Frankfurt and Johannesburg, Worlds Apart

---

Frankfurt and Johannesburg, Worlds Apart

Most Americans like to claim they've visited a country even if it's the result of a layover or transiting between borders on a bus.  People from other countries, especially Europeans, believe this is absurd because in their view a person must immerse themselves in the culture for an extended period of time to truly say they've been there.  I ashamedly admit that we are true red, white and blue Americans in that respect, as we claim our ten-hour layover in Frankfurt as both "seeing" Germany and justification to include Europe on our list of continents we visited.

The immigration procedures are so lax throughout the European Union that it was easier to leave and re-enter the country than to get through security at the airport.  Because of our extended layover, we decided to take the train into the city center and play tourists for a few hours before catching the overnight plane to Johannesburg.  After all, we had to justify adding both a country and continent to our list of places we've been.

It was a typical gray winter's day on March 2, 2009 and very cold.  The train from the airport to the center of the city was, like most other trains in Europe, clean and quiet.  Frankfurt was both old world and modern day all rolled into one.  The oldest buildings were beautifully preserved in the traditional Bavarian style while not far away are modern high-rise buildings.  The city has been an important transportation hub since Roman times.  In addition, Frankfurt is a major banking, commerce and industrial hub for the country.

We walked around the old city center and admired the architecture, but did not partake of the city's many museums, shops or restaurants.  It was the beginning of our next adventure and conserving financial resources was very important.  We made a big circle by walking across two wide pedestrian bridges over the river and back to the train station where we ate before returning to the airport.  And along with our claims of country and continents, we could now say we tried the cuisine as well.

The flight to Johannesburg (aka JoBurg) was long and uneventful.  We arrived the next morning and by then had been traveling for nearly 35 hours.  In addition to the travel time, we were now six hours ahead of the East Coast U.S. and felt like zombies.  We spent several days in JoBurg, which gave us a chance to rest and get acclimated to the change in time zones.  Through a friend, I found a reasonably priced guesthouse in an upscale portion of Johannesburg.  It was only two streets from where Nelson Mandela lives today, and where most of the Embassies are located.  Beautiful tree lined streets with security walls, fences and guards that would make Fort Knox proud.  Keeping up with the Jones meant comparing the height of the walls, voltage of the electrified wire along the top and the number of dogs and/or watchman at the gate.

There were several not-so-subtle cultural nuances we had to adapt to quickly.  The first involved not getting killed by the traffic.  It was the first time during this trek we had experienced cars driving on the opposite side of the road.  Just crossing the street took extreme care and deliberation, as the traffic never seemed to be coming from the direction we expected.  The same was true when walking down the street.  Several times we unintentionally forced people off the sidewalk until we realized the error of our ways.  After several embarrassing encounters on the walkways and an equal number of near misses trying to cross the street, we finally caught on.  Even the escalators were on the opposite side, although that was a little easier to figure out than walking or crossing the street.

JoBurg is a fascinating city with much to see and do.  It was first founded in the mid-1800 as a gold mining town, and giant mounds of debris from the mining process can still be seen throughout parts of the city.   The proprietress of our guesthouse arranged a day tour that took us to the famous township of Soweto and the Apartheid Museum.  Both are fascinating and a must see for anyone visiting Johannesburg.

Soweto was first created in the early 1900s as a place to segregate blacks from the white population.  Today, nearly one million people live there in everything from single-family homes to corrugated metal sheds with blue tarps.  Most residents have to get their water from a common communal facet located in the center of a several block area.  Crime there is some of the worst in South Africa, which sadly means it is very bad indeed.

Apartheid was a form of government practiced by the white minority over the majority of black residents in South Africa.   It began in earnest in the 1940s and was largely an extension of Hitler's views of creating a superior society, less the gas chambers.  Instead the whites developed their superior society on the backs of the blacks and exploited them and the natural resources of this incredibly diverse and beautiful country.  Although apartheid was abolished when Nelson Mandela became President, it is a deep wound that has not yet healed, and will not for several generations to come.

Our next destination was SanWild Rehabilitation & Wildlife Sanctuary, a seven-hour bus ride north of JoBurg in the Limpopo Region of South Africa.  I had contacted founder of SanWild to ask if she was interested in becoming one of our partners.  In exchange, we would feature them prominently on our web site and write blogs about our stay there and promote their work worldwide.  Our 10-day visit at SanWild became one of the highlights of our entire yearlong trek.

And remember, "Travel is the ultimate education."

 

---