Blogs from Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, Africa - page 24

Back in South Africa, we spent another week catching up with Kam's cousin and her family, who had just returned from Canada. We also did a bit of sightseeing in Johannesburg, of which we had thus far only seen the Apartheid Museum. We went to Melville, which reminded us very much of Sydney's Newtown with its chique restaurants and second-hand bookstores and we also went to Newtown which didn't really remind us of anything. Here we checked out the Museum of Africa, which told us surprisingly little of the history of Africa, but had some great exhibtions about gay and lesbian Johannesburg, Ghandi's stay in South Africa, as well some great art exhibits. We also did a tour of the South African World of Beer museum. With two pints included in the already very reasonable price ... read more

July 14th With a full day in Johannesburg to enjoy, Nicio and I made plans to go head over to the Bruma Flea Market. We had a breakfast at the hostel and even made friends with an English chica named Gemma. She decided she wanted to get some shopping done as well so she joined us on our adventure to the Bruma Flea Market. The three of us made the 30 minute walk down to the market and talked about our travels thus far, Gemma had only just begun her voyage and would be leaving South Africa in a few days, bound for the south Pacific, Australia and New Zealand to be precise. We spent more than a few hours walking around the market, being hounded by vendors trying to sell us the remaining World Cup ... read more

Our main activity today was visiting the Lion Park, which is a place that breeds lions and has other animals on display as well. One of the main attractions is that you get to pet and play with lion cubs. Of course, that was the first thing we did once we got there. You basically get in a cage for about 5-10 minutes with 12-15 lion cubs of all different sizes. Some are sleeping, others just relaxing, others pacing around like adult lions and roaring...really cute and funny to see. The 3 rules are that you can't pick them up, can't pet their heads and can't feed them anything. We always went to where other people weren't, because you go in there with 10 other people, so everyone is trying to find the best ones for ... read more

Final day with Hawkins, the van must be returned. So an early start from the Kruger camp site, leave at 6:30 when the gate opens. We detour through Blyde Canyon and stop for a few scenic panoramas. It's still a long winding drive to Joburg so we have to press on, Hawkins gets pulled over for speeding but once again we are let off with a warning. After cleaning the van for a couple of hours, we get into Jozi at 5pm which is handy as it's getting dark and the newly chipped crater in the windscreen cannot be seen. We part ways, I go off to a hostel I have already booked, Hawkins goes off to meet the Aussie boys as he's forgotten to book anything! Accoustix hostel is quite lively but awful facilities. The ... read more

Not an exciting day, just the drive back to Johannesburg and a 2 hour visit to a modern part of the city, Sandton. From what I’ve been told, Sandton is part of Greater Johannesburg and is where most companies relocated to after a massive area with high-rises was developed to move businesses away from the then-dangerous Jo’burg center. In this area is where you will find the Sandton City Mall, which is where celebrities, former players and even the Brazilian team shopped during the World Cup. Before the World Cup, I ran some stuff on the place that the Brazilian press wrote, and they made it seem like this place was the best thing ever invented. Well, I would say that Market Mall in Calgary is way better, so I don’t see where the fuss is. ... read more