Soweto Bike Tour

]Today was hands down my favorite excursion of the trip. Our day consisted of a 4 hour, yes 4 hour, bike tour around Africa's largest township, Soweto. As I mentioned in my last post, Johannesburg doesn't have the aesthetic appeal like cape town does. There are no mountains or ocean, but the city still has a lot to offer, especially Soweto. Soweto was the start of it all in the youth's rebellion against apartheid. During the Soweto uprising, hundreds of school children were killed by police officers and they marched in protest against Afrikaans being taught in schools. This was such a problem for them because in higher education mainly English was used. Since black South Africans were only being taught Afrikaans in school, this a took away their opportunity to pursue higher education. During the tour we actually went to the street where the uprising occurred. It was so unreal to me that I was actually there. There was a beautiful memorial there for Hector Peiterson and all the other children who were killed that day.


Also on the tour we stopped in one part of the township and had joburg beer, cow cheek, and pap. Everything was surprisingly good! I loved how we were able to go into some of the establishments in the township. I always try to glance in the shops in Gugulethu on my way home from volunteering but being able to actually see what it was like inside was awesome. We also made stops at Mandela's and Bishop Tutu's houses in Soweto.

Everyone in Soweto was extremely welcoming to us. At one point, a man came up to us and thanked us for visiting the township, saying that "it meant a lot to him at we were there." Riding through the neighborhood, kids would run out of their houses to say hi and give us high fives. I feel like I really got a sense of the culture and dynamic in Soweto and that's why it was my favorite trip thus far.