Bisou de partout: AFRICA - Part 1 Johannesburg South Africa

Robin’s sister-in-law, Nancy, was at Johannesburg airport to meet us and although we were able to leave the airport a very short time after landing, we experienced our first taste of South African traffic on our way to the house at 7am! Between crazy taxi drivers (where in the world are taxi drivers NOT crazy?), bottlenecks on the highways (which, by the way, are beautiful roads!), and then an assortment of people at the intersections who may or may not be dangerous (many sell things or beg, but some actually hold up drivers for cash or jewelry), we were happy to see the front gate of Nancy’s home when we arrived.

My first impression of Johannesburg was that really it was not so different from any other large city, with the usual suburbs, shopping centres, petrol stations, etc. What is different is that the houses all have high walls with electric wires above them, remote controlled gate entrances, and many have a guard on duty 24/7. You don’t see people walking through the suburbs and everyone drives with their windows up and auto-lock on. Not that you feel unsafe in any way, but we are warned to always be careful and not show any signs of wealth (I removed my gold necklace and watch before heading out to the shopping centre). We visited the travel agency who had booked our Botswana trip and had to pass through not only a security door at the entrance to the building but also a heavy metal grille gate to enter the office. All just little hints that one has to be alert to potential problems.

South Africa has a fascinating if troubled history and although many people, including my brother and sister-in-law, live here quite happily with no problems whatsoever, it is a lifestyle that comes with a cost. For my family, they have choices – another passport which enables them to leave whenever they choose (albeit potentially at a financial cost since they own and operate a business here in Johannesburg) – most do not have this luxury.

Negatives aside, there is much that is wonderful about South Africa and we were about to experience it first-hand.

No sooner had we arrived in Johannesburg, had the chance to shower and change from our travel-weary clothing, we were whisked away to a friend's farm about 4 hours' drive from the city. It was a time-share arrangement and the couple who had the house for the weekend had invited Nick, Nancy and ourselves, together with another couple. We were 8 all together and the ladies had organised a meal roster so that no one couple had to do everything. There were staff on the premises who did the washing up (what a treat!) so all we had to do was relax. The countryside was beautiful and there was a lovely stream running through the property which had some waterfalls that were perfect for bathing in. We spent the weekend, eating, drinking, walking and swimming. What a great way to get over jet lag!