Item #76 Completed :)

#76 Do 3 tourist things that I haven’t done yet

The following 3 touristy things were yesterday afternoon. 2 of the 3 were free. I like free. Free is rare on this continent so I relish in free when the opportunity presents itself J

1^st stop was the Afrogem factory and showroom. I opted for the free tour. I learned stuff about jewellery making too. The first room showcases gems in the raw. I must say, they had a huge diamond chunk but it looked like a big chunk of worthless glass. From now on, when in the streets and I come across a chunk of glass (that obviously isn’t from a broken beer bottle), I think I’ll pick it up and ask at the jewellers if it’s diamond. But I digress. Then upstairs I saw people working on jewel making starting with the cutting of the stone.

For the ring portions, they make a plastic mould that looks like a tree. Then they pour plaster over it. Once that hardens, they pour the melted gold into the tree moulds. Then they cut off the rings and steam clean any white bits off.

Then they set the stones if it’s not a simple band type ring. See the pretty topaz, the drawing/design of it is under.

This is a yellowish diamond (I can’t remember but I think it’s a poor clarity when it’s more yellow) about to be set in a ring.

Then they're finished off with a polish.

I got a free gift bag of semi-precious stones J One is clearly rose quartz, the other I’m sure is Amethyst and the rest, not sure.

Next stop was the National Library of South Africa. I had to check my bag with security. The guy asked if I spoke Portuguese. Do I look Portuguese, I thought? Is my Canadian accent confusing him? When I said no, he then said I must only speak Zulu and Xhosa. Sorry man, don’t speak that either but I speak French. To which he said Bonjour, comment ca va? Then I asked if he spoke Hungarian. No? How bout Swahili? That was the end of our wise guy conversation. This library is not a lending institution. You must read the collections on campus. Well, that’s a big undertaking to sit down and read a novel in one day. So I picked a fun African kids book called the Giraffe with a Knot in his Neck. There were about 7 choices of which language to read this book. Well after our convo about languages, I choose the English and another language which I think was Zulu. But I could be wrong, it may have been Tswana or Sesuthu or something. But I’m pretty sure it was Zulu. I read the English page first, then the African language page next. Some words I could figure out which were which. But some sentences had either many extra words or a few very long words. While reading, I had a very strong desire for some children’s books in Kirundi or Swahili for my baby and I to learn. Not gonna lie. African languages are tough. Example- ndagukunda or ntiranyibagira. Long words usually with a couple consonants placed together. But how cool to learn one of them well. So far, Swahili is the easiest for me. But my mother-in-law speaks Kirundi so that’s where my focus should be.

Now, you can’t take photos inside so here’s a brochure pic and an outside shot.

Stop number 3 was the Iziko Slave Lodge. This was not free, but not expensive. I will note that all the Iziko museums are free on commemorative holidays. There are 7 of these throughout the year plus Heritage Week. So I will hit the National Gallery during a commemorative holiday (not to be confused with a public holiday like Easter or Christmas cuz those days are not on the list of free days).

I’ve walked by the Slave Lodge many a times on my way to the Company Gardens (free and pretty). Didn’t notice it much until recently. Don’t even recall ever seeing anyone go inside or come out for that matter. I, perhaps foolishly, asked the lady if it’s worth it to see the exhibit. I will say, when she hesitated an answer, I wondered if I should slowly back out and go to Nando’s for lunch instead. But after she reluctantly said yes, I thought, o what the heck I’m here anyways and I might learn something.

It started out a bit slow with black and white photos of tent camps and malnourished children along the walls of a couple small rooms. But I never back out of something at first impressions. I will say the photos were well done and some even tugged at my heart strings but not quite what I was expecting of a museum. Mind you, after that weird exhibit in one of the museums in Budapest, it wouldn’t have shocked me if that was the bulk of the slave lodge.

Then I ventured upstairs. Surprisingly, into an ancient Egypt exhibit. Were those 3 small rooms the end of the slave portion of the lodge? Onto other museum type things I guess. O, I like Egyptian artifacts and such. I was surprised at how much I remembered about the civilizations’ ways from a former exhibit I saw in Budapest (I saw a few museums there). Then into a room about an Italian movie made about the Zulu tribe in (ooo, I’m bad with dates) I think it said 1927? It was an interesting room. It had displays and photos about the making of this movie. There was a photo of a young Zulu man and the write up said he was wearing stuff given to him by his girlfriends. The young men may have many girlfriends but they can only marry one at a time. My focus went on the “at a time.” So they can marry all their girlfriends but not all at once. Well, of course. Can you imagine more than 1 bride at a ceremony? The best part of this room was the actual movie was playing on two plasma screens. I watched a bit. The movie is called Silvia Zulu (again, I may have got that name wrong. There’s no maps, I didn’t write anything down and I’m pregnant! My memory consists of take vitamins and what not to eat so get off my back and go to the museum to find out details yourself). Anyways. Then the next room was really old toys. The cool toy was this big Noah’s Ark with many animals walking two by two from the boat. It came from Germany. That I remember. Then a room of antique instruments. Then down a hall of old accessories. Then to another room of silverware. Then a room of weaponery. Then the last room upstairs had pottery. Very unusual collection of slave lodge type things, no?

Back downstairs on the other side, I saw the slave lodge slavery related museum collection. One room was quite creepy and had a dark feeling. There was also a courtyard to walk around in. Again, no photos allowed except in the courtyard and the entrance. So here you go. I say, it’s worth the check out but if you’re feeling cheap (like I usually am) go on a commemorative day.