I left Cape Town on the morning of 26 April and travelled as
far as Colesberg, where I spent the night in the Guinea Fowl Lodge, a lovely
homely place with a warm clean bed with 3 different shades pink sheets on the
bed and piping hot water in the shower. Tea and homemade rusks on arrival. The
evening meal I enjoyed at “The Plattelander” Restaurant where Karoo Lamb, in
various forms, is the main attraction on the menu,. Clearly the Lamb Shank is
the favourite , as I observed many a portion being brought to the tables
surrounding me.
If day one was spent travelling
with Roadworks and “stop/go” as the main attraction, day two was spent
travelling in RAIN through the Karoo and a great deal of the Free State. Thank
goodness it was a Public Holiday on the Friday that I arrived in Jo’burg, which
meant that the traffic was less hectic than normal. I met Dick and his group at
the Mondior Hotel at the Emperor’s Palace where we spent the night before he
dropped off the group at O.R.Tambo in the morning and we were off on our way to
start our holiday.
We have set up our home base at the Country Park in
Muldersdrift. There is a permanent
camping area, much like Hardekraaltjie in Bellville and then the lovely
campsite, which seems to be used largely by private Overland vehicles and by
the sounds of it largely German or Dutch. It is very peaceful and there are
lots of birdlife around.
On Saturday morning we set off on our first “touristy”
outing. A few months ago there was an article in the GO! Magazine about a guy
that does walking tours through the Inner city of Jo’burg, Dick thought this
might be the best way to revisit the city and booked us on a tour. Well what a
lovely experience that was. Over the
last 10 years there has been a big effort towards the Revival of the Inner city
of Jo’burg. The main area at present is around Newtown and the South Western
part of the city. We walked through areas of the city where I am sure it was
pretty unsafe a few years ago. Now there are coffee shops and restored Power
stations and wonderful street art and a general feeling of pride in the city.
There has been huge investment from the private sector, and the local
government has also come to the party. I mean buildings that were falling apart
and were filled with squatters not too long ago (2009) are now show pieces and
stand proud in the inner city once again, as Head Quarters and office space to
a large Gold Mining Company and a Multi venue Function facility.
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| Chancelor House today - 2012 |
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| Photo of Chancelor House taken in 2010 (through a window) |
We spent the whole day walking the City, taking pictures,
drinking coffee and ending up in Braamfontein where we were treated to the most
magnificent sights and views from Randlords. A 22 story high-rise where the
very top floor has been turned into an entertainment area with a balcony that
gives you a 360 degree view of Jo’burg. It is absolutely awesome. Randlords is
where they film the TV program Carte Blanche every week. The loos have the best
views that I have ever experienced. Our last stop for the day was the Saturday
Market, this is the same concept as the Biscuit Mill in Cape Town or the Slow
Market in Stellenbosch. We were really
tired and hungry by then, but that was soon fixed with a splendid burger and a
glass of good old Cape wine. What a fantastic day this was.
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| Mens Urinal - Randlords - What a view! |
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| A view of Jo'Burg from Randlords |
On Sunday we were off to the Cradle of Humankind to check up
where our real origins were!
Maropeng is a very informative
experience with interactive displays of good and understandable information
from the origins of the universe through to the origins of man. It is very
child friendly and judging by the general crowd around on the day, a well
supported and well loved outing for many families. We ended the day with the
visit to the Sterkfontein Caves. This is also a worthwhile experience, going
underground to see the actual area where the first hominoid fossil skeletons,
dating back 2.16 million years ago, where found in 1936. The area where the
Paleontologists are still working to extract the fossil of “Little foot” is
closed to the public, all we see is the locked iron gate.
On Monday we were back into the city to visit the free
museums only to find they are all closed on a Monday. What to do! Walk around,
explore some more and different streets and take photos of the buildings and
just generally enjoy the city.
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| Another view of Jo'Burg also from Randlords |
The best is to return to our “holiday accommodation” in
Mulderdrift where we are entertained by the birds; Crowned Lapwings, Fiscal
Shrikes, Grey Louries and lots of other “Little Brown Jobs”. We have been
enjoying the lovely sunsets and braais at night.
More Photos to be added once we have sorted them out!
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