Utkarsh Rai

Our first impression of the country was of a laid back style by seeing the immigration officers, which reminded us of our immigration counters of past. We reached Cape Point where an arrow pointing “New Delhi 9296 Km” welcomed us. Cape Town first developed as a refreshment station of the Dutch India Company to do business with India. A nearby bay visit was exciting for the kids as they were treated to African Penguins.

We have not read the book “Long walk to freedom” but watching “Goodbye Bafana”, familiarized us with Apartheid. A visit to the infamous District Six, a “Whites only” area, made us think whether mankind had really progressed over millennia.

A native African guide mentioned of a new hope after the end of Apartheid. This was confirmed by the assertiveness with which a native was talking to an Afrikaner (person of European descent), about standing in the same queue and not getting any preferential treatment. Pointing towards me he further added that Indians too suffered during Apartheid. According to another guide who was an Afrikaner, many Afrikaners had sold most of their land to South African Indians and had left.

We took the garden route, where the gardens were missing, to reach the ostrich farm. Ostrich feathers lost out as fashion accessories because of Cars, as the wind blew them away. An invitation to ride an ostrich was turned down by us after seeing its speed.

In spite of many warnings, we visited Soweto particularly the famous Vilakazi Street housing two famous Nobel laureates (Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu). We went inside a Gold mine and got to touch pure gold at Gold reef city.

We then arrived in Zambia to visit the Victoria Falls, the largest in the world. We felt dwarfed in front of it. We saw Zebras and Giraffes as frequently as we see Cows and Goats in India. The hotel served us Puri-aloo and we returned thinking about how Indians had preserved their culture even in such remote places.