We had a good flight from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg on the 30th October and then stood in the queue to get through immigration for one hour with hundreds of people and only three staff to process us all. Our friend Trevor was there to pick us up for the quick journey to their house in Benoni in a semi rural part of Johannesburg. House security is very tight with high walls and or electric fences everywhere and locals are very vigilant if they see someone foreign near their property.
Michelle had prepared a great home cooked meal and we met her parents and we all had a lovely evening together.
Michelle took us to the Gautrain station the next morning which was very clean and well run and we changed trains to get to the modern Jo’burg Park station in the centre of the city. We had never been to Johannesburg before so we took the hop on hop off bus to get a feel for the city. The Kenyans were keen to tell us that Jo’burg or Jozie is the most dangerous city in Africa with one of the reasons being that it is a melting pot of inhabitants from all over Africa, some lawful and some lawless. We however had no problem in the city.
We were well looked after by the staff on the bus who asked us to wait on the bus at the Carlton tower until one of their staff came and escorted us to the 50th floor for a walk around the top floor to get views of the whole city. George was from Soweto and he told us that Soweto was now a safe place to visit because the community looks out for each other but to be careful in Jo’burg city. There were many large buildings in Jo’burg which were vacated when gangs started invading buildings and taking hostages and this included the two green glassed buildings of the Holiday Inn and the 600 room Carlton hotel in the city. These buildings have remained closed since then.
A lot of the streets close to the city were not very salubrious and many had food and other stalls all along the streets.
Our second stop was at the Apartheid museum where we spent a couple of hours. It was very well set out and we each got a ticket which allowed us to go through to the ‘whites only’ entrance or the ‘non white’ entrance. It really did give you the feeling of being segregated as we both made our way through separate corridors to the main museum. It was very informative showcasing the ANC’s struggle to abolish apartheid. There were screens where we heard many speeches by Nelson Mandela. It was a very moving place to visit.
The route around the city covered a large area and the audio on the bus was one of the best we had found which gave a comprehensive story about how Jo’burg grew in over 150years from a gold mining shanty town. There were numerous slag heaps still visible around the sprawling city, most covered with some greenery. The inhabitants over the years planted millions of trees in what was the very barren gold mining town.
We then stopped at Newtown Mall for a bite to eat and a walk around before continuing on up to Constitution hill with a view over the leafy suburbs and the myriad of stunning Jacaranda trees dotted all over the city. We completed the route back at the main train station and had a coffee before returning to Rhodesfield on the Gautrain where drinking or eating anything and chewing gum is prohibited. There were several guards on the train and it has remained in a pristine condition after it’s 3-4years of service. Michelle picked us up and we had another of Michelle’s nice home cooked meal and relaxed in the evening.
The African’s we encountered were all very helpful and friendly. After a leisurely morning we went with Michelle to the ‘Maboneng’ precinct in Jo’burg which was previously a run down warehouse area. A forward thinking young Jewish man financed the project to develop it into a cultural hub, converting the old warehouses into wonderful spaces for businesses, eateries, shops, boutique hotels and art galleries. We walked around for a few hours stopping at several galleries and for lunch before a sudden brief hail storm sent us scurrying for cover and a coffee while we waited out the storm.
Jo’burg is 1700metres above sea level and normally has a mild spring/summer climate of 27/28degrees however they had an unusual heat wave and it was 37degrees that day.
Had great Calamari and lively discussions at ‘Il Gusto’ an Italian/Portuguese restaurant with Michelle and Trevor and Michelle’s parents Mike and Marie.
Trevor was flying to Durban the following morning so Michelle took us all to the airport and we took an hour’s flight to Capetown and Trevor to Durban.