Walking in Mandela's Footsteps

I find traveling liberating. It broadens the mind while relaxing and rejuvenating the soul. The destination is not important; it is the journey that matters. I have toured my backyard as well as places abroad with my husband and children as my companions.

My husband played tour bus operator in Mauritius, Kuala Lumpur, and often does so at home in South Africa. So, it is very challenging to be sitting at home for months and months. Family surrounds me, yet I feel trapped and isolated.

However, staying at home has given me time to reflect on my various adventures and discover how I felt about them. I have come to realize that no matter where I go, South Africa is still my favorite destination.

It is a country of stark contrasts. It boasts deserts, wetlands, and the savannah and is flanked by two oceans, the Indian Ocean on its eastern side, and the Atlantic on the west.

As a tourist destination, South Africa has so much to offer from the Drakensberg mountain range to the Kruger National Park, from the natural beauty of the Midlands Meander in Kwazulu Natal to the Garden Route from Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay or the N1 from Johannesburg to Cape Town via the Great Karoo desert.

We also have nine world heritage sites; four natural, four cultural, and one mixed. I am proud to have visited iSimangaliso Wetland Park, Vredefort Dome, Drakensberg, and Robben Island. The rest are still on my bucket list.

I have also discovered that while a vacation is relaxing - basking in the sun and taking in the sights and sounds of the locality - I am more intrigued by the history and culture that makes a place unique.

This is why I spend a lot of time researching places I wish to visit. I love immersing myself in the history and culture of a destination, don’t you?

“Not all classrooms have four walls” - Unknown.

So, while we are still glued to our sofas at home, with no real vacation plans for what may be a long time to come, I want to share some places I visited in South Africa. Since history is my passion, I recommend these places touched by Mr. Mandela, or Madiba as we fondly call him in South Africa.

I have chosen this travel-through-time because today is Mandela Day, and also because he is an international icon. These were all separate trips taken to discover the man – Tata.

I still recall our visit to the capture site. It was a gloomy day. The rain was threatening. We accidentally stumbled upon it while taking the back roads( as we often do) en-route to Durban.

I had not heard of the opening of the museum in Howick. Perhaps, I was out of the country at the time. (Howick itself is known for its beautiful scenery and the ever-popular Howick Falls.)

As a South African, learning how the great man was captured in Howick, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa, in August 1962, is part of learning the history of our freedom from apartheid.

I was excited to catch a glimpse of history that changed the course of South African politics - it was Madiba’s last time as a free man.

My children, who are born-frees and did not live through the apartheid years, benefitted from the exhibition at the capture site and its visitor center. The site is also home to the world-renowned sculpture, “Release.”

This impressive shape-shifting sculpture consists of fifty steel columns, and Mr. Mandela can only be seen when standing directly in front of the sculpture. The Sculpture “Release” by Marco Cianfanelli at the Nelson Mandela Capture Site

Visiting Robben Island is a must if you are following Nelson Mandela’s history. It is hard to get tickets for the ferry that takes you from the V & A Waterfront, Cape Town, to Robben Island.

The queues are typically long, but it is well worth any inconvenience. We were lucky to get tickets on Christmas eve without prior bookings. I recall my cousin was unable to do the same the following year.

It is a poignant yet humbling experience seeing the island on which Madiba was incarcerated for 18 of the 27 years of his life. The island serves as a museum, reminding us of its sad history. It also shows us the power of the human spirit.

It was heartbreaking to see the tiny cell, the floor that was Madiba’s bed, and the bucket that served as a toilet. (And we think quarantine is bad!) Madiba’s indomitable spirit elevated him from prisoner to president.

Unfortunately, my camera failed me on this trip, not surviving the short ferry ride across the Atlantic to the island, probably landing in the belly of a great white shark.

Lastly, as a resident of Johannesburg, and for many tourists, a visit to Vilakazi Street is the highlight of visiting Johannesburg, the economic hub of South Africa.

Vilakazi Street in Soweto is famous for being home to two Nobel Peace Prize laureates: late former president, Nelson Mandela, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Mandela’s house is now a museum.

Many restaurants have flourished in the area, mostly serving traditional food. As I wandered around in awe, my kids couldn’t resist getting a temporary tattoo.

I felt genuinely inspired by visiting these sites. And now that I am stuck at home, I am reading Madiba’s biography, Long Walk to Freedom, again.