My last stop on my trip was a short stay back in South Africa. I had originally planned to meet up with my good friend Marcilio and hang out with him for a few weeks. Unfortunately, the political situation in South Africa changed matters significantly.
Back in 2008, there was a series of xenophobia riots in South Africa that targeted foreign workers. People were frustrated about the economy and decided to take it out violently on immigrants. There are some conspiracy theories surrounding who might have initiated these riots and why. I don't know.
What did happen is that Marcilio had to flee South Africa back to Mozambique, almost exactly at the same time that I had to leave because my visa expired. So, we completely missed each other.
Below are some pictures of the lines at the border. As I was crossing into South Africa, thousands of Mozambicans living in SA were packing up their entire lives and moving back to Moz. The lines at the border were a day long. On the other hand, the lines going into SA were only an hour or so.
Back in 2008, there was a series of xenophobia riots in South Africa that targeted foreign workers. People were frustrated about the economy and decided to take it out violently on immigrants. There are some conspiracy theories surrounding who might have initiated these riots and why. I don't know.
What did happen is that Marcilio had to flee South Africa back to Mozambique, almost exactly at the same time that I had to leave because my visa expired. So, we completely missed each other.
Below are some pictures of the lines at the border. As I was crossing into South Africa, thousands of Mozambicans living in SA were packing up their entire lives and moving back to Moz. The lines at the border were a day long. On the other hand, the lines going into SA were only an hour or so.
More people fleeing the xenophobia violence
It was sad to see all these people uprooting their entire lives
"Wimpy Burger" -- a classic South African fast food joint
I decided to cut my trip short, since I couldn't see Marcilio. I just had a couple of days to kill in Johannesburg so I walked all over and took some pictures. I found this shop in Chinatown in Joburg.
Another shop across the street in Chinatown
Here is the hostel again where I stayed both times, Brown Sugar. As I said in a previous post, the story is that it was a former mob hideout and that is why they built it like a castle.
The road up to Brown Sugar that I walked on every day
I found a really cheap flight home from Joburg via Dubai, so I decided to take a 2-day layover there at no additional cost. My next and final post of the trip will be shots from my 2 days in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
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