The Township Tour

Yesterday we went into the townships on the outskirts of Cape Town. They are kind of like shantytown slums where some of the coloured (mixed race...and a politically correct term here don't worry) and black residents were forced to move during the apartheid. We had a tour guide named Thabo who is from a black township called Langa, which means the sun. He brought us to Langa where we started out at the visitors center where pottery, jewelry, and other art created by citizens of the township is sold. We met some of the artists and got to see them work and we even got lessons on how to play African drums, we sounded great, if I do say so myself!

Lunch was at Mzoli's, a restaurant in the township, where we had pap, grilled chicken, lamb, and sausage, it was amazing! Following lunch we walked around the township which was a very moving and educational experience. We went to an African healer who has learned everything he knows from visions passed on to him from his deceased grandfather...we then stopped in one of the huts where women make homemade beer, which we got a taste of - it was very bitter and almost had a metallic taste, I'm not rushing back for more any time soon!

The children who live in Langa are adorable! They were all outside playing and walking around when we arrived and immediately came over to us. They held our hands, sat in our laps, and just loved our cameras! One little girl was on my lap and she just kept playing with my hair, she couldn't get enough of it! The kids didn't speak much English at all but it startling to see that they did know how to ask us for money, even the littlest ones. It appears that the residents appreciate us taking the time to visit their homes to buy their goods and learn about their culture. I feel badly that we foreigners drive into these places as a tourist spot to marvel at the destitute poverty that is their everyday lives...