On our third day in Soweto after an already action packed day we went on a short tour in the centre of Soweto called Vilakazi Street. It's packed full of stores and street vendors which makes it a very exciting place to visit. It is also packed full of history and many historical events, mainly leading back to the Apartheid have happened on that very street. However first of all we went to a snake house. Inside a seemingly plain building there was a small monkey and parrot in the entrance before leading onto a larger room full of snakes and other exotic animals. One of my personal favourites was the albino hedgehog which was definitely a new experience for everyone. When it came to the time where we could hold a snake there were only a few volunteers to hold a python over three metres long. ( insert snake photo). After the snake house we started to walk down Vilakazi street. The first place we stopped at was the corner where Hector Pieterson was killed in the 1970s when students protested the use of Afrikaans in their schools. It has been remembered as a momentous event and a huge tragedy in South Africa's history. He was thirteen years old and was shot for being present at a rally that he was not meant to be part of. We then stopped quickly at a street vendor and some people bought small trinkets to remember their time in South Africa and we all also tried a local treat that was like popcorn. After that we walked slightly more up the street until we came to where Nelson Mandela live pre prison and before he became president. We couldn't go inside but it is now a museum and the South Africans respect and live for Mandela is shown in the way they speak of him and what he has done for their country. To finish our tour of Vilakazi Street we went to Bishop Desmond Tutus house where our guide ,Booysie, explained that while Mandela was in prison Tutu fought for blacks to be given equal rights and like Mandela also won a novel prize for his work. Overall it was an amazing visit and I would definitely go back.
Katie Bushell
Katie Bushell