Blogs from Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, Africa - page 12

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Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg July 16th 2013

Geo: -26.1538, 28.0389... read more

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg July 1st 2013

Geo: -26.1538, 28.0389... read more

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg May 19th 2013

OK well now that we are finally on the road this should the start of many blogs to come. This will depend greatly on wifi and Internet availability as we go through various countries. But first things first...we started off in Auckland with an early rise on Saturday morning to head to the airport and had an uneventful flight through to Johannesburg. The flight from Sydney through was 14 hours which we spent snoozing and watching the latest movies compliments of Qantas. Arrival at Johannesburg at about 4pm on the same day and we have made our way to the Garden Court Hotel safe and sound. To catch up on jet lag it was an early night into bed and today we plan to have a relaxing day around the hotel to catch up with a ... read more

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg March 31st 2013

Geo: -26.1951, 28.0339The wild wind storm had ended during the night, so we all finally got a good night's rest. I, also, woke up feeling 1000x better than the day before, which was a huge relief given the long plane ride ahead of us.We managed to load up all six of us, our luggage, and more than 30 bottles of wine between us, into the van and headed to the town of Meusenberg, where the parents of our friend Barbara live. They were not flying back to DC until the following night, so we brought them over for their last night in South Africa. It was also our first opportunity to meet Barbara's parents, as her mother had been ill earlier in the week when we were originally supposed to visit. They have a lovely home ... read more

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg March 22nd 2013

Geo: -26.1951, 28.0339Our friends had not been to South Africa since last year's World Cup, and they quickly commented on all of the improvements to the Johannesburg airport. It's a beautifully modern facility, and we cleared immigration and customs in record time, and soon met our driver, who was to take us to our "guest house" for the night. Our friends were continuing on to Cape Town, where our friend Barbara's parents still live. Their flight was not until the following morning, whereas we had booked a two-day safari trip, which was also departing in the morning. We booked a lodge close to the airport and it proved the perfect respite from the long plane trip. We were pleasantly surprised when we walked outside of the airport, as the sun was setting and it was clearly ... read more
Drinks to celebrate our arrival, before the braai
We're Here!

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg » Roodepoort February 15th 2013

From the previous entry: “From Nasca the road went on to Lima, where we arrived fairly early in the afternoon but had to spend a good time looking for a decent priced hotel.” Lima proved to be the end-station for us in South America. At least as far as our traveling is concerned; not the end of our troubles though. After all the things I didn´t like about South America: the rain, the insects but above all the corruption, thieving and fault-finding, the pettiness and intolerance, topped by the sheer indifference and incompetence of forwarding personnel to get our car into a container and send it off to Durban. I´ll come back to that. But before I do, I must admit we saw interesting and beautiful things as well and we look back at fabulous experiences. ... read more

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg December 26th 2012

Geo: -26.1538, 28.0389This hellish day of travel didn't end in Senegal, as we still had one last flight into Johannesburg. Dakar may be known for its infamously dangerous rally, but we'll never have the chance to learn anything more about it, as we had only one hour in Senegal, while the plane refueled. Normally we wouldn't have cared to see an airport, but we were both dying to set foot in the terminal, if for nothing other than to stretch our legs. Unfortunately, those passengers continuing onward to Johannesburg were prohibited from stepping off the plane - but that won't stop us from making use of a little loophole in international backpacker laws, and claiming that we have been to Senegal.Another eight and a half hours after refueling, we finally made it to our final destination ... read more
My Choice For Dinner ...
Assorted Exotic Meats ...
Killer Ribs ...

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg December 3rd 2012

I remember the road safety in South Africa being excellent. Our first experience driving from Johannesburg airport to Rustenburg was a far cry from this! There seems to be a relaxed view of the "rules" and I am very glad I will not be driving here. All manner of vehicle will overtake on the road shoulder. When we came up behind others they would pull over onto the shoulder to allow us to pass. People overtook when there was no line of sight and the road markings did not disallow overtaking on blind corners. What an experience.... I was a very literal child... I guess I'm still a bit too literal sometimes. In South Africa the traffic lights are called robots. I thought that meant they were live robotic machines and every time we drove through ... read more
DSC00976

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg December 3rd 2012

The last time I was in Johannesburg airport I felt like a fugitive escaping my country. In the dark of night we went to the airport, thinking all the way that something would happen to prevent us from leaving. As an 11 year old I was scared beyond imagination. This new land we had been told so much about was waiting but it was very difficult to leave. My father had to prove that he was the only person that the mine in Tasmania could hire for the SA government to allow us to leave. So now here we are again. It doesn't feel that different to any other airport. It is smaller than I had remembered and considerably smaller than my adult mind would have expected for the largest airport in the country. The service ... read more

Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg December 3rd 2012

Before we left my parents were discussing the better opportunities that have been open to us because we immigrated to "the lucky country". It is quite true. I very much doubt we would be able to do what we have if my parents hadn't sacrificed so much to move their family to a then-foreign land. But this flight is very different to the one we took when we left South Africa. The staff are not white and they are lovely. The initial announcement "enjoy our hospitality" still rings in my ears as the beautiful hostess makes me a cup of tea. She graciously poses for a photo with us. I can see now that she has had an opportunity that she would not have had when we lived in South Africa. Perspective is everything. The beautiful ... read more




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