Pretoria... close enough to Joburg

The other day, I went on a day trip to Pretoria. We caught the Gautrain to Pretoria CBD and then took a walk to various historical buildings and museums.
 
We started with Melrose House, built in 1886 and where the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed to end the Second Anglo Boer War. They have a lot of the original furnishings and the furniture and decor that was damaged in a bomb blast in the 1990's have been restored to replicate the originals. It's a gorgeous old house, just my style!
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
From there we went across to Burgers Park. It's beautiful and green, with winding pathways, a playground, bandstand, fish pond and florarium. There is a tropical garden and desert garden in the florarium.

A couple blocks away is the National Museum of Natural History. As with most of the South African museums, this can't compete with the international museums. It is in desperate need of a refurbishment and update (some of the exhibits still refer to the Transvaal!). Their bird exhibit is impressive, with a huge selection of birds. Some of the exhibits are a bit strange like a leopard eating a Taung man and a Taung child staring at an imaginary eagle.
 
The building itself is beautiful and the staff are very friendly. It's worth the visit but try not to compare it to other international museums.
 
From there we took a walk through the very busy CBD to Church Square. It was a bit weird for me to see so many people in Army camo just walking around - we don't get that in Joburg! There were also a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses handing out The Watchtower and with stands set up to sell their religion.
 

Church Square is surrounded by beautiful historical buildings. There is the Old Netherlands Bank (now Nedbank), Palace of Justice (the High Court), the Old Reserve Bank and Old Mutual Building to name a few. We had lunch at Café Riche, built in 1902 and a National Monument. At the moment, Paul Kruger street has been dug up so it's a bit of a mess.  
We went into the Palace of Justice though there weren't any cases being heard. This is where the Rivonia Treason Trial was heard and where the Oscar trial is happening now.Security told us no pictures, so of course I had to take some! The architecture is amazing, with pressed dome ceilings, stained glass windows and marble everywhere. 
 
If you go around to the front of the Court, you'll recognise it from the Oscar trial.
 

 

 

And that was the trip... we caught the bus back to the station and came back home. It was an awesome day out and we got to play tourist for a day, half an hour from home!

 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 

The best burger in Joburg (in my humble opinion)

I am loving burgers at the moment! Not too much, but just enough so that I don’t get too chunky. This is just my (humble) opinion about the best places to get one in the northern suburbs of Joburg.

The Wolfpack – Parkhurst

I love Parkhurst. And I now love the Wolfpack. Besides their great burgers, they have a huge selection of Craft Beer (another new hobby of mine – it’s surprising I weigh 20 kgs more). You need to book and they have seating down and upstairs. You’ll find it on 4^th Ave, where Georges on 4^th used to be.

The last burger I had there was the Big Bad Wolf. It was AMAZING! So saucy and messy and delicious! Their fries are also great as are the wasabi onion rings.

 

RocoMamas – Randburg

Lucky for me this is about 2 kms from my house (Appletons Village, Malibongwe Drive), should a burger craving kick in. And guess what… they also have Craft Beer.

My favourite thing here is that you can build your own burger – as indecisive as I am, I still like to make my own choices.

Us 3 Musketeers went there the other night for a girls catch up dinner. We shared the ribs to start – YUM! – and then I had the Classic Cheese with extra blue cheese dressing and guacamole. It was super scrumptious!

The manager told us that all of the ingredients are sourced fresh and they make everything themselves like the burger patties, sauces etc. Always a plus for me!

 

Great Burger Company (GBC) – Fourways

GBC is about 1 km form work for me (The Buzz Centre, Witkoppen Drive). This is where is go once in while on a Friday (take out lunch day). It’s also a build your own burger place. The biggest difference with GBC is that they have a bigger selection of toppings and burgers – they beef, chicken and lamb. You can also choose from quite a few different rolls.

A lot of the toppings are also free (unlimited) so you can get away with a relatively cheap burger if you don’t go too fancy. There are 7 different cheeses to choose from and 15 different sauces.

