Astounding Southern Africa - Johannesburg, Sunday 2015 February 15


Advertisement
South Africa's flag
Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg
February 15th 2015
Published: December 29th 2015
Edit Blog Post

Nelson Mandela BridgeNelson Mandela BridgeNelson Mandela Bridge

Monument to history and new downtown development
I am back at the pool, but no little girls to play with. Writing these notes instead. Not sure if the temperature reached 30°, because the pool felt colder today. Although during our visit to Gold Reef City, the heat was sweltering.

Our departure this morning at 9:00 took us south, through much more affluent neighbourhoods. We glimpsed the mansions of Cecil Rhodes and other original gold and diamond magnates, now designated as heritage buildings. The government has just started to restore the first one. (In Pretoria more progress has been made, we are told.) We passed Turffontein, which was a White district during apartheid. The houses would fit into any mid-century neighbourhood in Calgary, except they were finished in what looks like sand coloured stucco. We passed closer to the old Johannesburg downtown and glimpsed an expansive, newly developed shopped mall. Nearby is the Nelson Mandela Bridge, opened on his 85th birthday. His name is always said with reverence.

We arrived at Gold Reef City, which is much less museum than I thought. We went on the gold mine tour, but most visitors were families attracted to the theme park rides, plus a good number of teenagers. Mainly rides were similar to those
Gold Reef CityGold Reef CityGold Reef City

Statue and "gold" human statue
at the Stampede or any fair, except these are decorated in mining themes.

The mineshaft we descended was an early one from the time of discovering gold in this area in the 1880s. After being kitted out in hard hats and safety lights, we got into the “cage”, which was exactly the same as the construction elevator I rode up to the top of the Bow building in Calgary. As the cage descended, the light dimmed and disappeared. In the original days, miners carried not safety lamps but candles – not safe in any way! The guide led us along the dimly lit main horizontal shaft, which was quite spacious. Then we turned into a horizontal shaft that was cruder, with a slanting “ceiling” that could catch the head of the unwary. Small illustrative niches showed aspects of the original mining techniques and a few improvements, such as the mechanical engines that took over the pulling of ore-boxes from donkeys, ponies and men. At a drill site the guide turned on a pneumatic drill, impossibly loud in the underground confinement. (He told us to cover our ears.) As we left the mineshaft, he showed us the emergency exit, a
Elevator OperatorElevator OperatorElevator Operator

Dramatic even though modern
long steep stairway reaching diagonally down through all the mining levels. We were only on level one of six, and the stairs were 151 steep steps. If there is a power failure (remember load shedding) tourists have to take the stairs.

We returned via the cage and moved on to “the gold pour”. In a darkened demonstration theatre, two men entered dramatically, put on a metallic-looking safety apron with sleeves, and full head-and-face-masks. Donning thick gloves they opened two doors, revealing a yellow-hot oven interior. One manipulated huge roof-mounted tongs to remove a pot of gold and pour it into a mold. After only a few minutes cooling in the air, they could knock the ingot out of the mold. Then the ingot was returned to the pot and then into the oven for the next demo. On the way out we touched a gold ingot – it felt as smooth as silk, even though it was “rough gold”, 88% pure.

The rest of our time was free for wandering. Three original houses for the mine manager and the other management staff were interesting. The rooms had half-glass walls so we could see the arranged artifacts. The artifacts
Mine Manager's houseMine Manager's houseMine Manager's house

Victorian tropical house filled with Victorian household goods
could have fit easily into Heritage Park, or any other such museum across Canada or around the world. (I last saw such things in Newfoundland last year). Victorians brought their stuff wherever they went.

A miners’ museum consisted of photographs from the same time as the mine. These graphically showed how poor and poorly treated were the miners, Black and Chinese. Their living quarters resembled accounts from prison camps. One photograph showed a wooden “bed” which was divided into three narrow parts, one for each man and his meagre belongings.

I drifted through the large area of rides. Moving through the park were young mimes and dancers: cancan transformed into hiphop and hiphop into gumboot dancing. On all the pathways people strolled with snacks and drinks, giggling and laughing on a fun day.

Back at the hotel, I had a snack lunch – leftover peanut butter sandwich – and a rest. Then propelled by the thought of not wasting time entirely, I went to the mall again. A few feet past the door, I saw Jack. We strolled around with little purpose. I wanted to see the ordinary grocery store to check the prices. Although they were
Gold tailings in JohannesburgGold tailings in JohannesburgGold tailings in Johannesburg

Being re-mined for 3% gold
lower than in Calgary, I assume so are wages. Nevertheless, it was full of fresh and packaged goods and people buying them. Jack bought some dried “biltong” which he assumed was like beef jerky, and I bought green tea – they don’t serve it here or provide it in the room.

Back in the room again, I sorted out a bit of packing, charged camera batteries, and went swimming.



See
">video of Gold Reef City mine and dancing.


Additional photos below
Photos: 8, Displayed: 8


Advertisement

Gold Reef City entranceGold Reef City entrance
Gold Reef City entrance

Stamp mill once used to crush rocks
Guide shows us an ore hopperGuide shows us an ore hopper
Guide shows us an ore hopper

Painful to mine and to push the hopper to the surface
Horizontal shaftHorizontal shaft
Horizontal shaft

Now lit for tourists who also have head lamps


31st December 2015

Victorians
Interesting point about Victorians scattering their stuff around so many countries. I find that I have little sense of the contemporaneous - I'll need to work on that at some point!

Tot: 0.062s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0259s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb