I have briefly mentioned that we spent several days in Joburg, before and after our Safari. I wish now that I had taken many more photos. First of all, I found out that my camera display was broken and I could only use the very small viewfinder in my camera. Surprisingly, the Panasonic FZ100 still took really good photos. I’m still planning to sell the camera when my new Nikon Coolpix P900 arrives. Secondly, there were a lot of places where I could not take photos such as inside the Apartheid museum.
I did at least get a picture of the “salad” selection at the restaurant I previously mentioned called Schwarma. We ate there twice–once before our Safari, and once after.
Johannesburg is a very very large metropolitan area with a population of about 8 million. It would be safe to say that most every multinational corporation in the world had representation in Joburg. I only took one “freeway” photo and don’t think we ever really went into the downtown area, but needless to say there were some really huge shopping malls in existance or being built.
As mentioned, the area called Norwood where we stayed at the Ascot Boutique Hotel was perfect, and again–that I have no photos of the area, but the link to the hotel will give you a good idea of it all.
NOTE: Admission to most of the museums listed below would be about 30 to 75 Rand, or about $2.50 to $6.00 for adults.
Constitution Hill was the site of the prison for political prisoners such as Mahatma Ghandi, who refused to carry a card mandated by rules of Apartheid. Constitution Hill was originally a fort, then the prison until 1983 (where many remnants of the prison remain), and now the site of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. The building which houses the Constitutional Court was partly built of bricks and other construction materials removed from the prison.
The Apartheid Museum was in many ways shocking to visit. One could get a strong feeling of what it was like to live during the Apartheid years from 1948 to 1994. Since Apartheid has ended, in many ways I think the government of South Africa has developed a very thorough Constitution. According to Wikipedia: South Africa’s post-apartheid constitution was the first in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. South Africa was the first country in Africa, and the fifth in the world, to legalise same-sex marriage. A very large part of the museum tells about the life and leadership of Nelson Mandela. (75 Rand–Pensioners 60)
The National Museum of Military History was an amazing place to visit. Amongst the displays on exhibit were German tanks, airplanes, buzz bomb replicas, the V-2 rocket, many many airplanes, tanks, landing crafts, canons, and probably just about any weapon immaginable as well as very good descriptions of how various wars started: events leading up to WWI, the Boer War. I took no photos here, but the web site for the museum is a much better way to use your time.(30 Rand–Pensioners 15 Rand).
We also visited the Cradle of Humankind, declared a “World Heritage Site” in 1999. I did take a few photos of the area–included in the slide show. The remains of three hominoid were discovered in the region called the Cradle of Humankind: (Each link refers to the same website “News 24”) 1) Mrs Ples 2) Little Foot 3) The Taung Child
The main points of the Cradle are the Sterkfontein Caves and the Maropeng Center housed in the Tumulus Building, both sites have been
I decided to miss the tour of the Caves, but both Barry and Grant did the tour. The other four from our party did browse thru the museum and walked to the cave entrance and around the Caves. In the museum you are be introduced to “Mrs Ples”, the “Taung Child” and “Little Foot” before heading underground to explore the caves, where scientists have discovered the remains of both hominid and other extinct animal fossils dating back more than 4-million years to the birth of humanity.
The Tumulus building is a very cleaverly construction acting as a front for an upscale hotel, and the entrance to a Disneylike underground exhibition hall. When you first enter the underground exhibition hall, you get onto a small boat for a trip thru the likely changes that took place on the surface of the earth as it changed from a molten mass to its present day appearance. There are also very well displayed videos depicting those changes–including continental drifts and all. Other displays give very convincing arguements for the statement that all of Humankind began in Africa. By the way, admission to the Maropeng exhibits was 160 Rand, or about $12 for adults. Pensioners=85 Rand.
We left Johannesburg to catch our Safari group which met at Victoria Falls. After 15 days on Safari, we returned to the Ascot Boutique Hotel on Grant Avenue and had a bit of time left to “kill” before we left for our long flight back home.
About the only other “tourist” site that we partook of after the Safari, was the Johannesburg Botannical Garden. The Botannical Garden had no admission charge, and was a great place for dog owners and of course their dog(s). We saw a very large park with a lake conveniently accessible to all of the dogs. The dogs were generally not leashed and had a great time. This park was not at all crowded, and several birthday type parties were going on. We didn’t visit the zoo, because we had just returned from the Ultimate Safari.