Thoughts

When we landed in Capetown the views from the tour bus were breath-taking..even after 17 hours on an airplane. It didn't seem possible for a place to be that pretty but it was. I think it was strange to believe that a place so serene could have been home to years of political strife and violence. In a way the time spent in Capetown was amazing, beautiful, almost like a vacation aside from the trip to Robben Island, and a few other key trips in the area.





However, the comfort of Capetown was replaced by the eeriness of Jo'Burg.


Much of the city was filled with abandoned buildings and hotels, previous signs of a booming economy. However, no one seems to see Jo'burg as a kind of Capetown today and therefore buildings are left empty shells of their former selves. In an issue of entitled "Work" (a literary magazine based in the US), there was a section on Jo'burg and how many attempts have been made to make high-end apartments etc to encourage people to want to live there again. But parts of the area are extremely prone to squatting and vandalism--and so many of the projects have been stopped and money has run-out on these attempts.

With the World Cup around the corner it is clear that the area and the country as a whole is really hoping people see what South Africa has to offer and that this will be a leg up for the economy. I think we'll have to just wait and see what happens but I think it will take some time for the country to recover post-Apartheid.