Monday, July 28, 2008

The Palace at Sun City






The following blog post was written on the evening of the 28th July.

Although half the group went on another game drive today in a van with Dick, the other half stuck around the lodge in the morning and headed over to Sun City in the afternoon.

Sun City was built in 1990 during the apartheid regime. The area is a tourist attraction built to rival Las Vegas. Although the hotel (which we paid to tour) is unbelievably extravagant, the fact that it was built on land taken from the people who lived there during apartheid to be made into a white only playground for the wealthiest of society is a little much to handle. The hotel uses a ridiculous amount of water, considering it is the desert, and the grounds are covered with palm trees….which are beautiful, I must admit. In fact, everything is over the top beautiful.

However, after going through experiences like we have the past five weeks, seeing the incredible poverty that exists in this country, the fact that a hotel charges $500-$800 (US dollars) per night is almost enough to make you sick. The fact that people actually pay that much for one night is almost unfathomable.

Regardless, I am glad that I as able to see Sun City and the Palace, just because I would not have believed it without seeing it.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

heh, my sister dated the son of the guy who built that place. He also built the over the top Atlantis resort in the bahamas.

Priscilla said...

Dana...is that you hugging the elephant's leg? I missed it the first time!