Checking off the list of Tourist Spots in Joburg

This weekend was one where I managed to check out couple of the key tourist attractions in Johannesburg. Firstly the Apartheid Museum and then the Lions Park.
The Apartheid Museum
The Apartheid Museum deals with 20th century South Africa, at the heart of which is the apartheid story. It depicts the story of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. Beginning in 1948, the white elected National Party government implemented the policy of apartheid which turned 20 million people into second class citizens, damning them to a life of servitude, humiliation and abuse.
Their liberation in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela, the prisoner who became president, is a climax in the saga of a nation's resistance, courage and fortitude.
The Apartheid Museum, the first of its kind, illustrates the rise and fall of apartheid.
The museum is a superb example of design, space and landscape offering the tourists a unique South African experience. They include provocative film footage, photographs, text panels and artefacts illustrating the events and human stories that are part of the epic saga, known as apartheid. A series of 22 individual exhibition areas takes the visitor through a dramatic emotional journey that tells a story of a state-sanctioned system based on racial discrimination and the struggle of the majority to overthrow this tyranny.
For anyone wanting to understand and experience what apartheid South Africa was really like, a visit to the Apartheid Museum is fundamental.
The Lions Park
The Lion Park offers terrific up close views and other exciting interactions with a large variety of predators and large herbivores indigenous to Africa.
The Lion Park is home to over 80 lions including the rare white lions and many other carnivores such as cheetah, wild dog, brown hyena, striped hyena, spotted hyena, black-backed jackal, side-striped jackal, and a wide variety of antelope which roam freely in the antelope area.
I got an opportunity to interact with some of the animals in the Cub World area which has a giraffe feeding platform that puts you at eye level with our tame resident giraffe creating a fun experience for all ages. Then there is the popular cub interaction which allows guests to touch the cubs and take photographs.
Was quite an experience that I would never have got in India … :)

7 comments:

Sachin said...

Who told you to wake me up in my sweet sleep and shake my hands.

This guy is hell bent on having an expierience and here I am getting subjected to over-exposure to humans.

-- The Lion Cub

Hariharan said...

:) ... Very funny !! :)

Unknown said...

Nice post on the Apartheid Museum. Become a fan on Facebook and leave your blog link there.

Hariharan said...

Thanks Laurice

Hariharan said...

Thanks Laurice

Poornima Srinath said...

All your photographs are excellent... Either the camera is good or the cameraman is professional!


True as one of your commentors said,we do disturb the poor animals...the pathetic situation in the lion n rhino park is that the lions give pose to the camera by standing rt in front of cars until food comes ..lol..

Hariharan said...

I think its the photographer's skills :-) .. :)

My friend kept saying "I" for the lion because he is a "leo" - sunshine ... :) ... He calls himself the lione !! :)