It’s hard to believe I’ve been here nearly a month now. Time
is really flying by. I guess long days at the office will do that to you. But I
don’t mind so much because ultimately that’s why I’m here. Despite the long
days at work, I have been using the weekends to explore this crazy metropolis
that I will call home for the remaining 11 months of this assignment.
To get more acquainted with this city, a new coworker and I
took a "Hop on Hop off" bus tour of the city, which was both painfully touristy
and surprisingly fun and informative. I’ve seen these goofy red buses around
other cities, in both Europe and the US, but I’d never actually taken one
myself. It’s a pretty good way to get an introduction to a new city. For those
unfamiliar, the idea is that the buses run on a continuous loop around the city
and stop at certain landmarks, museums, activities, etc, and passengers have
the option of “hopping off” at any given stop to explore further then “hop on”
a different bus later to continue the route.
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| Downtown Joburg Skyline |
As evidenced in the video below, clearly this is the coolest thing you could be doing on a Saturday...
During the drive, there is a prerecorded tour that you can listen to about the areas you are passing through. And I learned a lot about the city. For example, Johannesburg is the largest metropolis in the world that is not situated on a river, lake, or coast. So why, you ask, was this city founded here? Answer: Gold. Some 130 years ago or so, the city of Johannesburg was founded after the discovery of gold on what had been just a farm. A gold rush ensued. And there was A LOT of gold here – apparently about half of the world’s gold was produced here…but production petered out in the 70’s and not a lot of mining happens now in Johannesburg. But, you can actually still see remnants of the old mines while driving around the city – which pretty neat.
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| Old mine shaft |
The surrounding yellow hills that can be seen everywhere in
Johannesburg also have their roots in the old mines. These yellow hills are “gold-mine
dumps” made up of all the rejected sediments and material pulled from beneath
the ground while searching for gold. The yellow sand is high in metals though,
so plants can rarely grow, which is why they almost look like yellow cliffs.
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| Displaced sediment from mining |
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| Gandhi Square |
We only got off at a few stops because of limited time, but the
stops we made were worth it. First, we got off at the National Museum of
Military History, which honestly is not a stop I would normally make. It turned out to be pretty interesting though.
The museum is a little chaotic and disorganized, but it tells the story of
South Africa’s involvement in war, from pre-colonial days through World War II.
Which, truth be told, I was unaware of South Africa’s involvement in either of
the World Wars.
In terms of WWII, although
South Africa was still a British territory at the time, most Afrikaners felt
closer to the Germans given many were of German descent, so there was a large
split on whether to get involved, and which side to support. Eventually, South Africa
did join the war on the side of the Allies, and participated in major battles
in North Africa, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Italy. There are a lot of cool
planes, tanks, and equipment on display at the museum, and many stories of
South African soldiers.
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| Reich Bomber Plane |
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| Each swastika indicates a Bomber shot down by South African forces |
The second stop we got off at was Constitution Hill, which
is currently the home of the Constitutional Court, but back in the day served
as one of South Africa’s most notorious prisons. The prison is now a museum,
but at different times held both Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was arrested
for refusing to carry a pass book and Mandela for his work with the ANC and accusations
of treason. The jail also held South Africa’s famed female serial killer, Daisy
de Melker, who poisoned two husbands and her own son before she was caught,
imprisoned, convicted, and hanged.
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| Climbing Constitution Hill |
The final stop we hopped off at was the World of Beer, for a
tasting of local brews. Although it began as a local brewery named Castle, it’s
now owned by Anheuser-Busch, which is annoying, but the beer still tasted good.
I had a Castle Milk Stout, which was actually my favorite beer while living in
Accra... largely because it was the only dark beer I could find. But I haven’t
had one since! So it was nice to find this beer again.
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| Mmm...beeeeer |
So all in all the Hop on Hop off bus was a success, and gave
me an idea of where I need to go back and explore further.
In other news, I FINALLY moved into my apartment and was
able to unpack for real, which is such a relief. I was so tired of hotel rooms
and living out of my suitcase. And the apartment is really lovely – nice and
open with good natural lighting, in a safe location (stop worrying dad), and
has the best view from the balcony. I’m 11 floors up, so it’s nice and quiet
too, except for the LOUDEST pigeon I have ever come across in my life, who
thinks he owns my balcony and coos obnoxiously outside my window. I’ve named
him Humphrey because he’s a boggart. In the 36 hours I’ve been here, I’ve already
chased him off three times...it’s a battle of wills I intend to win. Damn sky
rat.
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| Kitchen/Dining Room |
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| Living Room |
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| Master Bedroom |
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| Balcony |
The driving lesson also we very well! I have new found respect
for my left hand, which did a wonderful job learning to shift in a short amount
of time. Driving on the opposite side of the road was much easier than I
anticipated. The only challenge I found was backing up, because it feels SO
WEIRD to look over my left shoulder. I also had a little trouble with subconscious
spatial perception on the left side of the car – I tended to drift left a
little, I think because my brain still has me sitting on the left so there shouldn’t
be as much car over there as there is. But I didn’t side swipe anyone or hit
anything on that side. It will just take
a little getting used to. My company car should arrive this week – so I’ll get
to start driving for real, which I am very much looking forward to! Ubering
everywhere has been annoying and a little expensive, but mostly annoying. Although Uber has been in South Africa for
about six years now, Uber drivers still have conflict with the local meter taxi
drivers.
Case in point, yesterday I was at Eastgate Mall to get some
things for my apartment, and literally could not get an Uber to pick me up
there. I tried three different drivers, and none were willing to come to this
particular mall because the meter taxi drivers have staked it out and apparently
will chase off Uber drivers trying to pick someone up. I asked an Uber driver
about this later on after I figured out how to leave, and he told me the taxi
drivers sometimes go so far as vandalizing vehicles suspected of being Ubers.
So I understand why no driver wanted to come pick me up. I don’t know why this
mall in particular is important to the taxis, but it took nearly a half hour to
figure out how to get home. Made a mental note never to go back there without driving
myself…
But, all in all, things are going well! And I’ve got some
fun trips planned over the next month. Up first, Durban! Next weekend. Bring.
Me. The. BEACH. J
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