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The Cradle of the Humankind

Evolution or Creationism?   Pass the Nan, please~
by E. Park

Landing at the crowded metropolitan airport in Johannesburg, South Africa was a surprising adventure even for a self proclaimed world traveler like me.  Africa, the continent, in particular South Africa was always a mystery for me and definitely not in the first top 20 list of places I would like to visit during my lifetime.  Even while reading the National Geographic magazine about Egypt and the pyramids, my interest never reached the ‘I want to visit that place’ barometer.  So, actually standing at the assigned hotel shuttle corner, admiring my new surrounding was surreal to say the least.

South Africa, especially Johannesburg is a bustling city.  The infrastructure mirrors and at times challenges any first world city in Europe or North America.   As a history and world geography nerd, mentally, I knew what to expect, but as always, being faced with the amazing myriad of steel and concrete infrastructure hit me cold in my face.  Am I in Africa or NYC?

This was where apartheid was abolished, where Gandhi developed his views on passive resistance, the hosting country for the 2010 World Cup event but more importantly, this was where we can trace humanity’s past. Those were the thoughts crossing through my mind, when I decided to visit the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site 50KM from Johannesburg. 

The visitor center resembled familiar burial mounds such as I visited in Kyungju, South Korea.  Again, the cultural similarities from two far apart geographic locations amazed me and brought to light that we are all one and the same regardless of our differences.

The contrast from the front view of the burial mound shaped visitor center from that of the rear view was a statement of our past and future.  The building represents the linear trajectory of time for this country and humanity in general.  Interestingly, from the rear view, the visitor center no longer resembled a burial mound; it looked like a futuristic spaceship building as seem in movies such as MadMax!  The day long trip was well worth it.  In retrospect, sitting at home in lovely Delaware visiting South Africa was a great idea. I came face to face with the remains of humanity’s pre-historic ancestor which led me to a deep soul searching internal debate I have been avoiding for most of my adult life:  evolution or creationism?

Much to my dismay, my physical being was not cooperating with this intense moment, my stomach was growling because of hunger.  I realized I spent all day without filling it with any sort of fuel to keep it going.  I was thoroughly consumed by what I was experiencing that I have forgotten to eat or drink anything since breakfast. 

I guess my soul searching quest can wait till the next epiphany moment; my immediate task is to find a good Indian restaurant and eat some homemade Nan.  Why Indian, you ask? Well like I said, I am a history nerd; so maybe, I can eat and think about Gandhi at the same time, whose civil rights movement finds its roots in South Africa.

* E. Park is a freelance writer

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