission designed to grant amnesty and forgiveness in exchange for the truth. As a young, idealistic pre-law student who was always on the lookout for justice, this was a concept I found strange but gratifying.
So, my jaded, cynical (yet strangely proactive) 31year old self started from scratch in re-educating myself about South Africa. There is much to learn. The country is huge – slightly less than twice the size of Texas. We could have benefited from another week or better planning. We didn’t allocate our month in the country accordingly. We dawdled too long in the beginning, and didn’t really start mapping out distances until almost a week in. The result was that we ended up hightailing it up the coast, skipping Durban, Sodwana Bay, and the Drakensburg Mountains just to make it to Kruger National Park in time for our reservations and our flight out of Johannesburg.
We were never bored in South Africa. It has world class cities and cosmopolitan touches. It has groups of people who still retain their traditional ways. It has natural beauty – mountains, cliffs, canyons, oceans, beaches, flowers, and open spaces. It has wildlife in their natural habitat, many of which we had never seen before outside of a zoo. It has friendly, enthusiastic and vibrant people – always singing, always joking. We saw many hard workers. There may be many poor people, but we saw very little begging, just innovative methods to make money. Just 16 years after the official end to apartheid, the country is still changing and working out the kinks. The all too recent past is fascinating to learn about, especially in the context of the ever changing present.
One man we met from East London said he thought his country is unique. I think he is probably right. It is developed, but still developing. It is unquestionably African, but unquestionably different than the rest of Africa. There are tribal influences, and there are Dutch and British influences. It has whites who consider themselves native Africans, with their own language. It has people who are really, really rich, but it has people who are really, really poor. My mind is always comparing and contrasting. I don’t quite know what to compare South Africa with. I think it stands on its own. I am glad my 31 year old self got to travel there.
Nice post. I know the feeling about always wanting to visit a certain place. We felt that way about New Zealand; it’s exotic, beautiful and far away. We loved it when we finally got there. I’d love to visit South Africa too.
I’m glad your 31 year old self figured it out too.
My 21 year old self knew that great things were possible but it took my 41 year old self to realize it. Better late than never is what I say!!
Asa, I am excited about visiting New Zealand as well – that will be towards the end of our trip.
Gillian, better late than never – so true!
I can’t wait to hear more about South Africa Amy!
What a lovely post. I can’t wait to hear more! 🙂