Southern Sun Grayston Sandton

After 15 hours in the air, we were all a little bit delirious really. Even landing in Johannesburg didn't provide the anticipated culture shock. Once we gathered our bags and changed our dollars to rand we shot off into the night headed for Soweto. Johannesburg (which houses over 8 million people according to our guide) wasn't unlike other US cities we knew well as storefronts and billboards blurred by us ...

... and electronic lock-start systems. Simply getting your car onto the street outside your house is a cumbersome process. Property fences, though beautiful and artistically built, are high and most have an electric fence on top. Security is your major concern, though once you are inside and locked in, there is a relaxed feeling. My brother, as well as most South Africans, I'm sure, has a number of firearms. Children are exposed to them and trained early on ...

... hitting you in the face when you look up at the sky. plus, the shooting stars happen every time you blink. when we were in the wild coast, we were in the middle of nowhere so the stars were at their brightest since we didn't have big city lights shining in the sky. it's amazing how long you can spend looking at the sky. i can't explain what it's like to look up and actually see a galaxy. words cannot describe. so right now, we are ...

... zimbabwe and had no way to contact anyone. Alil had another surgery on saturday to clear out the infection and was intubated saturday night but was off the vent on sunday. I got here Sunday after multiple break downs and the longest 2 days of my life! Alli is still in ICU but is doing AMAZING! She looks great and today is talkative and in her chair. She is so strong and is fighting through everything. We are hoping she will be out of ICU tomorrow and out of the hospital ...

... walls the history of South Africa's apartheid is documented in compelling detail. A brilliant museum, from which, we both learnt how ignorant we really were of this area of history- anyone visiting South Africa should try and make this a port of call. We left, now very jet lagged, with lots of new knowledge, but with hundreds of new questions. Happily the next day we were took a tour during which we had the opportunity to begin to ask some of them. With our driver and tour ...

... a certain Nelson Mandela now resides. From the top of the Carlton Centre the highest viewpoint in Jo'burg we had a panoromic view of all sides of the city, the mounds of earth evidence of the gold mining that Jo'burg was founded upon, and in the distance we could just about Soweto. So we had a pretty un-traditional Christmas Eve but we made up for it in the evening, the Hotel had a lavish Christmas dinner, with all the usual trimmings, and of course the ...

... The bus station is smack downtown but hostels and hotels do pick you up. Today was my first full day in Jo'burg and it was unforgettable. Jo'burg is a city of 6 million but many more millions live in the townships surrounding the city. One of the most famous townships is Soweto (an acronym for South West Townships). It was where a lot of anti-apartheid leaders lived including Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu among many others. There are many tours ...

... the growth of green algae which are already to be found on some rock surfaces. For the more adventurous there is a longer tour which goes much deeper into the caves. At a spot called the letter box there is a very tight squeeze through the rock. It is only for the "lean." We saw a few people returning from the deeper tour. They were drenched in sweat. Back at the lodge for lunch we ate our usual sandwiches inside our chalet. Kristal ...

I'm getting used to talking to people. It's all about pictures - you have to keep them interested. That makes at least number six of the year. Not bad for an lowely PhD student me thinks. Anyway, take my advice. Don't drive to Johannesburg if you can help it. It is only for the weary and the nutcases. Acknowledgements:.........

... more importantly, very safe. South African cities do not have a good record when it comes to crime so we were wary about walking around after dark, but Hatfield is great with lots of bars and restaurants and we felt fine walking back to the backpackers after a nice meal out and a drink. We found a great internet place, run by Chinese people and, weirdly, like some of the internet places we used in China - in fact, if we sat with our backs to the door we could have been ...