Jo'berg airport sucks

Well, I'm nearly there. Sitting next to Gate A3 waiting for my flight, and I can safely say that Jo'berg airport is just about my least favourite. Crowded, totally innefficient, toilet cleaners that shake your hand when you walk in then try and shake you for a tip when you walk out. Stupid, stupid people.

Africa is proving to be a small place. I ran into 'K' – the Korean bloke from the tour – and his wife in the Apartheid Museum. They were supposed to head to Malawi from Vic, but they had 'problems' at the border, so they're killing a few days in Jo'berg. Good to see him, although I still face the ongoing problem that he thinks I know a lot about Premiership football. Then, when I returned to the Ritz, I ran into Carol checking in. Carol was the girl who was travelling with Sabrina, whom I ran into again at the service station in Nata, Botswana. This is just getting silly. Sadly, Sabrina wasn't there, but Carol and I continued our 'I'm sure we know each other from somewhere'. It might be Brixton, but my latest discovery is she used to work for Shell, near Waterloo. She recognises Ben's name, so I have a feeling she may have been in the pub when Ben and Sylv had leaving drinks. Who knows? In any case, her boyfriend was very interested in this laptop. I really think I should be on commission from Asus...

The Apartheid Museum, then, was very well done. It was modelled as a journey, starting as you take a card with 'non-white' written on it, then have to go through the 'non white' gate. They basically have the story of apartheid from the black and the white sides running in parallel, from the rise of the regime through to the introduction of segregation, then the ANC and finally Nelson Mandella's release and the first free elections. It was powerful stuff, with many photos, videos and sound tracks. It's incredible to think, now, how it could ever have happened. But then again, I could also – just about – put myself in the shoes of the whites who feared the loss of everything they'd 'worked for'. What was particularly fascinating were the video montages of the various South African cabinet ministers defending apartheid. I have to admit to feeling very slightly emotional in places, and I can see why people would find it upsetting. Essential viewing, though. I can't not recommend it.

I was talking about it with Rob when I returned to the Ritz, and he rather trumped it with, 'You should go to the “Genocide Museum”, in Rwanda. That has grown men in tears.'

The journey there and back was interesting, too. Each junction appeared to have a beggar with attendant 'blind person'. They'd wander up the lines of cars, with the blind person behind, with a hand on the non-blind person's shoulder. At one point, the traffic moved off and I saw two of them walking back to the lights – one clearly with his eyes open.