I really wanted to see the Apartheid Museum ever since I
arrived here and today was my last chance and so the seven of us volunteers
went.
This museum looks at the separation between the blacks and
the whites that was brought about some forty years ago and how then, in 1994,
it was removed by Nelson Mandela. It was
interesting to read about the issues that led up to this segregation and also
how people started revolting and eventually the apartheid was ended. Today, there is still a lot of tensions
because of this. For example, on
Saturday, when we were delivering invitations, I was driving my car and a black
guy was sitting on the passenger’s side.
We heard at least two comments that remarked on the ‘wierdness’ of
seeing white people and black people together.
We didn’t feel endangered at all, but the black people in this area had
never seen black and white people hanging out together.
After the museum, we headed over to the Lion Park. We weren’t sure what to expect there, but
someone had said you could pet baby lions.
When I had gone to Pilanesberg a few weeks ago, I had not seen lions, so
I was hoping to see lions now. And we
did. The lions were kept in small
pastures, with about 5-6 lions per pasture.
However, we could drive around this pasture and so were able to get
quite close to them. These are
magnificent animals.
After seeing the adult lions, we went to the lion cubs and
we were able to actually pet lions. That
was awesome, It was just like petting a
cat – just a bigger and slightly scarier version. I was also able to pet a giraffe and get
really close to an ostrich.
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