Soweto Tour - Half Day

Description

On this half day tour in Soweto, your guide will take you past all the hotspots in Soweto. Travel deep into the township culture and enjoy a personal experience of how vibrant and lively this sister city of Johannesburg really is. Walk the muddy paths of an informal settlement and meet the smiling residents who are happy to be photographed. Drive the neigh-bourhood of Orlando's upmarket homes. Stroll down energetic Vilakazi Street with wonderful murals, quaint street sales and dancing Zulu's. A visit to Nelson Mandela's house reminds us of the greatness that the human race can aspire to.  Learn about the heart ache and struggle against the injustices of Apartheid in the hallowed Hector Pieterson Museum, a memorial to that 12 year old boy and many others, who were shot and killed by South African police in the streets of Soweto in the struggle for freedom.  End your tour at the Iconic Soweto Towers with their bright murals depicting everyday life in Soweto. 

On the way to Soweto we pass by the FNB National Football Stadium, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the World Cup 2010.  It is intended to be evocative of a calabash which is a large woody gourd, fruit of a calabash tree, and used to carry water or food by indigenous tribes.  We enter the Diepkloof area, where we will take a walk past vendors selling just about anything. Stroll down sandy paths in an informal settlement - chat to friendly inhabitants who will welcome you into their homes.  Fanciful fences in this area include old bed springs and wired together meal bags. Visit a pre-school with compacted mud floor and singing children but no chairs to sit on. In Orlando West we visit Vilakazi Street the only street in the world to have the homes of two Nobel Prize winners. The former home of Nelson Mandela which is now a museum, and the home of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

There is an entrance fee at the Nelson Mandela museum which is worth paying, this great man reminds us of all that is best about the human condition and what we could aspire to. Walk down busy Vilakazi Street, past street markets and creative wall murals. Get an insight into the tragic past of South Africa and the cost of the struggle for freedom, at the Hector Pieterson Museum. Entrance fee is included in the tour price. You can read of the the Soweto uprising on 16 June 1976. On that tragic day, a 12-year-old boy called Hector Pieterson was shot in a peaceful protest against teaching in schools in the Afrikaans medium. This kick-started the liberation of South Africa. You end your tour at the iconic Soweto Towers. Your journey back to your hotel or residence will give you time to ponder the experience as your guide cheerfully navigates Johannesburg traffic.

For a little more insight check out our blog:  Soweto Blog

Highlights

• Free Onboard Uncapped WiFi 
• Transfers in an comfortable vehicle
• Pickup in Johannesburg
• Entrance to Hector Pieterson Museum
• Entrance into regina mundi church
• Vilakazi Street
• View of Mandela house in Soweto
• View Desmond Tutu House and Winnie Mandela House
• Visit to an information settlement
• View the Soweto cooling towers
• View the Baragwaneth Hospital 

Itinerary

Collection:  From your hotel or residence in Johannesburg

Time: Morning 9h00 or Afternoon 13h30

• Collection by your English Driver/guide
• Drive in air-conditioned vehicle with free WiFi
• Quick pre-departure tour briefing before setting off for Soweto (South Western Township)
• FNB National Football Stadium,
• Diepkloof area, where we will take a walk past vendors selling just about anything.
• Orlando West and visit Vilakazi Street
• Nelson Mandela museum
• Hector Pieterson Museum. Entrance fee is included in the tour price.
• You end your tour at the iconic Soweto Towers.
• Journey back to your hotel or residence will give you time to ponder the experience as your guide cheerfully navigates Johannesburg traffic.

We will pick you up and drop you off at the end of the tour ANYWHERE in Johannesburg!

Departure/Return Location: Any hotel/address in Johannesburg 

Departure Time: Morning departures starting at 9:00 am and afternoon departures starting at 13:30

Return time: Morning- 13:30pm Afternoon- 17:30pm

Reviews 

Shauna (Gardens Johannesburg)  25.02.2019

What a pleasure to be collected at your home and driven by a friendly and happy guide!  Adolf and later Fresh, our two guides, were informative, attentive and great at finding our one tourist who kept wandering off.  My grand-daughter was a little anxious about going on this trip with me but soon relaxed and got into the swing of the culturally diverse aspects of sizzling Soweto.  The Hector Pieterson     Museum is heartbreaking.  Nelson Mandela's home reminds us of the greatest humans can aspire to.  The street scenes are vibrant and full of contrast.  Men and women struggling with plastic recycling carts and a top range Mercedes-Benz sports car cruising past.  A good experience for South Africans and foreigners alike.  This is a trip worth taking.

Important information

Due to multiple pickups and drop-offs, scheduled pickup times might be up to 30 minutes late.

A percentage of the fee is donated to informal settlements, feel free to bring food and old clothes for donation.

Operated by: MoAfrika Tours