The best way to see Soweto! By using bicycles, we easily move between the various
neighbourhoods making it easy to experience life and culture and to interact with people and at
the same time learn about Soweto’s rich history.

We start our cycling by reaching a lookout point of Orlando East and West. You will get an
introduction to Soweto – its size, the history of how Soweto was formed and the people that make
up this large township. You will see and learn more about some of our landmarks such as the
Orlando stadium and the brightly painted Orlando towers.

We will thereafter head to the former men’s hostel in Mzimhlophe which used to be the home of
mine workers during the apartheid era, you will learn more about their living conditions and how
families live here together today.

Along the way, we will stop at street stalls or local shops to buy local snacks as a way of tasting
typical township street food/snacks and supporting our local businesses.
The tour continues to the community of Meadowlands famous for the forced removals from the
mixed-race area of Sophiatown in Johannesburg in the mid-1950s. Learn more about how the
Apartheid government divided the population according to their race group and how the homes of
the non-white population were destroyed and people were moved into other areas where they were
forced to rebuild their homes and families.

We continue the tour cycling along various streets leading us to Orlando West, seeing the various
neighbourhoods and how people in Soweto have progressed. We will make a stop outside one of
Soweto’s ‘little mansions’ – South Africa’s famous jazz singer Abigail Khubeka lives here and the
guide will give you a little taste of her music and her contribution to the South African music scene.
Our next stop is at the Hector Peterson memorial site where we commemorate the student uprising
that took place on June 16, 1976. Students took to the streets against the oppressive education
system and police answered with teargas and live ammunition. Many innocent children lost their
lives on this day.

We thereafter cycle down Vilakazi Street – the only street in the world that was the home of two
Nobel Peace Prize winners – Nelson Mandela and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu. Stop outside the
Mandela House and learn more about Nelson Mandela and his former wife Winnie Madikizela
Mandela their time in Soweto and their contribution to the struggle for freedom. Cycle further down
the street to the Tutu home and hear about another great icon in the fight against Apartheid.
We end the tour with a traditional drink ceremony. We sit down together in a circle passing the
traditional calabashes around for a taste of the Sorghum beer and the Maize drink, Mageu. Both
drinks are home-brewed by women in our community.

Please note: Our 4-hour tour includes lunch which is either served at 12:30, so either before or after
your tour. Lunch is served at our “Outdoor Restaurant” with seating in the community park. The
meal is a delicious African stew cooked the traditional way, over the fire, served with either bread or
pap (maize porridge).