Where to go for the best hikes in Johannesburg and Pretoria Hike: a long walk especially for pleasure or exercise. (Merriam-Webster) I never really bothered much with hiking in Johannesburg until we were locked down in our own province. We started looking for parks and nature reserves in Johannesburg and were thrilled to discover that […]
Melville Koppies Nature Reserve When the desire to escape the chaos of the city becomes too strong, but you don’t have time to go far, then head for one of the city’s many green lungs. One such sanctuary is Melville Koppies, a 160-hectare nature reserve and city heritage site, and a reminder of what Johannesburg […]
Looking for things to do in Johannesburg ? Read on... Johannesburg – South Africa’s biggest city and commercial epicentre. Also known as Jozi, Joburg, or Egoli (City of Gold in Zulu), it began as a gold-mining settlement in the 19th century. There is more to this cosmopolitan city than shopping. If you are visiting Johannesburg, […]
Fairlawns Boutique Hotel & Spa Review A journey to forty-one different destinations. I thought that it was a rather apt way to describe the Fairlawns Boutique Hotel and Spa, with its forty-one exquisitely designed units. The five-star hotel was recently crowned the ‘Best Luxury Boutique Hotel’ in South Africa by the World Luxury Hotel Awards, […]
Walter Sisulu Botanical Garden "A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy.” Luis Barragan The Walter Sisulu Botanical Garden is not something one would expect to see in the greater Johannesburg area. Situated below the dramatic, 200-metre-high cliffs of the Roodekrans Ridge in the West Rand, the beautiful […]
An abandoned house...a missing child...a decades-old mystery…if you want to feel as though you’ve stepped into a paranormal thriller, Johannesburg’s adventure escape room game Hashtag Escape might just be the thing for you. Read my escape room review here. Some background In case you haven’t heard of them, escape rooms are a popular craze that […]
Maropeng and the Cradle of Humankind On 9 May 2017, there was a major announcement at Maropeng. The scientists who were behind the ground-breaking discovery of the new hominid species, Homo Naledi , in 2015, announced new discoveries from the Rising Star Cave site in the Cradle of Humankind – one of the richest fossil sites in Africa. […]
A visit to the Rand Show The Rand Show has been a part of Johannesburg ever since I can remember. My earliest memory of the show is when I was around 6 years old. I went with my aunt and I was so excited when she bought me a helium balloon. But I didn’t hold […]
If you’ve ever dreamt about getting lost among thousands of books, then The Collectors Treasury would be a likely setting. Situated in Johannesburg’s Commissioner Street, near the trendy Maboneng area, this is the largest used and rare bookshop in Africa, and possibly in the Southern Hemisphere. I went there with my book-loving family. With over […]
On 11 July 1963, a group of anti-apartheid activists were having a crucial meeting in a little cottage on a smallholding in Rivonia, north of Johannesburg. Little did they know that their lives were about to change forever. A “laundry van” pulled up and armed policemen jumped out with police dogs. Knowing that they had […]
Exploring Johannesburg Heritage Sites I receive a lot of invitations to events, but since it takes time and effort to attend, I have to be quite selective about which ones I accept. However, when I received an invitation to explore Johannesburg during Heritage Month with a group of other South African bloggers, I knew that […]
If your children love to fidget / experiment , are budding scientists or struggling with science, then you definitely need to take them to Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Johannesburg’s Newtown district. Here the words “Don’t Touch” don’t exist and they can touch, feel, press and play to their little hearts’ content. Scientific concepts are explained with […]
In the heart of the trendy suburb of Rosebank, adjoining one of Johannesburg’s largest shopping precincts, stands the chic five-star boutique hotel - 54 on Bath . Previously known as The Grace, the hotel underwent a multi-million rand makeover when it was purchased by Tsogo Sun, South Africa’s leading hospitality and entertainment company. It ranks among […]
When it comes to hotels, it is often said that location is everything. However if the hotel also offers comfortable luxury and upscale amenities, then it becomes an even more attractive choice of accommodation. The award-winning Radisson Blu Gautrain boasts all these and more, and my family and I were looking forward to staying there. […]
If you ever doubted that Johannesburg was an urban forest, then you should look at it from the Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff (aka The Westcliff Hotel ). You will see a canopy of verdant treetops with sprinklings of purple jacaranda blossoms and the occasional red-tiled rooftop, stretching far into the horizons. The hotel overlooks the Johannesburg […]
