SOUTH AFRICA

I have just returned from a two week trip to South Africa! We had the most amazing trip and I will be posting lots of pictures/tips/stories on here in the next few days! The picture of above was our pillow from the hostel we stayed in Cape Town!! Gotta love Nelson Mandela.

I am in a comparative law class at Loyola Chicago and we did a case study over our spring break. My group is writing a paper comparing the foster care system in the US to South Africa, as well as all of the different legislation concerning foster care placements in both countries. We met with different NGOs, professors, government departments, child welfare societies and visited a place of safety and foster home. It was great to see other aspects of the country that you would not visit or learn about just as a tourist.

We started off on a safari in Limpopo for three days. We had an amazing ranger and got to see all of the Big 5 (minus the leopard). We then spent a week in Cape Town - I would pick up and move there tomorrow if I could. Finally, we stayed in Pretoria (which is about 45 minutes outside of Johannesburg) for the last week.

I felt very safe in Cape Town and nothing happened to any of the 20 students/adults that were on the trip. We went out and took cabs and walked around at night and felt very comfortable, especially at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. On the other hand, we felt very unsafe and uncomfortable in Johannesburg. Everywhere is protected behind huge walls, electrical fences, security guards and even watchdogs. Robbery and car hijacking is a huge problem there and I would not recommend going anywhere by yourself - especially at night.

South Africa has come so far since Apartheid and is such a beautiful country. I can't wait to go back!