We have arrived safely in South Africa! After our 15 hour Paris layover and 10 hour flight we reached Johannesburg at around 10 a.m. local time. Immigration and customs was pretty quick and painless as was getting our luggage. We were met at the airport by our guide and after piling into a gigantic bus with plenty of room to hold all 22 of us, we went straight to a nice shopping market where students were able to find places to eat and buy supplies/snacks/water. There was also a small arts and crafts market where some students browsed and got their first taste of bargaining with vendors.
Then it was on to our hotel where everyone is checked in and comfortably settled in their rooms. The hotel has a couple of restaurants on site so food is close by in case people are still hungry.
Johannesburg (of which we have seen very little so far ) is much more lush and green than I had imagined. It was quite cool today (60s) and as it is 1600+ m above sea-level the air is thinner than we are used to, although not enough to be really noticeable. We drove through what appeared to be a fairly wealthy neighborhood to get to our shopping market. The houses were all enclosed behind walls and fences with serious security systems visible. We saw glimpses of manicured lawns and plants. In many ways it reminded me of residential areas in Karachi but I suspect that it is probably representative of many large cities where extreme levels of wealth disparity exist.
The vegetation is a curious mixture of tropical and temperate. Some of the leaves on the deciduous trees have turned brown since this is the fall /winter season here but then there are also tropical flowers like birds of paradise dotting the landscape.
Tomorrow will be an interesting contrast as we visit the township of Soweto and the apartheid museum. An intense experience for sure.
