Johannesburg and Sanctuary Mandela

From Victoria Falls we flew to Johannesburg, where our first tour ended. For four nights we stayed at Sanctuary Mandela, which was once Nelson Mandela's residence, then became his foundation, and now is a nine room boutique hotel. Our room was his renovated former bedroom, and an amazing place to reflect.  There were even a few of his artifacts in the room. 

 

Mandela's vaseline and Calvin Klein cologne

 Mandela with newspaper on his front steps.

Neal with a view of the front steps

 There are many photos of Mandela throughout the house. 

The view from the balcony outside our room.

The food was amazing. Mandela's personal chef continues to work in the kitchen.                                                                 

One of the perks of staying in Mandela's room was that we were afforded a tour of the Mandela Foundation,  now a short walk away. We saw his original Nobel Peace Prize                               

This picture is in Mandela's office, which has been kept exactly as he left it. 

One of the many gifts to Mandela, this one a jersey from Pele.

 

Many people in the US have a fear of Johannesburg, but like any city one just has to take some precautions. Almost every home is behind walls, many with electric fencing  and some with barbed wire on top. This is not a result of current crime and unemployment, which is over 45%  among 15-34 year olds.  The walls were first put up by the colonialists because of their fear of people of color.                                                                                                                                                 

We hired a guide for a tour. We first visited Constitution Hill, the site of a former prison during Apartheid.                                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                         

After the end of Apartheid,  they built the Constitutional Court on part of the site of the former prison. They used some of the bricks of the former prison, to symbolize its transformation from a place that took away rights to a place where rights are protected.                                                                                              

 From Constitution Hill we traveled to Soweto, which includes Vilakazi Street, the only street in the world with the homes of two Noble Peace Prize winners, Tutu and Mandela.                                         

In front of an earlier home that Mandela lived in before he went to prison for 27 years, and returned to  upon his release for a short time.                                                                          

 

                                                               A street seen in Soweto

 We then visited the Apartheid Museum. In order to enter, you are randomly assigned a status of either white or non-white and you enter the museum in separate doors accordingly.     

We recommend Johannesburg as a place to visit and the Sanctuary Mandela as a place to stay. 

Next stop on our tour, Nairobi, Kenya.