Johannesberg

burnedfaceman

Im off to Johannesberg (Sandton) next week to see lions second test. I plan on going to see Soweto and would love to see a game reserve too. Was wondering if anyone had recommendations of things to see in do in Joburg or near it.

LaMer

I've been there twice, albeit only for a day each time, but I'll be over in joburg for a couple of days at the start of a trip to watch the 3rd Lions test, don't have tickets but I figured it'd be great to stick around Joburg for some great atmosphere and the hostel we're prob staying in is near Ellis park.

From the times I've been there I managed to squeeze in quite alot, and also have researched some stuff which can be done in and around joburg/pretoria.
a) The Apartheid museum is very interesting, if you're going to soweto I'd say a trip to this would be interesting, since the struggle centred around soweto and soweto was a direct consequence of apartheid and forced removal, its very eye opening and some great views of Johannesburg from outside of it.
b) If you want to do some safari-ing theres a national park about 2 hours outside of the city near sun city, Philanesburg NP, which is a large crater now used for conservation, I went about2 years ago and didn't see much but did manage to see a lion hunt on a night drive and also some cubs, but I've heard it's usually good for sightings, and it's a big 5 reserve anyway.
c) near philanesburg (as far as i remember) theres a Lion Ranch, where they breed lions fro Zoos/private reserves etc., the great thing was you could pick up the lion cubs and feed them, and also some of the larger cubs. if you're lucky you could also see them feeding the adults!
d) if you can't find that place/don't go to Philanesburg, there's a lion park between Joburg and Pretoria, might give it a visit one of the days myself, crazy that that they have something so close to the biggest city in Southern Africa. Website: http://www.lion-park.com/home2.htm
e) Pretoria is meant to be a nice tranquil break from Joburg, hoping to visit for a day or so myself if we stay long enough.

Do you have a ticket for the test? Really hoping I can pick one up if it's 2-0 to the Boks! ANyway hope that helps.

burnedfaceman

cheers thanks for the advice. Yeah im off to the 2nd tests got tickets through a package. this may seem a stupid question but whats the best way to get arounsd to see sites? is there tour operators or are taxis/buses the way to go?

LaMer

Ah i figured you were self drive. Yeah I'd say taxis, some buses go through dodgy areas and I'm not exactly sure of which route goes where, but if it's anything like cape town the main metro buses will have their destination in the window, don't think they do it by numbers like here but I could be wrong. The best thing I found was to ask in my accom was taxi the way to go or would a bus bring us from nearby. I got a taxi from Dunkeld West to the Apartheid museum and that took about 30 minutes, Johannesburg really is a sprawling city. Luckily some companies run the soweto tour and apartheid museum in the same package.

It's possible to do all this with taxis, but if you wanted to go out to Philanesburg and Sun City the best option would be a tour group, what do you have organised for soweto? I would recommend to do that as part of a group! Just did a quick google and got this place for sandton; http://www.city-discovery.com/johannesburg/tour.php?id=1193

What type of accom are you staying in, if you don't mind me asking, alot of accomodation (backpackers anyway) have travel centres which organise trips in the locale, or can point you in the right direction.

burnedfaceman

thanks again for advice, that website was exactly what i was looking for! Staying in a hotel in sandton

cfitz

Hi guys,

I posted the message below a few days ago, but it fell off the first page really quickly. If any of you could help me on this I'd very much appreciate it. Sorry for the hijack!

Hi all,

My wife and I are flying in to Johannesburg as a means of getting to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park (on the border with Namibia and Botswana). We will be renting a car or 4x4 for the few days while we're visiting the park. But I'm finding it difficult to figure out the best way of getting from Johannesburg to Kgalagadi.

We could get a bus most of the way and then hire a car.
Or we could fly to Uppington and then hire a car.
Perhaps we could rent a car in Johannesburg and drive the whole way.

We are on a very tight budget but we have plenty of time on our hands, so I'm hoping to find a cheap and not to stressful way of getting there. At the moment, I think a bus is the best option for us? I've heard really bad things about Johannesburg, so any extra advice about how to get out of their quickly or avoid hassle is appreciated also!

Hope someone can help.
Thanks!

TravelJunkie

southafrica.net is the website of the SA tourist board.

Their offices are in London, you could email them there and they could send you a pack of who does Soweto tours. It is not advisable to go by yourself.

Pilansberg is very nice, there are also many other similar private game reserves north of Pretoria - warmbaths bala bala area. (east of pilansberg as the crow flies)

Driving is the best way to get around, but take safety precautions. Doors locked at all times and no hanbags / valuables in sight. Also, don't stop for anyone or keep driving if a rock is thrown at you.
Taxi's are unreliable. At least with a car, you have transport on demand. Driving is on the same side as here.

If you're into Gambling or golf, then sun city is the place. It also has a good waterpark. There is a nature conservation area nearby that does day and night safari.

TravelJunkie

cfitz wrote: »

Hi guys,

I posted the message below a few days ago, but it fell off the first page really quickly. If any of you could help me on this I'd very much appreciate it. Sorry for the hijack!

Which part of the Park are you in? It would be best to go via the country you're staying in. The most direct route I see on the map is via Windhoek in Namibia, and then, your option of Uppington - although the roads are questionable, if any. Driving there from JHB will be a big mission because it is a very roundabout way of getting there.

What I would do is hire a helicopter to get there, but budget wise...

If you go via Windhoek or another Namibia town, make sure you have all you need paperwork wise, although I don't think there are issues.

The people you've booked the national park with (I assume you're staying somewhere there?) Don't they have suggestions on transfers?

tipex

LaMer wrote: »

Do you have a ticket for the test? Really hoping I can pick one up if it's 2-0 to the Boks! ANyway hope that helps.

I'm going on tuesday for test 2 and 3, i got my tickets through operator but computicket.co.za have tickets on sale now. Work out about €103, it's kinda their equivalent of ticketmaster

cfitz

TravelJunkie wrote: »

Which part of the Park are you in? It would be best to go via the country you're staying in. The most direct route I see on the map is via Windhoek in Namibia, and then, your option of Uppington - although the roads are questionable, if any. Driving there from JHB will be a big mission because it is a very roundabout way of getting there.

What I would do is hire a helicopter to get there, but budget wise...

If you go via Windhoek or another Namibia town, make sure you have all you need paperwork wise, although I don't think there are issues.

The people you've booked the national park with (I assume you're staying somewhere there?) Don't they have suggestions on transfers?

Haven't booked my stay in the park yet, coz I need to decide exactly how long it's going to take to get there from Johannesburg. I think it's Nossob (SA) that we will be staying in. I'm hoping to go to Namibia immediately after my visit to the park, so Windhoek would be the ideal starting point, but it doesn't look viable with my budget.

LaMer

tipex wrote: »

I'm going on tuesday for test 2 and 3, i got my tickets through operator but computicket.co.za have tickets on sale now. Work out about €103, it's kinda their equivalent of ticketmaster

I just saw that yesterday, a big drop from the 200 euro odd it was a couple months ago, but still out of many South African price ranges, the whole pricing has been a disgrace, but I'd still love to secure a ticket, I arrive in joburg on the 2nd and leave for Kruger park and swaziland on the 6th. I think that computicket only accepts SA credit cards (I tried booking tickets on it before), so I'll have to arrange something before I go.

Otherwise its beers while watching it on the bigscreen open air in Montecasino! Either way I cannot wait!