Blogs from Gauteng, South Africa, Africa

Dear All Greetings, on this my final entry on my amazing journey through South Africa in the summer of 2023. It really was an epic trip, definitely one of the best ones up there alongside recent trips to Japan, Scandinavia and the Galapagos Islands, and I've also been enjoying very much writing up these travel blog entries, re-living all those adventures again! My final few days were spent in and around the country's powerhouse central state of Gauteng, in the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria, with a total cumulative population of a staggering 14 million people! It felt quite something to finally be in the beating heart of South Africa after travelling through its regions for so long, almost like an exciting culmination and climax of a highly eventful journey, and my time there certainly did ... read more

The flight from Atlanta, Ga to Johannesburg, South Africa was a healthy 15 hours. This is the longest duration for one flight that we have taken and it seemed to go on and on. We did receive dinner, a snack (a sandwich) and breakfast that helped fill time. There were also numerous movies stored in the TV that could fill more hours. The one thing that we did not achieve was sleep. So by the time we landed in Johannesburg we were tired. The flight was totally uneventful and once again we landed on time. We were staying in a hotel attached to the airport but found that getting there was a healthy hike. Having finally reached the hotel and checked in, I discovered I had left a small but needed item at home and needed ... read more

Today we were collected by Jerome. The two suitcases full of clothes were packed in the back of his van and we headed for Mid-Ennerdale. This is an area in the south-west of Johannesburg. Many informal settlements have grown up in this area and the foundation have a project in one of settlements called the Meriting. Here there is a pre-school, a grannie club, a big area of gardening for growing veg, a sewing room, and a health screening room/clinic. It is a unique and developing project that is helping the local women and children. We took a couple of photos which are below. We then went to ilumala House where 21 girls are expertly cared for by the dedicated staff. We were given a tour of the house and had a great time with the ... read more

We have decided that Manchester Airport is the pits! We queued to check in baggage with emirates (1 hour 20 mins) , then we queued to go through security - 3 lines open (1hour 10 mins) 😩- then when we thought we might be late for the flight, the flight was delayed so we waited in a soulless room then finally waited for zone F to board - it was last….. 😡 Ok flight, we watched House of Gucci in tandem - I then felt a bit woozy - may have been the very strong g and t but after a bit of sleep we landed in Dubai - short stopover - no idea why people visit this hell hole - las vegas on steroids - and they fleeced us for twenty quid for a coffee, ... read more

The day has come. Originally we would pack our bags, give back the rent a car at Cape Town airport, fly to Joburg and connect to Zurich. Thank you Swiss Government for making a mess of things, and especially thanks to Nenad's parents who told us not to worry about them, but to enjoy Namibia. They are looking forward to our pictures and stories. Well, now we pack, give back the rent a car, fly to Joburg, go to Pretoria, make a Covid test, leave half of the luggage in the hotel, fly to Windhoeck and continue discovering Africa's driest sub Saharan country, Namibia. Oh almost forgotten, restart a Malaria prophylaxes. The northern part of Namibia (Etosha), where we shall start, is during the rainy season a malaria risk area. As predicted, with the wine bottles ... read more