Johannesburg

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Today, we were on our own to implement a plan Fikret and Paula suggested. Fikret dropped us off at the Hatfield train station in Pretoria on his way to work. At the ticket window inside, we restocked two transit cards that Paula had lent us with round-trips to Rosebank (in Johannesburg) and back. We boarded the train minutes before its departure and the 45-minute trip went smoothly. After disembarking and emerging from the train station, we looked for a kiosk for the Hop on – Hop off site-seeing bus. I remembered that Paula said it was across the street from a McDonalds and I could the Golden Arches 4-5 blocks down the road. We walked there circumventing numerous road construction barriers but could not find the kiosk. After obtaining directions from a local, we headed back toward the train station and sure enough down a side street was another McDonalds and our sought-after kiosk. 

At the kiosk, we were disappointed to learn that the one site that we had wanted to hop off at, the Apartheid Museum, was closed on Mondays & Tuesdays. We purchased tickets for the combined Green & Red Tours that lasts 2.5 hours and includes 14 stops. Buses circulate on roughly one-hour intervals so that hop offs last for hourly increments. We decided that the one stop we were interested in and knew was safe, was the zoo, and felt that a two-hour visit there would be fun.

After purchasing our tickets, we had about 50 minutes to wait so we walked though a nearby upscale mall and then stopped at a Krispy Kreme for coffee. (I also had a donut that only cost a nickel!) We returned to the kiosk, Jane had a conversation with one of the attendants who could speak seven languages, we were led to the nearby bus, and boarded. Jane & I selected seats in the upper deck on the left side as advised by Paula. 

For the next couple of hours, we enjoyed traveling around Jo’burg with narration that we received through plug-in ear pieces that were provided. The sites ran the gamut: government buildings, Mandela’s home when president, a casino resort, upscale neighborhoods with fenced-in homes, poor neighborhoods, etc. South Africa is having power problems and routine “power shedding” events where the electricity is cut off routinely happened. (Fortunately, the campus were Fikret lives has a back-up generator that turns the power back on a few minutes after the start of a power shedding period.) On our tour, the traffic signals in various locations were not working but amazingly, the traffic calmly regulated itself even at busy intersections. The many perspectives on the city were interesting. Although the narrative spun a progressively improving present and future, it was obvious that the city overall is struggling to emerge from its past inequalities and current challenges despite islands of progress and modernity. 

Jo’burg I

Jo’burg II

Jo’burg III

Abandoned Train Yard

Jane and I hopped off at the next-to-last stop of the tour, the Johannesburg Zoo. Neither of us are fond of cities so that it was refreshing to escape to a more natural environment and to be able to walk about free from traffic and civil tensions. So, we relaxed and enjoyed our pre-safari acquaintance with animals from South Africa and the rest of the world. The number of species was impressive and the animals mostly seemed healthy and content. After our time allotment expired, we hopped back onto our bus and continued the brief remainder of the ride to Rosebank where we disembarked from the bus and then submerged ourselves into the train station to start our return trip to the Hatfield Station in Pretoria.

The Johannesburg Zoo

Mandarin Duck

Bird of Paradise

White Rhinoceros

Zebra

Bontebok

African Buffalo

Giraffes hanging with a Short-Necker

Arabian Oryx

Feeding Elephant

Black & White Ruffed Lemur

Butterfly Girl and other Wildlife

Our Hop Off Stop

Another Excellent Dinner Revue