A SMALL GUY IN BIG WORLD SERIES: THIS IS AFRICA! (PART II)

As the war of melancholic between the authors of this blog rages on (Wira kept tabs on who wrote more melancholic, of which I don't really understand why), I like to continue writing on my visit to South Africa, in particular the Apartheid Museum (as stated in earlier post as a tribute the great Nelson Mandela).

A self portrait at the entrance of the Apartheid Museum. Red bricks signifying a 'wall' separating
the whites and the colored.

So here goes. The second day of the visit, I was told that we were going to the Apartheid Museum, of which was built as a solemn reminder of the 'colorful past' of South Africa. When the color of ones' skin determined how they should live their lives, when being colored means that dogs were treated better and when the whites rules with supremacy. That was the time of Apartheid, hence the Apartheid Museum.

A series of Nelson Mandela's portrait. The faces of a man who inspired billions to fight against what they believe.

Though the museum was built as a reminder of the past, the designs weren't. It boast of modern arts and design in almost every corner of the place. Without the exhibits, one would think that this is a modern art museum. Most of the exhibits tell stories on the great Nelson Mandela, a story of him since he was young, as a teenager,  adulthood (where most of the fights took place), his life in prison and his presidency (after more than 30 years of waiting). A story of a man who change the history, a man who defied bigger power for what he believed in.

The museum's passageway. Decorated with mirrors of people strolling. A mixture of the whites and
the colored, sharing the space together.

The passageways of the museum was designed as maze, which took me on a little adventure through time. There were complete history of Apartheid with displays, manikins, photos and even a model of Nelson Mandela's cell in prison. The history portrayed how mankind treat one another without any sense of respect, and at one time my head started spinning, unable to compute and understand why we acted such ways. I took the time to thank Allah for the peace and unity in my homeland (Malaysia, I'm a Malaysian and proud to be one).

The Apartheid Museum, a solemn reminder.

Visiting the Apartheid Museum in a away reminds us of how fragile and dangerous the world of men is but yet the story of Nelson Mandela was so inspiring, leading me to believe there are still hope for mankind, hope for the world so that all of us can live in peace, enjoying the awesome place we all call home (yes, I'm talking about earth).

So I'll leave you guys with something to ponder, cheers!

" To know a place, one needs to understand its culture, food and most importantly its people. So take the time to get to know the locals as only then you'll understand the place."

Thanks.

Yours truly,

Kaz

26 Dec. 2013 

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A SMALL GUY IN A BIG WORLD SERIES: THIS IS AFRICA! (PART I)

In accordance with the passing of Nelson Mandela, I was inspired to write about my visit to South Africa, a place I always wanted to visit (especially because I'm a BIG fan of NatGeo). But this was about three years back (so I'll be writing plainly based on my memories), the one that I remembered the most about the trip.

Once landed in Johannesburg, I remembered spreading both my arms and yelled "This is Africa!" (without any guilt or any sense of embarrassment) as I simply wanted to do that. The trip to Sheraton Pretoria was a remarkable one. I had to cross a 'Safari like' area to reach Johannesburg. Can you imagine seeing impalas and wilder beasts even before reaching the hotel? It was simply wondrous. A dream came true.

The dead tree: I took this photo right after the Safari's entrance. The glaring sunlight made it hard to balance up the sky and the bushes.

One of the first destination once the checking in process was finally concluded (a formal G to G visit requires a formal sentences), was the Safari. One can only imagine how I felt then (I'm going full NatGeo on this). So there I was, standing in front of the entrance, with a big smile on my face (I can almost hear my heart pounding).

A self portrait: A friend of mine took this for me and yes, that were wild hogs in the background.

Once inside, I was ushered into a truck by the guide and off we went. Like I said earlier, a dream came true. What you see in NatGeo is exactly what you see here, except it's not from a TV screen more than a thousand miles across the sea, it's right in front of your eyes.

Kwang Soo: Looking back at this photo reminds me of Kwang Soo (a goofy character in Running Man, a Korean show). But there was no Kwang Soo back then, it's just a giraffe. 

As you can imagine, there were giraffes, antelopes, crocodiles and many other animals. I went trigger happy, forgetting to compose the photos nicely (hey, not my fault, too happy). But the harsh sunlight made it quite hard to get the perfect photos. Nonetheless, I was still so darn happy (furthermore, back then, I didn't even own a DSLR yet). All the photos was taken by my Sony compact camera.

Bambi and friends: How I wished the two will run so I can get a dramatic shot of the antelopes in action.

The tour got more interesting when the guide said (in a thick African accent) "Now we go to see lion feeding". I went "Yeay!" and almost knock myself down the truck. So the guide took us into a caged area, complete with barbed wire and men with guns (yes dear readers, lion feeding is dangerous. They sure as hell not gonna let the lions feed on us). Seeing the mighty lions devour the carcasses prepared was a pure adrenaline rush. The sound, the action, the intensity and most of all, the blood was awesome!

A feeding frenzy: The King of the jungle, devouring it's meal, it couldn't care less of the people watching. Why bother? He is the King!

The lion feeding ended the Safari tour and off I went back to the hotel. It was a tiring trip but so satisfying (it's not like I'm going back to Africa any time soon). So a rest for the next big African adventure was in place. The next day I went to the Apartheid Museum and that story will come in my next post.

So keep on travelling, take photos ( a lot of 'em) and enjoy life. Like I always said to my friends:

"Life is short, working 8 hours a day to gain money and not spending it to see the world is a sin as the world is just awesome!"

I'll leave it to that, as something to ponder. Cheers!

Thanks.

Yours truly,
Kaz
18 Dec. 2013

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