South Africa - Impressions

My time in South Africa was too rich and varied to describe briefly.... and travelogues in the style of „first I was there, then I was there“ are boring anyway. So I will leave it at a few impressions.

Landscape - Both the unspoilt nature and the cultivated landscapes - such as the magnificent vineyards - are fantastic. Almost every corner will leave you speechless because it is simply so beautiful. And seeing animals that you only know from the zoo, such as baboons or spectacled penguins, up close is quite something!

Lifestyle - There is no sign of apartheid - at least on the surface. People of different skin colours obviously work together in a relaxed manner at workplaces. At a birthday party I attended, the guests were a colourful mix...from light pink to deep black - twenty years ago, a party of this composition would have been impossible. I was very touched by this...also because I had read a lot about the history of slavery in the Cape and apartheid in various museums - how inhumanly terrible. It was touching that a prisoner who showed us around the prison on Robben Island thanked us Europeans in particular for helping to break this inhumane system through our boycott and our protests.

Faith - Faith seems to be much more present in everyday life. I have stayed in a guest house run by Christians, but I have also heard talks of faith on the street or seen an information officer at the railway station reading the Bible while waiting, when he was not serving customers.

Poverty and wealth: South Africa is a rich country in many respects. There are people there - as in many countries - who are very rich. And others who are very poor. In our region, I mainly saw beggars in the evening...which meant that I preferred to do my shopping in the supermarket during the day like everyone else. I was in a township in a children's home that would be closed down immediately by the authorities in this country (far too little space) - but 55 children are fed and cared for there, some of whom were picked up from rubbish bins as babies. There are only four paediatric clinics in the whole of Africa.... I am grateful for the wealth we have in this country...but also the responsibility...

Security:  Many people get creative to make a living: On the beach, some went fishing or dug up mussels (yum!), others searched for coins and rings with a metal detector, made schofförs out of seaweed and others collected mussel shells to sell. Some get creative, others become criminals. Burglaries are not uncommon here. My hostel neighbour had her iPhone stolen, which she had lying next to her...the culprit was simply lightning fast.... and her flip flops were stolen when she went swimming...and one night a man tried to climb onto the terrace of the hostel...from which our rooms accessed - alerted by the screams of a neighbour, he disappeared again - thank goodness. Every year, South Africans spend more on security than they earn from tourism. A huge problem. And a restriction on freedom of life. Nobody goes out on the streets alone after dusk - people even try to avoid travelling by car at night. I have found this to be an immense restriction on quality of life and freedom.

It was an incredibly rich time for me. Long walks on the beach every day, lots of time to think and pray, warm, welcoming, generous people.... marvellous excursions and the wonderful nature and mostly fantastic weather - made it a wonderful time for me, for which I am very grateful.