Johannesburg

Our final stop in Africa is Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa, and the financial capital of the continent.  We have three days here, and we've spent the last two exploring the area.

First of all, about Johannesburg itself.  We are staying in a nice area called Parkhurst, in a bed-and-breakfast.  There is one street here - 4th St. - that has a lot of activity: good restaurants, artsy shops, markets and the like.  It spans about five blocks, and is easily walkable.  To get anywhere else, you need to call a taxi. Public transit here is mostly an afterthought. Many people compare Johannesburg to New York city.

There is the aura of high security here. Every house has either electrified fencing, razor wire, or sometimes both.  We've been warned not to get into certain kinds of taxis.  Some of the cabbies we've talked to refuse to drive at night.  We've felt safe in our neighborhood, but clearly there are places one should not venture into.

On our first day, we hired a driver and drove an hour outside of town to Matopeng - also known as the "cradle of civilization".  It was here that many of the skeletons of human ancestors were discovered, and they've commemorated the area with an excellent museum of anthropology. We learned about the first continent, which was a combination of all the continents before the plates below started shifting. I also didn't know that the earth has had five mass extinctions, each one roughly five million years apart.  The countryside driving out to Matopeng was beautiful as well.

Also - the morning before Matopeng, there was a local Saturday market right around the corner from us. I walked over, and bought some excellent soups and breads for the family.  There were some youth rugby games going on in the background. It was a nice slice of Johannesburg life.

On our second day, we ventured into town to an every-Sunday event called "Art on Main". This was a packed venue, with a lot of food vendors surrounding some art galleries.  The crowd was mostly white, but definitely not exclusively so.  I enjoyed an Ethiopian plate with sponge bread, but there were a lot of other options to choose from, including Thai, Indian, Paella, Argentinian and more.  Plus, there were a few areas to but alcoholic drinks.  It was a happening place to be, and the kids put up with us while we socialized with our friends.

Art on Main market in Johannesburg