Want To Experience 'REAL' Africa...? Don't Be Naive.
Posted by: Only Spectacular
on Nov 17, 2010 
Shacks in Khayelitsha township, where Anni Dewani was killed.
Following the murder, this week, of a British bride in South Africa's Cape Town, some people (mainly those who have never been to Africa) are crying out in fear of the country and also the continent."This is why you should avoid the whole continent, it is absolutely necessary to do so" states one reader of the Daily Mail.
It's a tragic story of two people in love on their honeymoon who chose to venture into the townships around Cape Town, late at night, to experience the 'real' South Africa.
The lesson here is not to avoid the country or the continent but to be savvy travellers. Read and listen to advice about any country you are going to. Act accordingly. There are places in London or any main city in the UK that you shouldn't go to - especially to experience the 'real London'. The townships of Cape Town are a hot house of poverty, boredom, lack of sanity and health, over crowding and personal troubles. This all leads to resentment and if you are to see it as a source of 'interest' or 'education' then you are placing yourself right in the middle of a situation that will ignite. These people are not animals zoo, for us to observe. They are struggling with a life that is harder than you and I can imagine.
However, don't brand all South Africans or all Africans the same. It's not a reflection of the people who live there or the country as a whole. This terrible incident was a place of being in the wrong place and the wrong time.
One of the main reasons that Only Spectacular, our travel company, specialises in Kenya is that in our opinion, Kenya has a softness to it compared to South Africa. To us it feels calmer, more genuine and less exploited that it's sister countries.
