Gold Reef City! Johannesburg...
by varkus
Gold Reef City! Johannesburg was originally 'founded' with the discovery of gold on the Highveld. Gold Reef City gives a great historical perspecvitve. In addition there are live shows (the Zulu dancers are really impressive), various rides, restaurants, casinos and... and... and..
Just go there and see for yourself!
Oh yes, you can also go down a mine shaft and see how gold is mined, The climate is wonderful - hot summers with the most spectacular late afternoon thunder showers. These are definately not for the faint hearted and can be quite frightenong to Europeans especially. Just follow the normal safety precautions and you're in for the show of your life!
During winter there are crips clear mornings with blue sky that goes on for ever. Late in the day it gets warm enough to run around in shorts and a T-shirt; not much of a winter compared to those in the UK, but hey - this is South Africa, the land of perpetual shunshine!
Biltong
by cokes
Well this is a South African Favourite , its dried curried meat. They normally made from game , like Springbok , Kudu , Eland , Ostrich and so forth. They made into dry wors , dried steaks and shreaded pieces.
Be sure to check out the link provided if you want to try and make your own Biltong.
Wondercave
by Gard
From Sterkfontein we drove to Rhino & Lion Nature reserve. At the entrance we paid to get into the Rhino and Lion reserve and to get a tour of a place called Wondercave. This cave belongs to the same system of caves as the Sterkfontein cave but was quite different. Before the tour we relaxed at the little café on the site and we were kept company by an ostrich and a couple of wild boars :-) The tour started by descending quite a few steep steps (45 degree steep) and then we took an elevator down to about 60 meters below the surface. In the enormous cave there were beautiful examples of both stalagmites and stalactites. Some of them were humongous and weighed up to 40 tons according to our guide. The cave was pretty dark and it was hard to take good pictures. It was kept dark to keep the environment as natural as possible
Metro Rail
by cokes
JNB station has been upgrade & I must say it looks kinda nice but its not very safe & I don`t recommend it for any tourist travelling around JNB.
I went to collect a family member of mine at JNB station on Wed 17 Nov 2004 and while looking for him there was 2 people there that was just robbed.
The guys stand at the door of the train , holding the door open with there feet. As the train departs the station they grab your goods and jump off the moving train just as it is about to leave the platform of the station.
My conclusion is that it is NOT a good idea to travel by train in JNB.
Wonderful German fare at bargain prices
by CatherineReichardt about Schwabing Stuben
The Schwabing Stuben is a gem hidden in the depths of Jo'burg's North Western suburbs, so is well off the beaten track for most tourists.
It may come as a surprise to most tourists that Jo'burg has a large German population (I didn't know myself until I married into it!). The Schwabing is a traditional 'stuben' (tavern) run by an Austrian and catering to that ribsticking cultural tradition, and the fact that it is ridiculously affordable is a bonus!
The site has been extended several times and is somewhat higgledy piggedly - all part of the rather ramshackle charm (it's probably not the best choice for a romantic first date)! It now consists of the old restaurant downstairs (slightly dogeared German kitsch decoration that is reminiscent of dining inside a cuckoo clock) and an upper terrace area (which serves the same food as the restaurant, but also offers a pizza-based menu). The terrace area has open air seating and a semi-enclosed terrace which can be closed off in cold/wet weather, and is good for families, as there is some space for kids to play. This area also has a couple of big screen TVs, and the place is packed out when there are big rugby games on. Watching rugby on a big screen in a tavern full of sports-obsessed South Africans is quite a cultural experience, so try and make time for this in the rugby season - usually from February through to July for the hotly contexted Super 14 tournament between teams from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, with international tests scattered throughout the year.
This is an all-year-round venue. The terrace setting (set amid trees) is particularly nice on a warm summer evening. However, I think that the place is at its best in winter (remember that Jo'burg is cool but dry, with glorious clear blue skies in winter), when a tummy full of German soul food makes you feel loved from the inside out!
Service is not the Schwabing's strong point - it is usually slow (especially on the terrace), but then this is a place to linger, so don't stress and just use it as the justification for ordering another beer!
There is off street parking, but be warned that this fills up rapidly if the restaurant is full (eg. for rugby games) - however, they do try to make a plan with neighbouring office complexes to use their parking under such circumstances. Everything! The Hungarian goulash and spatzle (German egg noodles) are a staple, and the wide variety of schnitzels are uniformly good - especially served with their wonderful bratkatoffel (fried potatoes). I like the fried liver served with pan fried onions and apple slices and my kids devour the bratwurst. There are also more esoteric offerings such as Himmel und Arde (black pudding with potato and apple mash) for the more adventurous (much better than it sounds!)
There are also lunch time specials.
Hot cherries with vanilla ice cream are obligatory (my husband insisted on us serving this as pudding at our wedding reception)!
Can't comment on the pizza menu as I have never managed to tear myself away from the German one!
The selection of beer is good - including weissbier - and always icy cold.
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Monument to the 1976 Soweto uprising
Feeding the rainbow lorikeets
The Lion Park
Jacaranda tree
