20th to 23rd
April 2011
South Africa
Day Trip to Johannesburg - The Origins Museum, the JoBurg Museum, the traffic and a rooftop bar.
This was a first for both of us, actually delving into downtown
JoBurg! The traffic is unbelievable
where passage through an intersection is by brutal pushiness, not traffic
lights! We stood on street corners
amazed that the gridlocks resolved themselves.
Even on the footpath we were at risk as numerous stormwater pit covers
have been “lifted” and sold for scrap…leaving gaping holes in the heavily
trafficked footpath. How would you ever
walk the streets and survive in the dark?
Our first destination was the Origins Museum at Wits University,
which presents current thinking about the origins of species Homo Sapiens. The word is that all our DNA sheets back to
two original tribes in Southern Africa…the Bushmen. It was most enlightening and well presented.
Johannesburg Museum presented an historical view of life in that
city, originally a small mining town, over the past 200 years including the
impacts of apartheid.
Deciding to avoid a trip home in peak hour melee, we were lucky
to sneak a peek at the city roofscape from a bar atop a refurbished highrise,
then when traffic calmed a little we scooted back to Pretoria for dinner at a
delightful French restaurant, La Madeleine.
Full of theatre and good food, our “last supper” with M&M was lots
of fun! We left for London the next day.
