Our first night in South Africa was spent at a backpacker's hostel in the outskirts of Johannesburg- it was nice to finally sleep in a bed after a month on the ground in a tent! Although the area was peaceful, Bryan and I wanted to experience a more "authentic" Jo'Burg, so we spent the next day and night in the township of Soweto (population est. 3-4 million people).
South Africa, and Soweto in particular, has a turbulent history- we learned so much while we stayed there. Although much of the travel literature warns visitors about the dangers of Soweto, we figured it couldn't be any more dangerous than Kingston, Jamaica- so we headed into the township. Bryan and I found the people to be friendly, warm, and happy- especially Lebo, the owner of Soweto Backpackers, the only backpacker's hostel in Soweto and one of only a few black-owned hostels in South Africa. During the day we went biking with Lebo through the streets of Orlando East, Orlando West, and the Meadowlands neighborhoods of Soweto. It was great exercise and we talked with locals, visited famous places (Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu's homes, memorials, museums), and bonded with Soweto's locals in shebeens (unlicensed drinking establishments in townships). Lebo introduced us to the township's local brew, which was a strange sour beer made from maize served in big yellow buckets, passed around in the tiny zinc-roof shack of a shebeen. Quite an experience to say the least... Everyone was very friendly with us - I think they were just excited to see white visitors not afraid of a township, so they made special care to treat us well, and taught us to dance to Kwaito music. We really had a great time in Soweto, and were sad to have to leave so quickly, after only one day and night, but we had responsibilities to attend to...
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