View from the Top of Africa

The Carlton Centre... it brings back so many memories from my childhood. My dad used to work there and it was always a treat to go visit! My mom also worked there at some stage, when it was the office block to be in. They used to go to the bar at the top for drinks after work. My dad was there when the building was bombed by the ANC. We were also once treated by my dad to the fanciest dinner ever at the Three Ships before it closed down.

The other day I took a friend out for a different day. On the to-do list was the Top of Africa - the 50th floor of the Carlton Centre. So, off we went into the centre of Joburg one Saturday afternoon. Driving into the underground parkade, memories came flooding back... it has a steep driveway down into (what feels like) the centre of the Earth - this was always my favourite part of visiting my dad!

After quite a bit of walking around the shopping centre on the ground floor trying to find the lift to the top, we paid our small entrance fee and caught the lift to the top. We were also hit up for money by the security guard, but that's just par for the course...

We stepped out of the lift and walked towards the light... the view was breathtaking! We could see for miles, all sides of my city. There was Sandton, the stadiums, the mine dumps, the Nelson Mandela Birdge, the old IBM building, Ghandi Sqaure, the airport.... pretty much everything! They have photos and architects renderings on the walls and also some information about the Indian community (though how that fits in, I'm not sure)

It wasn't very busy either, so we had plenty of space and could take our time. I suppose the CBD issue puts people off - though it really shouldn't! I can imagine the sunsets must be awesome from up there!

So do yourself a favour, visit the Top of Africa and while you're in the CBD, enjoy a drive around looking at all the old buildings.