My Experiences

When the plane touched down in Cape Town, South Africa, I had no idea what I was about to encounter. I was anxious and tired, but very excited to set off on my journey. Our tour bus picked us up at the airport, and we were greeted by our guide, Lindie. As we took our initial tour of Cape Town, it was impossible to ignore the stark differences between wealth and poverty that exist there. Throughout our various excursions, I would realize this more and more. The city of Cape Town, being a tourist destination, was quite nice. However, during my own explorations through the city, I began to see how people who resided there lived. Many of the smiling people who served us at restaurants, worked in the stores and hotels, etc. did not live in the wealthy portion, in fact, they lived in townships, which were on the outskirts of the city. Houses there were made from everyday materials that people found and put together in order to make a home. The differences in the distribution of wealth within South Africa was very disturbing to me, however, the people there were just happy to have what they had, which was refreshing.