So let's backtrack a touch... we set off from London Heathrow with Ethiopian Airlines, but given that the flight left nearly 2 hours late we ended up missing our connection in Addis Abbaba. Ethiopian Airlines were pretty good though and we were emailed straight away with confirmation that we had been booked on to the next flight out. It was a 7 hour wait for our connecting flight but at least we were sorted, so we killed time in the Silver Lounge (courtesy of the airline) and ultimately arrived at our destination 36 hours after leaving home in the UK. We were fairly exhausted!
Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa with roughly 8million people. Downtown is not recommended for tourists and the wider Johannesburg area now encompasses the urban centres of Soweto and Pretoria, once separate stand alone cities in their own right, so researching the best places to stay was fairly challenging. After reading some recommendations, we booked a self-catering apartment in the Rosebank neighbourhood. In 2023 the basic cost of food and accommodation in South Africa is significantly less than the UK, so we were able to secure a fairly luxurious and secure place for about£30pn.
Day 1 was a bit of a disaster (see previous blog post), but after shaking this off, we started to explore the different neighbourhoods and attractions this city has to offer.
To get our bearings, we booked the City Siteseeing Hop on Hop Off red bus tour, (the one you find in a lot of major cities around the world) where for approx. £10pp we were able to travel around the city centre and suburbs and learn loads about the history of the city, its people and the main attractions. Whilst it was very 'touristy', I honestly can't recommend it enough for giving a basic understanding of the city geography and a valuable general background for a really good price. It's great value and a nice way to spend a few hours in the sunshine. As an added bonus, the red bus also gave us an amazing photo opportunity - a gorgeous view across a big section of the city that we wouldn't have had the chance to see if we hadn't taken the tour.
We visited Constitution Hill to learn more about the conditions of the infamous former prison and military fort. As a museum, the site is a testament to the country's oppressive and turbulent past but is also now home to the Constitutional Court that upholds the new constitution ensuring equal rights and freedoms for everyone in South Africa.
Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, many other well known names and thousands of lesser known citizens were imprisoned here during Apartheid and were treated atrociously.
We were a bit rushed exploring prison (our own time constraints), but we could have
spent hours here. One of the most profound moments of our time there was walking the Great African Steps that were built using the bricks from the now demolished Awaiting Trial Building, and leading up to the Constitutional Court entrance, signifying the journey from oppressive past to a more positive future. A good way to end our visit to the Hill.
One of the best bits about travelling is simply meeting new people and they usually present new opportunities and change your experience for the better. This was the case during our first week in Jo'burg; Gaz got talking to a German guy called Rajko who lived in our building and it turned out that his partner Sophie was in the process of establishing a new travel business that provides people with unique local experiences (not your standard tourist activities, they truly bring visitors together with the locals). We were keen to take advantage of this and do more while we were in the area, and we wanted to support their new business YOLO-RS Tours, so we met up the next day and talked through what might be of interest to us and ended up arranging a few things at a very affordable price.
The next few days with Sophie were brilliant. As we were still finding our feet here, we wanted to experience the foods and places that local people eat, so we went on their 'Sandton Underground' walk which took us to places we would never have found on our own. We were taken around a few of the streets in Sandton where there are small food vendors in vans and introduced to the different foods on offer etc... It was super relaxed and flexible, really informal.
We tried all sorts of things and spoke with a number of the local vendors who were all really happy to see that we were keen to try their foods. They provided a basin with fresh water so we could wash our hands before we ate, and then we just tucked in as locals do; just with our hands. The Beef stew, Pap and salads were so tasty and the guys serving us were so lovely and happy to chat to us. Our guide Tsepo really brought the experience to
life, encouraging us to try different foods like Kota (a sort of massive sandwich thing with about 15 fillings) and Magwinya (slightly sweet chewy dough balls
usually eaten at breakfast). When we were impossibly full and couldn't squeeze in anything else, we took a short walk to Nelson Mandela square to get a coffee, visit the Mandela statue and enjoy the art installations.
The following day Sophie took us on an amazing trip to The Lion and Cheetah Sanctuary which is about 100km north of Johannesburg. The Sanctuary is not on the main international tourist route and that makes it a little more rustic around the edges, but we like that. Once we arrived it was fairly informal and we had plenty of time to relax and get a drink and greet the wandering horses as we waited for others who were joining the game drive.
Once we got underway, we climbed into the game drive vehicles and were taken around the park to the various areas to see the Hyenas, various species of Lion (some were huge!) and the cheetahs. All the animals at the sanctuary have been taken in because they need care. They even have two meercats that were abandoned by their mother, and they are so sweet. We also were taken into the area where they have herbivore animals that can thrive together - Giraffes, Zebra, Wilderbeest, Kudu, Waterbuck, Impalas.
But the highlight was being able to walk with the Cheetahs and be inches from them while they were resting and eating. They are still wild cheetahs, but because they have been at the Sanctuary for so long and for a number of reasons won't be released back into the wild, they are familiar with humans and the feeding process. So, under the supervision and careful guidance of the lead ranger, we were able to walk inside the
Cheetah enclosure with the Cheetahs moving about near us, and Gaz even got to stroke and comfort one of the Cheetahs while it was resting in the shade. The deep gutteral sound of a Cheetah purring is enough to make you lose your bowels though and when it had had enough, you knew about it. I attempted to get close, but it definitely didn't like me and instantly reacted to my approach and got up very fast. I did not like that bit. My face says it all! ha ha
But even if they only liked one of us, we both felt incredibly privileged to be allowed so close to these incredible animals. The ranger was so knowledgeable and we learned so much from him.
His passion for the animals in his care is so evident and it was really good to see that these animals are being looked after with such dedication. A great place to visit. I can't recommend this trip with YOLO-RS enough.
From a difficult first day, the rest of the week was unexpected and genuinely an incredible experience. The apartment has been super comfy to stay in, and I particularly enjoyed the giant bath in the bathroom, which I did indeed take advantage of with the odd glass of wine!
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