SALLY GAULE PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION A superb Johannesburg exhibition ends on Saturday 10th October. If you are local get there if you can. If you are an international traveler, contact Sally Thompson of The Thompson Gallery in Melville (011-482-2039) for access to Sally Gaule’s photographs of Johannesburg. The Jo’burg Gini takes its title from the Gini coefficient […]
ALEXANDRA TOWNSHIP Alexandra Township, commonly known as Alex is a mere 4 km from the heart of the wealthy CBD of Sandton. Home to some 350-400,000 people it covers an area of about 28 square km. (Compare this to Soweto’s +/- 150 sq kms and ca 1.7 million people.) Present day Alex is divided roughly […]
UPDATE FROM LIZ AT LANCASTER There has been a long silence on my blog as I was out of action for a couple of weeks in September. So energy levels coming back and lots to catch up on. The rains have come, the days are crisp and clear with new spring shoots washed and sparkling, […]
SWARTKRANS CRADLE OF HUMANKIND WHERE EARLY USE OF FIRE HAS BEEN FOUND Another great opportunity here in Jozi. Yesterday, two friends and I visited Swartkrans, near Sterkfontein in the Cradle of Humankind. What a wonderful day! One of South Africa’s 8 World Heritage sites, the Cradle is rich with fossil-bearing cave deposits spread over 13 different […]
ISS VISIBLE FROM SOUTH AFRICA 30/08/09 The following was taken from the Johannesburg Planetarium’s newsletter (28/08/09) The International Space Station (ISS) passes directly over South Africa on Sunday evening (Aug 30th) – possibly accompanied by the shuttle Discovery! Discovery is scheduled to launch Friday evening (SA time) to deliver crew and equipment to the orbiting […]
TRADITIONAL BEADED CLOTHS FROM LIMPOPO PROVINCE I have had the privilege of being provided with beautifully handcrafted cloths, intricately decorated with beads and safety pins to sell to guests. Through a guest staying here at the guest house I met up again with Mbhanyele Jameson Maluleke, whom I had first met whilst I was still at […]
WALTER SISULU BOTANICAL GARDENS Yes we are spoilt. South Africa faces so many challenges, challenges with which both locals and the rest of the world are ALL too familiar. However a day like this last Sunday makes up for a lot. In the spring, SAPPI a very large paper making public company, generously sponsors concerts […]
ON SAFARI IN KRUGER PARK Little beats a week-end in the bush. Spent 4 nights in the Kruger National Park in early August at a bush camp called Talamati in the central area of the Park, west of the big main camp Satara. August is the best time for the Kruger Park as it is […]
HISTORY OF CRAIGHALL PARK ‘Craighall Park Township, which forms the northern boundary of the Johannesburg Municipality, is one of the beauty spots of the Rand. .. The business man finds in the exhilarating air a peace and calmness, which are part of the place, a restorative to the nerves.’ Rural Escape No, this is not […]
THE BARBICAN BUILDING CNR PRESIDENT AND RISSIK STS 702 Talk Show host Jenny Crwys-Williams, had several conversations and interviews last week around the state of the Barbican building, a heritage resource in the Central CBD of Joburg. Since leaving Wits University in 2005, where in my latter years I headed up a newly-established post-graduate division […]