Circle Route

We didn't end up staying home for long. We like to take our camper on a trip after school starts and the parks are less crowded. Our time frame and snow in the mountains to the west limited our options. We decided on driving the Lake Superior Circle Route. As the title implies this is a trip around the shores of Lake Superior covering both the U.S. and Canadian sides. There is a Great Lakes Circle route, but other obligations made that impractical. This is a great time to explore this area of the continent as the leaves should be turning and the temperatures are perfect.

Our first stop is at the location of the red arrow.

Our first stop was in Bayfield, WI. This lake side town is about 100 miles from our lake place in Minnesota. We have visited before and had to stop at a local eatery for their great pickled herring and a beer. This is not the pickled herring you would get in a grocery and is prepared locally.

The lingering legacy of Soweto

Soweto is a township, we might label a suburb, of Johannesburg. It was created as a "black" township when South Africa separated blacks and whites when South Africans lived under the divided system of apartheid. My description is simplistic as the labeling of individuals was more complicated. These divisions and the inequities that resulted created a great deal of unrest that the country still struggles to escape. Legislation eliminating divisions does not necessarily remedy the long-term inequities that were created and the country as a whole is still in the process of creating a more inclusive democracy. Areas of Soweto still demonstrate how far large numbers of citizens are from benefiting from the potential of a modern country.

Entrepreneurs find a way under even difficult circumstances. We had a great lunch at a small restaurant/hotel that the Smithsonian tours use to provide a meal while in Soweto. The woman hosting us described the many struggles she experienced to solicit  backers for what has become a successful venture.

One of our experiences in Soweto was visiting the Hector Peterson museum. The museum is named for a high school boy shot during student demonstrations against some of the policies of apartheid. The primary complaint concerned a requirement that courses be taught in Africaans - a language many students did not know. Hector's dead body was captured in an infamous picture widely distributed following the aggressive response to the demonstrations.

We had the opportunity to talk to the now grown women who was Hector's sister (shown in the picture above). 

One of her concluding comments I used in a previous post. She described South Africa as attempting an experiment in democracy. South Africans are quite aware of the present political situation in the U.S. - satellite dishes top even the most humble dwellings. She added that we seem to be still experimenting as well. 

Time to plan for our next adventure. Thanks for reading. We hope you have similar opportunities to explore. 

Elephants

Our friend Stan predicted that our most amazing memory would be the first time we saw elephants. While the elephants were certainly amazing, my favorite memory was when we spotted a couple of painted dogs (wild dogs). We later realized the dogs were more numerous than we recognized and they were stalking a group of impala that explode into flight when the dogs moved in initially running right at us.  I have photos of some of the dogs, but not the moment they attacked the impala.

The elephants were amazing. Here are a few photos. We saw many elephants - from the air when we took a helicopter flight over Victoria Falls, from boats as we cruised the Zambezi, and on several jeep drives. I will include a sample of images below and conclude with a short video as they picked up speed descending toward the river to drink.

Personal sacrifice and commitment to a higher cause

We are probably home by the time you are reading this. I am writing this post on the flight, but I will have to wait for the opportunity to prepare and upload photos.

We spent the morning of our departure visiting Robben Island [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robben_Island]. This is the location where Nelson Mandela and other dissidents protesting apartheid were imprisoned. Mandela spent 18 years on this island.

The version of South Africa with all ethnic and racial groups of equal political status has only existed since 1994. My personal awareness of the conditions in South Africa goes back further than that through a South African born citizen whom I met when he worked at the University of North Dakota. Stan and I shared common academic interests and have remained friends since. He moves about more than we have, but we reconnected after both of us ended up living in Minneapolis. He spends half of his time there and half back in South Africa. I had the opportunity to stay in his apartment when I spent some time at the University of Minnesota many years ago. Stan was in South Africa. Stan collected African art and had a nice collection of South African music much of which was protest music. At that time South Africa was functioning under sanctions as other countries tried to pressure the apartheid promoting government. Tracking his life and times gave me some insight into the peculiar functioning of this country. Now, I have had an opportunity to visit. BTW - Stan and a friend write crime novels set in southern Africa under the pseudonym Michael Stanley. There is plenty of accurate commentary on life in this region as a background for their stories. [http://detectivekubu.com/]

Mandela’s Gold Bird of Paradise

Mandela speech from Cape Town City Hall - https://www.si.edu/object/yt_9DjAXRhz6DA - I have photos of the memorial simulation added to the building.

Trying to understand the significance and recency of the present government in South Africa is a bit of a challenge. It may be something like trying to understand the risks and sacrifices made by George Washington and his peers. The outcome for the U.S. is what we take for granted so being reminded is not a bad thing. It reminds me a bit of the comments of a women we met in Johannesburg what now seems like many days ago. When she was in school, her older brother was shot and killed during a demonstration by high school students. She commented that “we are an experiment in democracy.” She added - “but so are you.”

Unique experiences

An important benefit of international travel is exposure to different ideas about how things can be done. Keep your eyes open and you will discover something new. 

Shopping is an opportunity available everywhere. It may be a primitive craft market in the bush or the upscale version of the same thing in large metro areas. Everywhere you have shopping you have bored and tired husbands desperately hoping there is a place they can sit and pass the time with a drink. Take a few bucks or a couple hundred RAND in this case, keep the purchases made to this point, and pass the time. 

I have to give it up for the South Africans or at least those in Cape Town. They have come up with a husband/significant other waiting area complete with bleachers and free WiFi. If the only had television with 24 hour sports. I suppose if they did it would be cricket or rugby or one of those other sports I don’t understand. The free WiFi is good enough.