I am also told that their Chilli Cheese fries are amazing… a bit pricey, but apparently worth it. And since I eat there during working hours, I don't know the Craft Beer situation :)

So my verdict is this… for selection, go to GBC, for freshness and yumminess, go to Rocomamas, for an overall great experience, go to the Wolfpack.

All great burgers though! For me, it depends which area I’m in and what I’m socially in the mood for.

Emmarentia Dam

If Northern Farms is too far to drive, there is always Emmarentia Dam. It is off Beyers Naude, near Meliville Koppies, in the suburb of… you guessed it… Emmarentia.

The original farm was established by Lourens Geldenhuys in 1886, the same year Johannesburg was officially ‘born’. Louw Geldenhuys, one of Lourens sons married a lady named Emmarentia (hence the name). During the Boer War, the lake was dug to provide work for landless farmers. The park was later given to the City Council for recreation purposes. The Johannesburg Botanical Gardens were established in 1964 and form part of the park.

There are 3 dams, a rose garden, herb garden, dog walking park and quite a few mountain biking trails. It forms part of the Braamfontein Spruit trail. You can leave the park, and access the Spruit near the fire station on either side of Beyers Naude.

There are some easy routes that you can spice up with a few single tracks through trees and down hills and through the streams connecting the dams.  

 

Since dogs are walked there, the one thing you do need to watch out for when cycling is fresh dog poop. It’s never pleasant to cycle through it by mistake (I’d rather go through cow poop if I had to choose!). You also need to watch out for the actual dogs. They’re all so happy to be out and sniffing each other that they don’t pay attention to anyone around them.

 

If you park in the parking lot off Olifants Road, the car guard is a super friendly guy who knows all about cars, how much the accessories (like mags) cost and how fast they go. It’s not often you meet a guy who’s friendly just because.

Great views in Joburg

I went to Randlords the other day for a site visit. It's a venue in Braamfontein near WITS, on the 22nd floor of the South Point Towers.

I can highly recommend going through an hour before and after sunset. The views are spectacular!! Here are a few of the photos I took while we were there.

Northern Farms

About 6 months ago, I started cycling. Nothing hectic, I’m more of a leisurely rider who likes to look at the scenery while I’m doing it. My father recently introduced me to Northern Farms. It’s a Nature Reserve out near Diepsloot and I think it may have at one time been a JHB Waterworks site. There is also a cow farm on the property. 

According to the website (http://www.northernfarm.co.za) , it offers over 2500ha of beautiful green grasslands and woodlands to explore. It is a great spot for bird watching, cycling and horse riding. It can get very busy, judging by the number of cars parked, but the area is so big you can go for ages without seeing anyone (although they do tend to sneak up behind you on the single tracks!)

There are 5 marked out routes – pink, green, red and blue. Pink being the easiest and shortest and black the longest. At the moment, I prefer to do the green route, not too many hills and lots of mud! There is a combination of jeep and single tracks and we go past dams, through forests and fields and past cow enclosures.  

I love taking a relaxed cycle around while looking at the awesome scenery. There are green fields and farms with housing complexes, informal settlements and power transmission lines in the distance. Every now and then a Kulula plane takes off overhead – it’s close to Lanseria.  

After your ride, you can drop your bike at the bike wash which is part of the Dipesloot Development Project. They also host the Diepsloot Mountain Bike Academy that provides MTB and life skills training for underprivileged youth sourced from schools in Diepsloot (https://www.facebook.com/DiepslootMTBAcademy).  

There is also a ‘coffee shop’ where you can buy a delicious bacon and egg or cheese and bacon roll with a coffee or Sterie Stumpie. You sit outside on benches under the trees and inhale your roll while cyclist watching.  

It really is a great and safe weekend morning out!

Off to market!

Markets seem to be quite the rage at the moment in Joburg. They are springing up all over the place and thankfully they seem to be quite decent!

The two markets I love at the moment are the Neighbourgoods Market in Braamfontein and the Fourways Farmers Market - there are still a lot more I need to visit!

