Walk to Zoo Lake Bowling Club and Tsotsi

Did the same reading and reflection during the day, detailed in my journals. Lukanyo got back on the early side, so we set off on a walk to have a drink in the park. We walked past the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund which we had driven past several times. Lukanyo told a story about an older Afrikaner guy he previously worked with who had some friends coming into town from New Zealand and asked Lukanyo if he might get an audience with Nelson Mandela for his mates. The guy had written to the Children's Fund, requesting the visit with Mandela, offering a slight donation and hadn't received a response. Lukanyo had a hearty laugh before he realized that the guy was actually serious and then didn't know what to do other than politely change the subject. As Lukanyo laughed through telling the story, he compared it to asking for a visit with Bill Clinton while visiting the States, offering a $20 donation for it. This guy was South African as well, which made it more interesting that he didn't get the impracticality of his request. As we continued our walk, we went past the zoo which is apparently quite spacious for the animals. Lukanyo pointed out a hospice along the way, saying it's the only one he knows of in Jo'burg that is labelled and visible as such.

The walk had been picturesque, something Lukanyo said Johannesburg is not often called, but there was a lot of foliage along the way and large wealthy estates to gaze upon. One house we walked by is owned by the son of Oliver Tambo, the president of the ANC during Nelson Mandela's imprisonment from the 60's - 90's who lived in exile in England (for whom the Jo'burg airport is named as well). You can see through the high fence around Dali Tambo's house that there are human sized figures arranged as if having a lawn party; not something you see every day.

Tsotsi, awarded an Oscar for best foreign language movie this past year, based in Johannesburg, a story about a thug who struggles to face his past demons in order to reclaim his humanity.

We arrived to the Zoo Lake Bowling Club less than 30 minutes after setting out. It has the cheapest beers in Jo'burg, 6 rands each, under $1, so we enjoyed a couple. There were a couple lawn areas that looked like they could be golf putting greens but were actually supposed to be for outdoor bowling. Do we have anything like that in the States? Lukanyo said he's never seen it used though. Since night fell as we sat outside at the club, we got a taxi back to the mall to pick up a movie for the evening. We ordered some curry for dinner to be delivered, which ended up being a really tasty (spicy!) lamb vindaloo. The movie was called Tsotsi, awarded an Oscar for best foreign language movie this past year, based in Johannesburg, a story about a thug (what tsotsi means presently, previously a bit more of a positive connotation, as in a well-respected, intelligent gangster) who struggles to face his past demons in order to reclaim his humanity. It's a film well worth watching, though I don't need to say so since the Oscar speaks for it.