| Page Views: 6,540 Last Visit to Johannesburg: December, 2004 | To Joburg with an open mind by Gard - last update: Jan 24, 2005 |
Short summary | Entrance to Apartheid museum |
Nikki and I went on a trip to Johannesburg in South Africa from December 13th to December 31st 2004. The main goal for our trip was of course to see Nikki’s family and friends but we also got a chance to visit places like the Apartheid museum, Constitution Hill, Soweto, the theme park Gold Reef City, Cradle of Humankind, South African National Museum of Military History etc. We also got to go on a wonderful safari at Djuma Game Reserve located in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve near the Kruger Park (there will be a seperate trip report for this). Although this was a family trip I hope that some of the information in this trip report can be of some use to others. Get in touch if you have any questions or comments and I’ll do my best to answer. For more pictures from the trip please visit my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com. |
| Scenes from Apartheid museum |
|  | Prelude I have been to Johannesburg (Joburg) before and in the past I have been a bit negative about the place. Why? Well, it is not easy to come from a small town in Norway to the big city. It is a bit frightening to come to a big city where the general advice is to keep your car door locked when you are driving, where most homes have bars in front of doors and windows and electrical wires on top of the big fences that surrounds the properties etc. I have always felt a bit more…eh…free in Cape Town. But I promised Nikki that I would go to Joburg with an open mind and take another look at the city :-) |
A few words about South Africa I guess most people know where South Africa is located…after all it is in the name :-) The Republic of South Africa has a population of about 45 million and about 3 million of them live in Joburg. Before I got to know South Africa through Nikki I guess I only knew the basics which can be summarized in keywords such as apartheid, Nelson Mandela, gold and diamonds.
In South Africa it is common with three pronged plugs and it is 220 volts. I bought an adapter at the airport in Frankfurt and that was a real rip of. My advice is of course that you wait until you get to South Africa to buy it...it is much cheaper.
The currency in South Africa is Rand and most of the prices in this trip report with be listed in this currency.
Did you know: Joburg is located at about 1740 meters (5700 feet) above sea level? | | |
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| Pros: | "Kruger park near by, multi cultural experience, Sun City" | | Cons: | "They say there is a lot of crime" | | In A Nutshell: | "A city with a bad reputation but a city that has quite a lot to offer" |
Gard's Johannesburg Travel Tips
 Gard's Johannesburg Travelogues | | | |
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 Comments for Gard about Johannesburg | | | | |
sebblit7 Tue Mar 7, 2006 16:14 UTC
The place is owned by his estranged wife Winnie Mandela and he's not happy about her cashing in on his fame | canuck68 Sun Jul 31, 2005 02:32 UTC
I was interested in your trip to Soweto. Unfortunately, I missed that when I was in Jo'burg. Enjoyed your Jo'burg page very much. Diane | sprdak11 Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:34 UTC
Thanks for help in Cape Town forum. Very interesting travel page! Hilsen fra Szczecin, Poland. | jo3201 Mon Jan 24, 2005 15:52 UTC
Hi. Enjoyed your Jhb page. Going back after a year away, and it will be great to spend time in Jhb as a tourist. |
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