Can't Wait to Leave Joburg!

Joburg is a city I kind of wanted to leave as soon as I got here. It's an ugly city, and everyone talks a lot about the crime - where it is safe to go, where it isn't, the safe way to get there, etc. Luckily tomorrow I'm out of here and heading to my first safari in Kruger Park.

So what did I see around here? Yesterday I did a "tour" (run by my not-so-sweet hostel, and tour is a stretch) that started in downtown Joburg and headed to the Carlton Tower. This 50 story building is allegedly the tallest in Africa. Our guide talked about all the places in downtown that are going to be ready by the World Cup in 2010. I didn't see any scaffolding anywhere. Good luck with that Joburg. I took some pictures of the stadium from the tower, but since I'm staring at a big sign warning me not to download anything, you'll just have to take my word for it.

Next, we went to Soweto, the biggest township in the area. It was, well, uncomfortable. Standing on a block surrounding by metal shacks, being told about how they finally have long drop toilets, while small children beg for change... and then our guide asking for money. It is shocking how a city so developed can't manage to get toilets to these people.

Then I went to a couple museums, including the Apartheid Museum. This was interesting. Not really time to tell you about all the details, I'll summarize with a few things I learned.

• The interrogation of death of Steve Biko, which was a very informative look into the brutality of Apartheid.
• This political party exists: SOCCER (Sports Organizations for Collective Contributions and Equal Rights)
• Load sharing. This means the power went out in the middle of my wanderings through the museum, as power is becoming in short supply. Thus, to conserve, the government simply shuts down power to certain areas at various points in the day. Who loses power when changes every couple weeks, so no one ever really knows when they will be in the dark.

I also learned that South Africans call traffic lights "robots", which I find hilarious.

Today I went shopping, and had some adventures, but my Internet time is short, so you will just have to keep checking the Pink Hippopotamus for more updates soon! After my safari for sure!