by Nina Dietzel, AFAR Ambassador
AFAR’s co-founder Joe Diaz likes to boil ‘traveling like a local’ down to “Get off the tour bus and sit at someone’s kitchen table”. On our first day in South Africa with Collette, that’s just what we did. We got off the bus and visited Alina Mlotshwa’s home in Soweto to have lunch.
Alina’s carport/restaurant
Alina’s story is quite infectious. She used to take visitors through Soweto, but over time there was too much competition and work became scarce. Soweto was flooded with ‘guides’ taking visitors to the famous Vilakazi Street, but neglected to share Soweto’s vibrant Township life. Alina decided to change that, and began to invite strangers into her home for a more authentic experience.
Fearless owner Alina Mlotshwa
She covered her carport (the only space able to hold a fair amount of people), put up a sign, and opened her home/restaurant to locals and travelers.
Enjoy!
It’s impressive, that four generations of her family still live in small 4 room township home, most of them actively involved in the business. A good number of her Dobsonville neighbors have also been employed, which has ensured goodwill from all sides. Alina’s fearless entrepreneurship has paid off. The place is buzzing, and we were excited, and grateful to be part of it for a while. We sat, chatted, and dined with locals, and other foreigners–feeling home with Alina’s family and friends.
First helping from the buffet, uhumm ; )
Of course it wasn’t just the original venue and charming Alina ‘family’ that made our visit so special. We ate good food. Real. Good. Food. African dishes accompanied by ice cold Castle beers and a few Stoneys (a sugary South African ginger ale/beer).
Alina’s kitchen prepares around 10 fresh dishes every day. We sampled lamb and beef stews, roasted chicken and fish, plenty of vegetables, salads, dumplings and of course the ominous ‘pap*’ from the kitchen buffet.
*traditional porridge/polenta made from ground maize, a staple food of the Bantu inhabitants of Southern Africa (the Afrikaans word pap is taken from Dutch and means ‘porridge’)
The Pantsula dance performance–don’t try this at home
After leaving Alina’s home, young local dancers waited for us outside, wildly drumming. They proceeded to perform the crazy energetic pantsula for us, a typical Sowetan dance, that originated in the townships during Apartheid.
Our Sowetan guide for the day ‘big Ben’ with two of his local friends
Get off the tour bus and hang with the locals. It is one of the best decisions you can make while traveling. Our hours in Soweto were real, fun and will forever be remembered with a big smile (or three ; ).
Nina Dietzel is a photographer and AFAR Ambassador based in San Francisco. Between travel and photography assignments, she continues to consult on select projects for destinations, hospitality, cultural organizations and non-for-profits in need–tapping into her vast experience as brand strategist with 300FeetOut, an award winning creative agency she launched and lead for over 15 years. Read more about her work here.
