This post arrives quite late, but since December 19th, Laura is here in Johannesburg with me !
I went to fetch her at the airport with the Gautrain, and we came back with a rented car that I had booked online.
For her (and for me), it is not vacations ! But we still try to enjoy some visits and activities in Johannesburg.
View of the city from Northcliff
The first thing we did was to go to Northcliff and enjoy the nice view on the city. The weather and visibility were great !
I had been there some time before, and I had taken some panoramic views ... The pictures below are of lower quality (otherwise, it's several Mo per picture !), but still you can get an idea of the view we had !
Note : I made the above pictures with Hugin, a very simple, easy-to-use and free software ...
A braai
One very typical thing to do here, especially in the summer (but not only), is a braai, which is the local equivalent of a barbecue. I noticed that South Africans take it very seriously ! I'm sorry for my vegetarian friends and relatives, but here a braai is with meat, lots of meat. Sometimes, you are allowed to put some corn, but usually the only non-meat ingredient is the bread.
For me, it was my first braai (as the host, I mean) ! We had invited Simon and his family.
For Laura it was also her first boerewors, this famous sausage that all South Africans abroad try to find, or even make themselves !
City parks
We also went to some city parks, but for Laura this means ... running !
Apartheid Museum
We tried to visit the Apartheid Museum. In fact, we arrived there a bit late (past 3pm), and here the museums usually close early (5pm), so we did not have time to visit it all. They say on the website that we should count 2 hours for the visit, but this is really if you do it running ! So, it was a bit frustrating, but at least we could see part of it (I had talked about this museum here in a previous post).
But last Friday we took the whole day to do some visits ! The program was : Lion Park, Maropeng and Sterkfontein, if we have time.
Lion Park
The Lion Park is something half way between a zoo and a game park. You have a nice part where herbivores are living more or less freely (they are not in cages or closed areas), but it's of course much smaller than a game reserve :
We were in that part of the park very early (8:30), and we were the only car, so the viewing was perfect. At some point we saw all animals running in one direction, and they looked very stressed, and some birds were gathering in some other place as well ... All this indicated the presence of a predator, but in the herbivore part, they are not supposed to be there : the lions and cheetah are in separate places.
This giraffe was very curious and looking in the same direction as the other animals
And indeed, we also got closer and we found that :
So, there was actually a cheetah in the middle of the herbivore section ! It had a kill (unfortunately we missed the hunting ...). We asked ourselves if it was really supposed to happen, as in this part of the park, you are allowed to have windows open, and people can even do the visit on a Segway ! There is also the picnic area, relatively open. Our guess is that a guide on a Segway saw the cheetah and warned the people of the park, so they came to take it back to its place. We are still not sure the presence of the cheetah there was wanted (to give some thrill to the herbivores and let the cheetah do some sports !), or if it had somehow escaped (this seems unlikely, but who knows !). Anyway, the rangers came and it was very funny to see the giraffe really going very close to see what was happening !
Then we went to the lions section, and it is really impressive how close you can get to them ! Better not open the window ...
There is a beautiful male, sitting there with 2 females and 3 younger ones. His favorite activity seems to be sleeping and yawning !
In another part, there are some white lions :
And in yet another part, more lions ... from even closer ! At some point, we were more or less surrounded by (female) lions and we could basically not move the car ...
Then we went to the last two sections, one with wild dogs ...
... and one with cheetah (they still had the kill we saw earlier !)
The Lion Park also allows you to touch the lion cubs (while they're sleeping !) ...
... to feed a giraffe ...
... and to observe suricates !
So, we spent half day in the Lion Park, starting just when it opens, and it was a nice visit. Of course it's nothing like a real game reserve, but it is a good compromise if you don't have time to go to a game reserve, as it is better than a zoo (in my opinion). And at least, you are sure you will see lions and cheetah and others, from very close !
The Cradle of Humankind
As I had already mentioned in an earlier post, there is a region North-West of Johannesburg called the Cradle of Humankind, where lots of fossils of hominids have been discovered. We visited both the Maropeng museum and the Sterkfontein caves, which makes an overall interesting visit : the museum is quite entertaining (it is especially suited for children), and the caves are interesting.
Then we left, as we were quite tired already. It had been a long day, but at 6 we were already back in Johannesburg. We were so lucky with the weather, as the forecast said it would rain and even T-storm, but we didn't have a single drop of rain until we got back in Joburg ! But then, it rained really, really heavily.
