Home-Stays

Accommodation, we will source B&B, Guesthouse accommodation, Melville to Soweto, but our focus is to get you close to our culture and community, through our Home-Stay families:

For six years, a Taste of Africa focused on getting the visitors close to the ‘Real Africa’, walking the streets, using local transport and extending our operations from Soweto through to the Kruger Park and Fertility Caves.

‘Home-stay’s’ were introduced, and for the first time we understood to what extent our western culture differs from the African Culture. Culture is not only watching traditional dancers, it is how the local groups ‘cultivate their children’, and culture, is how they live their lives, different to you. A home-stay allows you to experience the culture, while understanding the cultural differences of the Township and Rural community.

Living in small over-populated homes, you be amazed at how the community manage. Many homes only having 1 toilet and 1 water tap, they may be collecting water from a distance away from the home, a bath or a shower is a luxury.

It took Nettie and I, years to fully understand just how difficult it was to marry the cultures of our Western society with the African community without destroying the feel of the African culture.

Click here for prices: Click here for Village Home-stay example:

Traditional Shack Stay

Click here for Soweto Home-stay eg.1
Soweto Home-stay eg 4

Soweto Home-stay eg.2 Soweto Home-stay eg 5

Soweto Home-stay eg 3. Sheshego Home-stay examples

After years of trying to transfer the needs of our Western society to a few of the Township and Rural residents, we found ourselves living with a Village family that we were strange to, and we soon learnt to create an understanding of how we survive the culture difference. Without going into lengthy details of just how different our cultures are, the African culture time-schedule for activities, coffee in the morning, breakfast, and many other activities are not as structured as our culture. Nettie and I had failed to transfer the need to accommodate our culture, till we understood the need to communicate our cultural needs.

A few communication hints:

Communication from the visitors side is of prime importance, you ask and you will receive.

Water,we all take it for granted, till we do not have it. If we had visitors living with us at home, we would not even think of showing our visitor that they should use the tap, or where the hot water was sourced. It is the same when we are visiting the African Culture. So, communication is the way-forward, ask for guidance, where can you collect your water, where can you access water, hot or cold, may you use the kettle, let the host know what time you have needs for coffee or bathing. Let the host know whether you require a small dish to wash, or the large bath to have a bath. Nettie and I would go for days without a bath, till we understood the need to communicate our Western needs; now we could bath twice a day if we wished. As much as we would fret because we were not bathing, our host at the time probably thought these whites did not wish to bath and did not wish to intrude.

Meals and meal times, from tea or coffee in the morning; to breakfast and other meals that you are going to participate in with the family, communicate, what is available, at what time you would like it, and should you have any special needs, please let your hostess know. Depending on whether we are living in a Township where meals may be excluded because of access to food-outlets, or in a Rural Village where 3 meals per day are required, communicate with us and the family.

Toilet, always carry your own toilet-paper, and enquire after where / which toilet you should use when you arrive. Believe it or not, within one Township, the toilet may be inside the house, or in general, it is an outside toilet. Which-ever, you will either need to enter the house or leave the house to use the toilet; it is easier if you know in advance.

In the Village you will be using a 'pit-toilet', be prepared.

Neighbourhood, the neighbours in the Township and in the Village are all one large family. They move in and out of each other’s property as they are all part of this large family. They all greet one-another, talk to one-another, laugh and celebrate with one-another. As a white, you will be given respect that you may not necessarily deserve, they will look at you and not make the first approach, out of respect and not wishing to intrude they will not approach you, as with the above communication hints, make the first move, and you will make friends with the neighbourhood.

Bed Space, most beds in the home-stay are double beds, traditionally, if the family is large, the parents would sleep on the Double Bed, and the children will sleep on a mattress on the floor, in the same bed-room. To ensure that we do not disturb this part of their culture, a sleeping culture developed through the limited space that they have lived in; our home-stay options include this provision. If you have a double-bed in the room and you do not share the double bed, one will sleep on the bed and the other, will sleep on the mattress. Part of the culture is that you make your bed when you get out of it in the morning, fold and store the mattress if you used the mattress, and once this is done, you will never know whether 2 or 6 people had shared the room during the night.

Sharing with the family, not only includes the sharing communal facilities, but you will be occupying a bed-room that is normally used by one of the children. This also involves the need for the family members to access an item they need and that they may have left in your bed-room.

Language difficulties; do not be afraid. In the Villages you may need one of the children, secondary school level, to help you address some problems, but by pointing and showing, working together to understand one-another, you will experience great times and a sense of achievement, from both parties.

Cedric and Nettie de la Harpe

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