SA
So it's back to the African continent and - as always - I wonder why it took me so long to get here and how soon I can come back. We arrived in Johannesburg after a very long and uneventful flight and the staff at our hotel here has been very kind. Altogether, I'm on my fourth variety of South African wine, all of which have been delicious! I may need detox by the time I get home.
Mom and I head back to the airport tomorrow for a flight and then a 2 hour drive to our safari lodge. We'll be at a relatively small private park with iffy Internet access so the blog posts may be a bit scanty.
I watched Invictus on the plane which has set the stage for what I imagine will be an unsettling travel experience. In Kenya and Ethiopia, poverty stared you in the face. My white skin generated curiosity, a desire to know more about me, my country, and maybe even a promise of opportunities ahead - how else could you explain all the marriage proposals?!
South African history followed a different course. Ethiopia was - quite proudly - never colonized. In Kenya, colonialism was eventually abandoned and many of the white rulers left the country when power was ceded. In SA, the Dutch colonists were driven inland by the British and both groups initiated a centuries-long program determined to marginalize and impoverish and enslave the African majority. Apartheid was the just the culmination. It destroyed the education system for Africans and took away the upper and middle class. By the time Mandela was released from prison and was elected as the first democratic president, damage had been done that will take generations to correct. Apartheid may be over in name but it's effects are here and - most disturbingly - quite hidden.
So as a tourist, going on safari, staying at nice B&Bs, drinking my delicious wine, which South Africa will I see? Desperate poverty is here, but tucked away in townships, away from the airport and safari lodges. Great need is here, but not where a tourist could see. Rather than a curiosity, even in my lifetime, white skin has been the embodiment of oppression.
We're having a great time. People are so friendly. The hotel is really lovely. I'm very lucky to get to safari and take planes and enjoy delicious food. But I do feel the pressure of history, like a person watching me unseen, a subtext in all of my activities here. I wonder how I can pay tribute to the centuries of struggle and oppression that have occurred and shaped SA to the country it is today.
Mom and I head back to the airport tomorrow for a flight and then a 2 hour drive to our safari lodge. We'll be at a relatively small private park with iffy Internet access so the blog posts may be a bit scanty.
I watched Invictus on the plane which has set the stage for what I imagine will be an unsettling travel experience. In Kenya and Ethiopia, poverty stared you in the face. My white skin generated curiosity, a desire to know more about me, my country, and maybe even a promise of opportunities ahead - how else could you explain all the marriage proposals?!
South African history followed a different course. Ethiopia was - quite proudly - never colonized. In Kenya, colonialism was eventually abandoned and many of the white rulers left the country when power was ceded. In SA, the Dutch colonists were driven inland by the British and both groups initiated a centuries-long program determined to marginalize and impoverish and enslave the African majority. Apartheid was the just the culmination. It destroyed the education system for Africans and took away the upper and middle class. By the time Mandela was released from prison and was elected as the first democratic president, damage had been done that will take generations to correct. Apartheid may be over in name but it's effects are here and - most disturbingly - quite hidden.
So as a tourist, going on safari, staying at nice B&Bs, drinking my delicious wine, which South Africa will I see? Desperate poverty is here, but tucked away in townships, away from the airport and safari lodges. Great need is here, but not where a tourist could see. Rather than a curiosity, even in my lifetime, white skin has been the embodiment of oppression.
We're having a great time. People are so friendly. The hotel is really lovely. I'm very lucky to get to safari and take planes and enjoy delicious food. But I do feel the pressure of history, like a person watching me unseen, a subtext in all of my activities here. I wonder how I can pay tribute to the centuries of struggle and oppression that have occurred and shaped SA to the country it is today.
posted by Imle at 12:19 PM
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