1 Day in Johannesburg, South Africa

It has been 3 months since coming back from my 2 weeks vacation & a little birdie told me to update my blog. (Hi there!) So before I start forgetting about all the little details about my trip, let’s get started! It felt surreal to be finally travelling again since Covid happened. I am so grateful for a chance to visit another continent in the world, Africa!

Johannesburg was just a pit stop for us. We had 1 free unplanned day. We’re not so sure about venturing the city by ourselves so we had book our own private tour to Apartheid & Soweto village via our hotel. It cost us $95 per pax (Funny thing is I don’t remember it being this expensive). You can probably get it at a cheaper rate with proper research or via other channels. It was an unplanned free day for us so we decided to just go for it, plus it was pretty last minute. If you didn’t already know, Johannesburg has a reputation of high crime levels, in fact more dangerous than Cape Town.

I did not do any research about Afrikaans history prior to my trip so going for this tour was actually an eye opening experience. Along the way our tour guide shared many stories about their culture. Did you know that Johannesburg altitude is high? They say they lived longer. To find a wife in Africa, a man have to gift cow(s) to the future bride. Along with other random facts which I may or may not have forgotten.

Apartheid museum

📍 Northern Park Way and Gold Reef Rd, Johannesburg, 2001, South Africa

What is Apartheid? It is actually a system created to address racist issues. As we all know, in the past white don’t get along with blacks. There are 7 pillars of Apartheid: democracy, equality, reconciliation, diversity, responsibility, respect and freedom.

They had this ID which defines who they are and where they belong. Did you know that there were a few non-whites whom actually became white? They passed the test by putting a pen on their head & if the pen doesn’t falls off, then they’re white.

Nelson Mandela’s home

📍 8115 Vilakazi St, Orlando West, Soweto, 1804, South Africa

If you look closely enough in the forth photo, you can actually see holes in the wall due to gun shot when Nelson’s home were attacked by the police. In the 7th photo, there are holes on the ground due to the barrier built by Nelson’s wife to protect their children from the gun shots/attack.

Hector Pieterson Memorial

📍 8287 Khumalo Rd, Orlando West, Johannesburg, 1804, South Africa

Hector Pieterson was one of thousands of kids (& youngest) who marched in protest against Afrikaans (anti British) in 1976. The protest became violent and led to days of rioting. Hector was one of the first to be killed.