24 Hours in the Township

The journey begins by entering the township with our guides. It becomes clear very quickly that a township isn't simply a poor neighbourhood. It's its own organism. Its own system. Its own map inside the city, where an enormous number of different stories are unfolding at once. Many doors here open only because of the people accompanying us. That's why this isn't a tour. It runs on trust, and on your own curiosity.

For the next 24 hours you live inside the township. You walk the streets. You talk to people. You go into bars. You listen to music. You try the local food, if you want to. Sometimes you simply watch. Sometimes you talk with people about life, fear, money, religion, crime, addiction, love and the future. Twenty-four hours is enough to change how you see things for good.

We suggest doing this experience from Saturday into Sunday. At night the township is at its most vivid: music, bars, conversations in the street, people who barely sleep. And in the morning you can get to a church service — one of the most emotional parts of township culture. The choir. The dancing. A very powerful collective energy. It's in moments like these that you feel most clearly how a township isn't only about poverty and problems. It's also about an extremely strong sense of community.

During the experience you stay in the home of local residents. We make it as comfortable as this setting allows: clean bed linen, your own toilet, pillows, blankets and a safe place to sleep.