Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The next day was a sombre day in South Africa. The streets were empty because of
Chris Hani's funeral and the nation held its collective breath for fear of violence. Thank-
fully, it never transpired. My first full day in the city started with Lucy driving me to a
professional photography company, Frank & Hirsch, to see if my Nikon camera could be
fixed.Theytoldmethattheywouldhavetheirtechnicianslookatintheafternoonandsug-
gestedthatIreturnthenextmorning.LucythentookmetovisitSTC-Johannesburg'smain
office where I watched Lucy weave her magic. I was in awe of her energy and charisma.
The next morning I got changed for my press interviews and cycled with all the
gear to my first appointment at the Star's office. I met Lucy there and I think she was em-
barrassed for me because of my shoes. I still had the sole of the shoe tied to my foot with
string (at least the colour of the string matched my shoe.) With her connections in the pa-
per, the editor and a photographer came out to see me. We went to the Johannesburg Stock
Exchange building and soon a crowd of spectators formed as I was being photographed. I
then had a dozen or so newspaper interns interview me at the same time. The editor said
thathewouldpickthebeststorytobeprinted. IhadtocuttheinterviewshortforIhadan-
other interview at Lucy's house by 11:30 a.m. with another newspaper that was syndicated
in Cape Town.
After the final interview, I went to check my camera's diagnosis at Frank & Hirsch
and received bad news. They told me that the camera was uneconomical to fix due to in-
ternal corrosion. In essence my camera became nothing more than a paperweight (oddly
enough, I still have it as a bizarre souvenir.) I then asked the clerk if I could purchase
a second-hand camera from them in order to photograph STC projects as I progressed
through the remainder of the tour. The clerk disappeared and a few moments later returned
with a new Olympus A.F. camera and just gave it to me. I was floored. He asked me to just
plug the company during any future interviews. I told them that it would be my pleasure.
He then asked me to follow him to the office to meet some of the directors for an informal
chat for they were quite interested in my tour.
I spent the next morning in meetings with Lucy and her team. They talked about all
the projects that were in motion and again I was impressed on how committed Lucy and
theteamwere.Thatafternoon,IwentformyfirstradiointerviewinSouthAfricaonRadio
702.
I was interviewed by Mike Mills and really enjoyed it. We discussed STC's work
andofcourseaboutsomeofmyexperiencesduringthetour.Wereallyclickedandmyface
wassorefromlaughingsomuch.Iwasinthemiddle ofastorywhenhegavemethewrap-
up sign because he had to cut to a live broadcast from the horse track. I kept talking and
reallycuttingitshortasMikewasgoingcrazywiththecut-offsign.Ithenpausedandnon-
chalantly said, “Ask them to hold the race until I finish the story.” Mike burst out laughing
and I abruptly ended my 'earth-shattering' story. At the end of the interview, he told me
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