Dropping in on South Africa

We arrived into Jo'burg South Africa on Saturday, March 7th. Having been to Africa before I was expecting to see rows of slums and shacks from the airplane window as we dropped into Jo'burg and landed. This was not the case though. I was shocked to find rows of manicured track-like homes and neighborhoods as we approached. It became immediately clear to me that South Africa was much different and more developed than what I experienced in Tanzania, Zanzibar, and the few parts of Kenya that I witnessed.

Jo'burg itself also offered much more than I expected. It was far more modern and "westernized" than I had ever imagined. As we drove to our hotel I was amazed by the modern electronic billboards and the rows of office parks with corporate names like Dell, Sony, Coke and many others. The familiar corporate names were less interesting than the unfamiliar ones, however. It was immediately apparent that this was a modern and entrepreneurial city and culture. Our next few days in Jo'burg would continue to surprise me. This was not the crime-ridden shanty-town that I had expected upon boarding the plane back at home in Austin, TX.