The next article will be a Xmas (and post-Xmas) post !
("post-Xmas post" sounds terrible ...)
I went to fetch her at the airport with the Gautrain, and we came back with a rented car that I had booked online.
For her (and for me), it is not vacations ! But we still try to enjoy some visits and activities in Johannesburg.
View of the city from Northcliff
The first thing we did was to go to Northcliff and enjoy the nice view on the city. The weather and visibility were great !
I had been there some time before, and I had taken some panoramic views ... The pictures below are of lower quality (otherwise, it's several Mo per picture !), but still you can get an idea of the view we had !
 |
| The Northern suburbs of Johannesburg |
 |
| The city center |
A braai
One very typical thing to do here, especially in the summer (but not only), is a braai, which is the local equivalent of a barbecue. I noticed that South Africans take it very seriously ! I'm sorry for my vegetarian friends and relatives, but here a braai is with meat, lots of meat. Sometimes, you are allowed to put some corn, but usually the only non-meat ingredient is the bread.
For me, it was my first braai (as the host, I mean) ! We had invited Simon and his family.
 |
| Braai, including the typical boerewors |
City parks
We also went to some city parks, but for Laura this means ... running !
 |
| Even here, Laura goes running ... I was just waiting near the lake, with a book (and a camera ;-) ) |
Apartheid Museum
We tried to visit the Apartheid Museum. In fact, we arrived there a bit late (past 3pm), and here the museums usually close early (5pm), so we did not have time to visit it all. They say on the website that we should count 2 hours for the visit, but this is really if you do it running ! So, it was a bit frustrating, but at least we could see part of it (I had talked about this museum here in a previous post).
But last Friday we took the whole day to do some visits ! The program was : Lion Park, Maropeng and Sterkfontein, if we have time.
Lion Park
The Lion Park is something half way between a zoo and a game park. You have a nice part where herbivores are living more or less freely (they are not in cages or closed areas), but it's of course much smaller than a game reserve :
 |
| Waterucks ? |
 |
| Wildebeest ? |
 |
| Zebras |
 |
| Ostrich |
 |
| A giraffe drinking |
We were in that part of the park very early (8:30), and we were the only car, so the viewing was perfect. At some point we saw all animals running in one direction, and they looked very stressed, and some birds were gathering in some other place as well ... All this indicated the presence of a predator, but in the herbivore part, they are not supposed to be there : the lions and cheetah are in separate places.
 |
| These are Louis's friends ;-) |
And indeed, we also got closer and we found that :
 |
| Cheetah (guépard) |
 |
| Here the rangers are facing the cheetah with the car (and making noise with wood sticks), and the giraffe is watching ! |
Then we went to the lions section, and it is really impressive how close you can get to them ! Better not open the window ...
There is a beautiful male, sitting there with 2 females and 3 younger ones. His favorite activity seems to be sleeping and yawning !
In another part, there are some white lions :
And in yet another part, more lions ... from even closer ! At some point, we were more or less surrounded by (female) lions and we could basically not move the car ...
 |
| Look how big she is compared to the car ! |
 |
| This may mean : "don't pass", and we just waited ! :-) |
... and one with cheetah (they still had the kill we saw earlier !)
The Lion Park also allows you to touch the lion cubs (while they're sleeping !) ...
... to feed a giraffe ...
... and to observe suricates !
So, we spent half day in the Lion Park, starting just when it opens, and it was a nice visit. Of course it's nothing like a real game reserve, but it is a good compromise if you don't have time to go to a game reserve, as it is better than a zoo (in my opinion). And at least, you are sure you will see lions and cheetah and others, from very close !
The Cradle of Humankind
As I had already mentioned in an earlier post, there is a region North-West of Johannesburg called the Cradle of Humankind, where lots of fossils of hominids have been discovered. We visited both the Maropeng museum and the Sterkfontein caves, which makes an overall interesting visit : the museum is quite entertaining (it is especially suited for children), and the caves are interesting.
 |
| In the "4 elements tunnel" in Maropeng |
Then we left, as we were quite tired already. It had been a long day, but at 6 we were already back in Johannesburg. We were so lucky with the weather, as the forecast said it would rain and even T-storm, but we didn't have a single drop of rain until we got back in Joburg ! But then, it rained really, really heavily.
The next article will be a Xmas (and post-Xmas) post !
("post-Xmas post" sounds terrible ...)
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