Quick Turns
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Chocoholics Chocoholics your moment has come. Book a chocolate course at the Lindt Chocolate Academy in The Design Quarter in Fourways. Evening courses are affordable at R200 pp and an original way to celebrate a birthday with a group of friends. Book early as courses fill up quickly. |
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If you have the courage to do so and are accompanied by a group follow this visit with one to Faraday Market where heaps of medicinal plants are sold by individual traders to traditional healers and the public. It’s one of the largest muti markets in the southern hemisphere. The total experience might give you an insight into a different healing tradition. Cost: Donation to volunteer guides. Market is free Metro bus 9 |
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Metro bus 11
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Membership per annum: R220 adult. R85 for students. |
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Take a drive or walk through Sophiatown one afternoon preparatory to booking a tuk tuk tour in Soweto. Opt for the tour of contemporary Soweto. As you are driven through Meadowlands you will see where the people who were forcibly removed from Sophiatown were moved to. It is probably the most vivid and direct experience of how apartheid impacted on a community. If you have never visited a shebeen be prepared to walk into a very unsophisticated authentic small shebeen. It’s fun and very different from the standard tourist view of Soweto. Morning tour @ 10h00 afternoon tours @ 13h00 and 15h00. |
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This is a perfect Sunday itinerary. Start with breakfast at Scusi in Tyrone Ave Parkview, walk to the Westcliff steps which you will find between houses in the middle of Wexford Ave. These will take you up to the top of Westcliff for a fabulous view. Attend the once a month afternoon concerts at Glenshiels hosted by Olde and New. The house belongs to the order of St John’s and is a wonderful example of colonial architecture. Metro bus 27down Jan Smuts and get off before Zoo Lake. |
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Cost R500 |
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Hours are from 17h00-11h00 on Sat and14h30-08h00. Zoo day visits:
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Visit Credo Mutwa’s cultural village in Jabavu Soweto. Built within the Ernest Oppenheimer Park with only volunteers running it, this fascinating insight into the work of a major Zulu Sanusi/sangoma gives a clearer sense of South African culture and historical views than many of the more politicised museums. It is in need of considerable repair but you still get a sense of this extraordinary man and his ‘art brut.’
Sleep all day in preparation for a typical Joburg night. Start with a great meal at The Schwarma Factory in Grant Avenue Norwood then proceed to the Radium Beer Hall, for live music and loads of atmosphere. It was a favourite haunt of one of our greatest writers, Herman Charles Bosman. If you do not have a car then you can bus or taxi down to the Radium which also has a restaurant but then you would be missing out on experiencing some of the best middle eastern food in Jozi.
Visit an Ndebele Village at Mapoch 40 km north of Pretoria and stay the night in one of their brightly decorated huts. It’s a bit difficult to get through to the people who organise this, but it is an attempt at cultural tourism which the local community benefits from.
Join a walk with the Parktown and Westcliff heritage tours and spend an absorbing two to three hours doing anything from touring the remaining Randlord mansions to downtown Johannesburg. The tours vary all the time so becoming a member or checking out their website to find new tours is well worth the effort. This is one organisation that tries very hard to circumvent the Johannesburg passion for erasing its history. It’s an excellent way to explore the history of Jozi if this is your first time in the city.
Organise a group of five or more friends and relive the spirit of Gandhi at Satyagraha House in Pine Road Orchards. This lovely thatch house has been beautifully renovated and extended and you can go there and have yoga lessons plus a meditation in the actual place where Gandhi slept. Vegetarian meals at meat eating prices are also available. You need to book as there is no standard time for lessons – they adapt to suit you. For students it is affordable if you organise a minimum of five in a group. How many places in the world could you meditate in the same room as Gandhi slept in?
Celebrate your birthday or simply the joy of being different with a unique evening at the Zoo. Organise a group of 25 people and camp for the night within the grounds of the zoo. The ‘snooze’ includes a behind the scenes and nightlife tour of the zoo and the evening rounds off with a bonfire. You have to book one month in advance but it’s worth it. For R130 per head and the thrill of waking up to the sounds of the bush in Jozi, you could hardly find a more original way to spend a night in the city. You can book for a Friday or Sat night.
Students who love Jozi thrive on the energy and sense of purpose they get from living in a city where it is possible to get involved with a myriad of organisations. Volunteers and helping hands are wanted for everything from youth hostels to animal shelters. Use your time as a student to learn about society in practical and meaningful ways.
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