I remember reading a very interesting review of a day spent in the townships while in Capetown and I can't find it anywhere. Can anyone remember who did it and where it might be posted? Only 2 yrs. away but I keep thinking about that log - it was quite indepth.
Hope someone can direct me --

Jan

The ones that these people posted about were done by Paul of Bishops Court. He does not do tours unless you are staying there. He is the owner of Bishops Court not a guide. Bishops Court is a B&B that some stayed at when they came in early. Only has five rooms.

However, the township tours are similiar and we did one on our first trip. We can book that for you through K&D or you can do it through the hotel or set up your own private guide. You have a free day to do these types of things.

There are also Soweto tours in Johanesburg which are excellent.

Can you explain to us what these tours are ?
Thanx.

Claudia, sent you a private message, but the best township tour I researched is given by Selwyn Davidowitz, in fact Marcie and Olivia had booked with me for ROAR, alas, Marcie and I dropped out..Olivia did not use him...you can find him on the fodors board for SA...r/wes

ps..website:

www.ilovecapetown.com

Hi Claudia and Jan! Ray and Penny did the township tour in Capetown with Paul one day; Gary and I did it the next day. It ran about three hours including travel time. Cost was on the order of $50 US per person; Paul gave part of that cost directly to the township community leaders.

We visited two of the black townships on the tour: the first one, Langa, is the oldest township in the area. The second one, Khayelitsha, is the largest township in Cape Town and is home for somewhere between 500,000 and 1 million residents. The living conditions are so cramped it's hard to describe.

We stopped first at a traditional healer's pharmacy and consultation office. Next, we stopped at several craft markets where we bought handicrafts directly from the residents who were working on the items while we were there. Prices were about what we saw at the greenmarket in Cape Town. We also visited a preschool where the children sang for us and we were able to talk with the headmistress.

There was a stop at Miss Vicky's B&B, where we could go in and see a township home from the inside. Miss Vicky has two rooms for visitors who want to experience life in that community. The townships are spotlessly clean despite the cramped living conditions. Residents dress modestly. Addresses in the townships are limited to the quadrants defined by the closest electric service pole. This tour was one of the most remarkable parts of our ROAR trip.

If you can rent the movie "Tsotsi", you'll get a good idea about the living conditions and the tremendous contrasts amongst and within the ethnic groups in South Africa today.

The best advice we got (and did not follow) was to read "The Covenant" by James Michner before we came to South Africa. It is enormous (the paperback we borrowed was 1400 pages). We read parts of it on the train after having seen the townships. It is extraordinary and helped us better understand South Africa's history and challenges.

Here's a link to a short history of Khayelitsha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khayelitsha

Cheers, Anne

Col Wes, I have Selwyn booked for a day on the WC in January and we're visiting a township.

Marice, great, know from the wonderful reviews and Selwyn's communication with me, ya'll will have a great, educational, cultural, time..pls give him my regards and have a blast..r/wes

ps..think anne's recommendation to watch Tsotsi
is a good one too.

Thanks so much for the information about the township tours. The tours that y'all did with Paul were the posts that I was remembering. It sounded very interesting and I am going to have to do some reading - I'm ashamed how little I know of the cirucumstances. The tour through "I Love Capetown" sounds excellent and I certainly agree that I don't want the "zoo" feeling. Have lots of time to delve into that, but I was very interested in the township situation. Guess I better start reading "The Covenant" - it may take me 2 years - Michener is so slow. I keep thinking I read it years ago, but certainly retained nothing. Thanks again for your help - so much to look forward to and so much to learn.

Jan

There are so many more interesting things to do around the Cape Town area - the winelands, the Cape of Good Hope/Boulder Beach, Table Mountain, Robin Island, Camps Bay and Kogelbai, and the city itself. Wouldn't waste my time with the townships unless you're really into poverty. Most living there are illegal Nigerian immigrants anyway.

Claudia, we had an all day tour of Johanesburg and Soweto (South West Township). First, we were taken through the history of Johanesburg and how apartheid changed the area. We were given glimpses of what Johanesburg was like during these times from both a black and white perspective. We visited the older, elegant communities and the new surburban developments as well as the urban wasteland that is now downtown. Unfortunately, the apartheid museum was closed. The second portion of the tour was of Soweto. First, we learned about the history of Soweto and were driven through this vast township, where homes range from shacks to lovely middle class homes. We were taken into several different museums, visited Mandala's home, and visted a poor area of the township, where we were allowed into a home and to talk with the townspeople. We came away with a true appreciation of the early growth, change, decline and new change in Johanesburg and its people. It was a chauffer driven, private tour and very reasonable. We found the tour interesting, loved our guide and came away with a better sense of South Africa than we did in the Capetown area, which was ever so elegant. However, we did not take the tour Anne/Gary/Penny/Ray took in Capetown, of which they only had positive things to say. It seems this tour gave them the same insights that our tour of Johanesburg gave us. Soweto is so intertwined with the history of Sth Africa, I would say it is a must see. It wasn't depressing but more attitude evolving.

I would certainly recommend a visit to Johanesburg for a day or two to take this tour. It is not beautiful and we were very aware that there was a dangerous undercurrent. The armed guards at our hotel gate were the first indication. However, we loved our hotel,the Westcliff, and enjoyed the food and the people we met there and are richer for our day in Johnanesburg.

I would like to return there and see the museum, the diamond and gold mines and see more of Soweto.

Thank you all for the info...

Whether to do a township tour or not is a very personal decision. We all beat to different drummers and you just have to decide if you want to do this or not.

I would highly recommend reading, "The Covenant", as Ted recommended to us ROARers. We were so glad we did prior to ROAR. It's quite a story & worth trying to understand. - Michele

We have friends who have been to CPT several times and have helped us find a guide for our few days there before Segment 2 of the '07 WC. They suggested when doing the township tour (which we are doing and its been VERY highly recommended) is to bring little things for the children at the school, such as stickers/pens/post-its/notepads, etc. or any little thing you can get at the $ store that doesn't take up a lot of space in suitcase. They said that the kids absolutely went crazy over such generosity! Amazing what you can do! Linda & Larry

Linda & Larry, they really do appreciate the little things you bring to them. We all brought good things for the kids in the village where we were invited to tour near Singita. We gave them to the Principal. They sang songs for us & greeted us so respectfully. (No hands were out.) Just performed their little hearts out for us. Hope it's an equally good experience for you in the Cape Town townships. It was an experience that truly touched our hearts! - :) Michele

The township tours in Cape Town are quite different to the village tours in the bush that Michelle is talking about.

However, children are children and they all really do love those little things that we can bring. Stickers are a great idea. Pens and crayons those types of things are also very much appreciated.