1 Day in Johannesburg, South Africa

After spending a few days in Cape Town, I made my way to Johannesburg, South Africa where I would be starting a 27-day camping trip with G Adventures. Before my tour began, however, I wanted to spend a day exploring the city.

Day 0 – Arrival

I flew directly from Cape Town to Johannesburg (or Jo’burg as it is commonly known) on FlySafair, which was a nice enough airline. I took an Uber to the Protea Hotel Johannesburg Wanderers (I decided to spend the night at a hotel so I could get a good night’s sleep before my next adventure). I had heard conflicting stories about safety in the city, so I was extra cautious during my stay. Thankfully the hotel had a restaurant, so I didn’t need to worry about wandering around the city at night.

Day 1 – Soweto and the Apartheid Museum

I woke up early for a half-day tour that I booked through Viator. The guide picked me up from my hotel, and I was joined by a group of women from Atlanta who treated me as one of their own for the day. We started by visiting Soweto (short for South-Western Township), which was a very eye-opening yet surprising experience. As I mentioned in my Cape Town post, townships are under-developed, racially-segregated areas of major cities throughout South Africa.

My tour group for the day

We learned a lot about the history of the township from our guide. People were originally sent to the area in the 1900s to stop the spread of the bubonic plague. This was supposed to be a temporary measure, but more and more residents were housed there throughout the years and Soweto was born. Today, approximately 1.3 million people live in the township.

The infrastructure varied widely from block to block. Houses ranged from nice places costing $250,000 USD to half-finished shanties to everything in between. The township was huge and had a variety of businesses, from small stands to full-sized companies. They even had a KFC! We also visited the Soweto Towers where people can bungee jump.

A less-developed area of Soweto

One of the nicer areas of the township

Soweto Towers

Next, we visited the Nelson Mandela Museum, where Mandela lived from 1946 to 1962. We then visited Hector Pieterson Square, which memorializes a young student who was shot and killed by police during the 1976 Soweto Uprising. The students were protesting because the government had planned to force schools to begin teaching in Afrikaans (a white minority language similar to Dutch). Neither the students nor the teachers spoke this language, meaning that the students were destined to fail their classes. These protests led to greater international exposure of Apartheid and are often considered a turning point in South Africa’s history.

Our last stop was the Apartheid Museum, which was even more eye-opening. The museum does a fantastic job of detailing the history and horrors of the Apartheid era. I could have spent the whole day there, but we only had a short amount of time to make our way through the many exhibits. It was a very emotionally overwhelming experience, but a must-visit if you are ever in Johannesburg.

The Apartheid Museum

Overall, it was a highly emotional and informative day. While I only spent one day in Jo’burg, I was able to see the most important sights and learned a lot about South African history and culture. The city is worth a visit, even if you only have a short amount of time.