"Restoring Our Name": Tourist Gets Tattoo For South Africa After 5 Months Travelling Across Africa
- TikToker @jackykarwathova documented the final days of her five-month solo journey across Africa in Cape Town
- She spent five and a half hours getting her hair braided and hiked Table Mountain in the dark before her departure
- On her last day in South Africa, she walked into a tattoo studio and made a permanent decision about her trip
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A solo traveller who spent five months crossing Africa ended her journey in Cape Town with one word tattooed on her shoulder: Ubuntu. TikToker @jackykarwathova shared the emotional final chapter of her trip on 7 August 2026, and South Africans were deeply moved by what she had to say. In the days leading up to her flight home, she spent five and a half hours at a braiding salon, finally agreeing to something women across the continent had been asking her to do throughout her travels. Jacky cried in the chair, she said, from the pain and the emotion. She had to remove the braids two days later because of scalp tightness, but the experience stayed with her.
Source: TikTok
The morning after getting her hair done, she woke up on little sleep and hiked Table Mountain before sunrise with people she had only just met. Watching dawn break over Cape Town from the summit, she described feeling accomplished, proud and heartbroken all at once.
On her final day, @jackykarwathova walked into a tattoo studio and had the word "Ubuntu" permanently inked on her shoulder. The phrase, rooted in Southern African philosophy, translates roughly to "I am because we are." She said it was the only word that could capture what the previous five months had meant to her.
The full weight of that choice hit her at the airport. Sitting on the floor rather than the chairs, she realised she was leaving behind a version of human connection she had never known before. Strangers had fed her, walked her to taxi ranks, invited her into their homes and checked on her days later for no reason other than kindness.
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She said much of what she had been told to expect from travelling through Africa centred on danger and fear, but her experience told a very different story. Watch her emotional farewell to South Africa:
Mzansi reacts to ubuntu tribute
South Africans flooded the comments with pride and emotion:
@mx_reaa said:
"I knew what the tattoo was before you even said it ❤️"
@richardabrie wrote:
"Us South Africans are a special breed, the country has just been mismanaged 🤗🌸"
@Realist shared:
"This is why so many of us choose to never leave South Africa, despite everything! They don't know what we know 💙"
@SetuTau added:
"Thanks for showing the real Africa 🌍"
@Chef Lelo asked:
"Why did this make me cry 😭"
@Mmathabo Pretty Matl said:
"Oh, as a South African this is how I want the world to view us 🥺🙌🏾 Thank you for restoring our name 🇿🇦"
@Lynette 🇿🇦 added:
"So true, my brother is in the USA from South Africa, Cape Town, and he can agree that the sense of community looks so different and hard to adjust."
Other Briefly News stories about foreigners in SA
- An American woman's experience in South Africa, where she was charged thousands for a simple braiding session at a local salon incident sparked outrage.
- The life of a Congolese woman, Sarah Phefo, who documented a fun day out with her South African husband in a charming vlog that captivated viewers online.
- South Africans reacted to an American student studying her Master’s in Cape Town who shed light on the stark differences between the US and South African grading systems.
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Source: Briefly News
