Justine Shapiro and Sami Sabiti return to South Africa to see how much the rainbow nation has changed in the decade since the end of apartheid.
They start their journey in beautiful CapeTown where they explore the beaches and its gay district before heading to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, and experiencing a healing sangoma ceremony in a black township on the city’s outskirts.
East of the city, Sami samples the wines of the Stellenbosch, while Justine visits an ostrich farm and attempts to ride one.
In central South Africa, Sami descends into the diamond mines of Kimberley, while back on the coast, Justine experiences the extreme Hindu festival of Kavadi in Durban which is home to South Africa’s Indian and Pakistani population.
Sami heads far north to Thohoyandou where he hooks up with the Venda people who are renowned as the country’s most skillful artists. He helps them paint their huts and make their drums while Justine takes a safari in what’s probably the most famous game reserve in the world – Kruger National Park – home to the biggest variety of animals in Africa.
They reconvene in Johannesburg where Sami meets Winnie Mabaso who runs a kitchen for AIDS orphans and provides care for her local community. Then it’s off to the Gumboots Miners’ dance at the Gold Reef Mine and visiting the Apartheid Museum, a lasting monument to the new South Africa.
They finish their journey in the Soweto township which is home to the only street in the world that two Nobel Prize winners lived on; they visit a shebeen (drink joint) and Justine visits the nanny she had as a child growing up in South Africa.
Credits
WITH THANKS TO:
DONATIONS TO WINNIE MABASO:
Sadly, since the making of Globe Trekker South Africa 2, Winnie Mabaso passed away in January 2007. The people whose lives Winnie touched were devastated at the loss of such an extraordinary woman. However, the Winnie Mabaso Foundation is continuing the work she began, not just to honour her legacy but to maintain and provide a refuge and a safe haven for the children of Finetown, South Africa.To find out how you can help – and for more information contact:
The Winnie Mabaso Foundation*
78 North Road
Glossop
Derbyshire
SK13 7AU
W: www.winniemabaso.org
E: winniemabaso@hotmail.co.uk
* A UK registered Charity (1116037) set up to care for the AIDS orphans in South Africa
Places Mentioned - South Africa
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