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Hugeaux aka Hugo R. Miller is an artist/photographer living in the USA

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Hugeaux

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6:10pm Johannesburg, South Africa
I am back at the hotel. I have only 2 hours before I leave for the airport and my legs are pounding. I truly do not want to leave. Most of my journeys have been about 4 days in the country, after exhausting myself, then I get homesick. Here in Africa I feel that I am home. The journey on the train back to Johannesburg from Vereeniging (Sharpville) brought tears to my eyes. About 20 minutes out of the station, aheading the 2 hour train ride, a lady started singing African spirituals. Then the entire car of the train joined in. Then a gentleman loaned his baritone voice and the sound echoed the hillsides. My ancestors spirits were racing through me and I lowered by head and water filled my eyes. The singing went on one and one half hours. There was a happy look on their faces as to something I have never seen in my 50 years of life. It was as if the ancestors were gathered together. But what topped it off were the children who were returning from school joined in the singing and my heart was renewed. This day was really an adventure. What started out as a quiet journey into Sharpville, turned into an ancestral celebration. I forgot to mention: A guard at the old Sharpville Police station gave me an one to one tour amidst the protesting in the streets. He offered to show me the Sharpville Memorial, but I resisted, because I did not think it would be fair to give me a personal tour of this historic monument, while it was closed to others because of the protesting. I took pictures of the monument as the protestors graffitied “Why SOWETO” on the walls. Well I shall try and get a little rest. I do not know, what for, because I shall be sitting for 24 plus hours on the trip back to Jacksonville, Florida USA.

9:10 pm Johannesburg, South Africa
OR TamBo International Airport
I am writing this entry while sitting in the African Lounge “..from the Coals” at the OR Tambo airport. What a spectacular décor. The entire lounge is of African motif. I am speaking of original African skins, woods and décor. Nothing seems prefabricated. There are horns from antelopes and chairs of African leather and zebra skins. It is a rich ebony and mahogany lounge and you get the feel of dining in African Royalty. The food is quite spectacular, as well. This is my farewell dinner and I am pleased that the ancestors have chosen a beautiful banquet area. It is very well hidden. This is the first sit down dinner I have had since the adventure. I could not eat like this especially knowing if I had another adventurous day tomorrow. I feel relaxed, that the foot work is done. Now I have the tedious task of tagging 734 photographs and transcribing a 68 plus handwritten manuscript. I really want to relax here at the Africa Lounge because I shall be sitting for the next 30 hours.

10:00pm Johannesburg, South Africa
OR TamBo International Airport
FINAL ENTRY
I shall like to thank the people of South Africa for your superior hospitality. I shall like to thank the G-Lodge Bed & Breakfast hotel and the manager Papy Katende, Emanuel and Staff at 10 Derby Road, Bertram, Johannesburg 2094, www..g-lodge.co.za, this is a great bed and breakfast centrally located in the heart of Johannesburg. The rooms are spacious and cool that you feel as if you were sleeping in an ivory palace. They cook breakfst to order and the public transportation, Rea Vaya, is around the corner: Ellis Park Station. At the G-Lodge Bed & Breakfast, you can catch the Rea Vaya (public transportation) directly to SOWETO in less than 45 minutes. I have never felt so much at home as here in South Africa. Everything is pleasant and similar. The people are warm and friendly. The city is bustling with all kinds of vendors. The town is very busy by 6:00am. It is accessible to all areas of South Africa: Swaziland, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. The only regrets about this trip os that I did not have much more time to discover and document this Zulu Nation’s beauty. I am on such a ancestral high, that I have left some relatives here and shall return with some more relatives. The spirits of my ancestors are in the eyes of everyone I passed during the journey. My shoes and lungs are full with the red soil of Africa. I am taking back to America with much more than I left with. I am inspired in a way which can not be explained. The main thing that I learned on this journey is the power of patience. Patience is in the faces and eyes of everyone’s Zulu heritage here in South Africa. After I received my pair of Zulu eyes, my vision became one with my living and past ancestors. As I leave my home I am taking new heritage gifts for my present home. One would be sad when leaving one’s home, but I am filled with the earth of the Motherland to nurture my present soul. Patience has proven its power here in South Africa and it is a trait which I am now anointed with from the souls of my African ancestors. I have also introduced my American Indian ancestry to this great continent. My ancestry….THEY ARE NOW ONE> the CIRCLE IS NOW COMPLETE. All the oceans have been touched except the Artic Ocean and all the spirits are one. May Egoli Bless. My Zulu. My People. My Africa.

PS:
Wednesday
March 21, 2012 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Schipol Airport
This diary was edited by me, Hugeaux aka Hugo R. Miller at the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdan, Netherlands.

It is a custom for any African descent who has returned to Africa to choose an African name. After visiting Africa I now must choose my African Name……My African name is “Umthandabantu” which means “Humanitarian” is Isizulu.

Hugo Umthandabantu Rainer Miller
aka
Hugeaux

An African American Indian contribution to the Fine Arts through the Humanities