Neighbourgoods Market

This is found in an old parking garage in the middle of the 'new' Braamfontein, in Juta Street. The market has all sorts of yummy things downstairs like fresh eggs benedict, waffles with bacon in them, giant pancakes (the lemon meringue is my favourite!) and champagne and oysters. There are also lots of vendors selling take home stuff like pesto and sauces (Paulie's is a firm favourite!). Upstairs you can sit outside taking in the sights and sounds of the city or you can visit the clothing and jewellery section that sells small design label clothes.

You should get there early because the market gets very busy and you'll find yourself trying to eat and drink while standing - not easy to do if you need utensils!

It's open every Saturday from 9:00 to 15:00. Come hungry!



Photos courtesy of Neighbourgoods Market

Fourways Farmers Market

This market is on the corner of William Nicol and Montecasino Boulevard, next to Longmeadow Venue. It's open on Sunday's from 09:00 to 15:00 and features fresh produce, freshly made food and the usual sauces and other delicious goodies.

Once you have your food, there are hay bales, picnic tables and tree stumps to sit on. There is also a separate bar type area where you can buy wine and beer (and there aren't many children!).

It's another great day out and you can stock up on all sorts of things. There are some great 'food trucks' like Baha Taco, Balkan Burgers and Flammkuchen - they also sell cronuts (yum!) and I can recommend a visit to the cheese stall - the brie is out of this world!

Rhino and Lion Park – a day just out of the city

This weekend, I treated myself and a little friend to a day out at the Rhino and Lion Park (www.rhinolion.co.za) in the Cradle. It's about 30 minutes out of Randburg, so in the 'bush' but not. It's a lovely area, big plots, cycle lanes, hills and grasslands. I've stopped opposite the entrance while out cycling with Daddles, where they have animals (lions and tigers) in enclosures as part of a breeding programme and to get animals healthy (I think) but never actually went inside.

The entrance fee was R130 for adults and R90 for kids (they take cards). After you've entered the park you drive along dirt roads (a 4x4 would've been a more comfortable choice in car!) past mixed herds of animals. They have set up feeding areas along the road for the grazing animals, complete with salt licks.

The first heard we saw was a mix of wildebeest, impala and a snoring buffalo next to the road. Along the way we also saw sable, gemsbok, waterbuck, ostriches (one relaxing in the middle of the road), zebras, eland, a rhino, squirrels and a mongoose.

We drove through to the Predator enclosure just in time for feeding time. The first stop is the wild dogs. Most of them were in a field to the left having a go at a big rack of ribs but three were sitting in the shade to the right. They got up and starting sniffing the cars, rubbing the exhaust of one and chewing the wheel cover of another. From there, it’s through to the Lion enclosure. After queuing like peak hour traffic we got in just in time to see a cow (or something similar) get dumped off a ranger vehicle. The pride jumped on it and got going. It was quite scary to hear the growls coming from a pile of lions. When we’d had enough, it was a drive through the very big cheetah area, but we didn’t see any.

The next stop was the animal crèche where they keep the exotic, baby and sick animals. We played with the baby lions – there were 3 month olds and 6 ½ month olds to choose from, we took the younger ones. Three of the four were asleep and the fourth was very playful. They were very sweet little things. We also saw baby giraffes, clouded leopards, a black leopard, jaguar, Siberian tigers, white tigers (one was trying to stalk the hyena in the enclosure next door), blue cranes, bat-eared foxes and so on. It is R30 to play with the Lions and you have to pay for each animal you want to interact with, like the grown cheetah. They only take cash in the crèche but do take cards at booking office a short walk away at reception. There is also a reptile section though we didn’t go in.

The crèche is also part of an area that has picnic areas, a restaurant and kids play area. And lots of squirrels.

At a few points along the drive you can see the Coca Cola Dome and Sandton in the distance, which reminds you that you're actually quite close to home but still surrounded by a game park. It was a very dusty experience as well, there is red dust everywhere! It looked like we'd been off-roading in the dessert. I assume it's better in summer?

They also have accommodation, game drives and Wondercaves.

So all in all, well worth the visit! It’s a great day out of Joburg without really going out of Joburg.