South Africa

From Ghana we sailed down the western coast of Africa to dock in Cape Town, South Africa.  South Africa was also a British colony, but it was first settled by the Dutch, and there are still many people of Dutch ancestry in the country.  Unlike Ghana, after independence many of the white settlers stayed in South Africa and they set up a system of segregation called Apartheid.  Apartheid categorized people as "black" "white" or "colored" and each group had designated areas where they could live.  It was a very unfair system, and had many strict rules about what members of each race were and weren't allowed to do.  Many people began to fight against it, and one of the leaders of the resistance movement was Nelson Mandela.  He became leader of the African National Convention (ANC) which was the organization that fought against the unfair treatment of blacks put in place by Apartheid.  It was very hard for them to change the system, and Nelson Mandela and many other people were imprisoned for trying to get equal rights.  Finally in 1991, after Mandela had been imprisoned for 37 years, the government agreed to end Apartheid and grant people of all races equal rights.  On my first day in South Africa I got to visit Robben Island, where Mandela and many other political prisoners were held.  Robben Island is in the middle of Cape Town bay and the prisoners were kept in rooms that at first did not even have beds and got very limited food, sanitation, and medical care.  We were shown around by a former prisoner who had been arrested for joining the ANC, and after the prison was opened to the public, he came back to give tours and educate people about the prisoners' experiences.  It was really interesting to hear his stories and learn about the conditions in the prisons in the 70s and 80s.  

While we were in South Africa I also went on a Safari.  It was really exciting, because I got to see wild animals up close.  We saw lions, giraffes, zebras, buffalo, elephants, hippos, and lots of other animals!  We went out into the game reserve in open-air jeeps and we were able to get really close to some of the animals.  At one point a whole herd of elephants walked right past our jeep!  I had a great time on Safari and got to learn lots about African wildlife.

South Africa is a very interesting country because it has so much diversity.  Some of the areas I saw were very wealthy, while others were extremely poor.  The country has lots of wildlife, and natural areas, while Cape Town is a very modern city.  I enjoyed seeing these contrasts during my short time in South Africa, but it shows how unequal the country is, and how much more work the government has to do to end the inequalities leftover from Apartheid.