Joburg, Jozi, Engoli, Gauteng Maboneng a.k.a. Johannesburg

Recently, I made my first visit to Johannesburg, South Africa (Joberg). I had been to Africa in the past and was interested to see and compare. A country of approximately 47 million people, South Africa is approximately 80% black, 9% white and the rest mixed or Asian. Joberg has a population of about 4 million. Unemployment in South Africa runs about 40% with slightly less unemployment in Joburg so many people are seen at intersections and elsewhere begging or selling all manner of items. There appears to be quite a large underground economy of transportation and commerce the officially unemployed use to meet basic needs. South Africa has a well developed infrastructure, especially in cities like Joburg but neglect and lack of planning are resulting in decay of same and periods of planned electrical shutdowns (power shedding) have to be planned for in daily life. All the tourist sites, while encouraging people to visit Joburg, have strong warnings about crime in the city so I was a little unsure what to expect from that standpoint. While there are reports of high crime, bars on windows, guards and controlled access to almost all businesses, it is not unusually so when compared to other similar cities.

Arriving at the airport, I was suppose to have a car arranged, however that did not materialize and I had some time to survey my surroundings where the temperature seemed a little cool to me as April in the southern hemisphere is approximately like October on the other side of the equator. Though no one was able to identify how to contact my local transportation (including those in Dubai who had arranged it) I was struck by the friendliness of black South Africans in the airport who helped me find alternate transportation.

I had a suite with a balcony overlooking a lake at the Courtyard Eastgate which was complete with kitchen. The hotel offers "room service" frozen foods as well as grocery service to stock your kitchen. Due to the lake there were a number of ducks and other birds on the property. As the South African winter is approaching, I was surprised at the number of young birds that were seen. However with an average low of 42F not occurring until June and July, perhaps there is still time to mature and migrate or even just stay the winter.

Though Courtyard Eastgate uses the same logo as Courtyard Marriott it is apparently a separate company. Prices were cheap by European or Middle Eastern standards with the room going for approximately $100. A nice four course dinner in a restaurant could be had for about $30.00 including wine.

The Joburg area is hilly with natural hills and those made from the mine spoils of the early gold mining days. Vegetation grows on the spoils (heaps) but wetting down the heaps during the dry winters is necessary to geek the dust down. Many of the old heaps are now being cut down and re-processed to reclaim gold that could not be processed using older methods.

As the week progressed, the weather improved each day until by the end of the week “perfection” is the word that comes to mind with nighttime temperatures in the high 60’s to low 70’s and daytime in the 80’s with sunny blue skies. I can’t wait till the next trip when I can possibly tie in a safari trip Kruger National Park!