Gosh, Africa. Gosh, South Africa.
It’s difficult to convey just how long I’ve waited to make it to Africa. It’s been on my TODO list since forever, and I’ve always felt regretful and a bit shameful that I have not been able to make it. When I finally thought I might, the pandemic hit, and so that had to be postponed. Finally, last year, I was able to make it, very shortly, to get a glimpse of Johannesburg South Africa, on the way to safari adventures in other parts of Africa.
I feel like I have not processed all that I saw and experienced in my short visit. It was interesting, that’s one way of putting it, and perspective changing, to say the least. It confronted me with some realizations of the horrors of what mankind is capable of, and the sensitivities behind what something like skin color can hold. Being a Caucasian white-skin visitor made me feel shame and guilt, and has confronted me with questions about what we were and are doing, and what are ancestors did, in this land to these people. That was later combined with realizations about what we were and are doing, and what are ancestors did, in this land to nature and animals. It has also contributed to me contemplating my own background, my own origins, and what we did and are doing to other humans, nature, and animals, in other parts of the world.
This has been important, but I wish I had more time to think about it all and I could find a way for this to have more impact on my life. I wish I would be braver to actively do more about it, and to address some of the raised challenges, to change some of the many things that were and are wrong.
For now, all I can do is share a bit of my experiences from Johannesburg South Africa. Hope to have an opportunity to share more later…
Location: