Category Archives: History & Culture

Maboneng Precinct and Market on Main

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In my last post about our walk in Kensington, I mentioned that the Fun Seekers Meetup Group then proceeded to the Maboneng Precinct for lunch at Market on Main. Maboneng is a rejuvenated inner city neighborhood of Johannesburg, just to the east of the CBD (Central Business District). It is considered to be a young and hip area with a whole host of restaurants, bars, art (both galleries and street) and many unique shopping boutiques. The Market on Main is part of Arts on Main and is held every Sunday from 10am-3pm (there is also a Night Market on the 1st Thursday of the month). Market on Main has been on my Must-Do list since we arrived in Jozi 6 months ago and I was excited to finally get the chance to check this out.

Heading to Market on MainHeading to Market on Main

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A Historic Walk Through Kensington

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Kensington is a suburb just east of Johannesburg CBD (Central Business District). Established in 1897, it is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Johannesburg. This area is rich in history and a couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to do a historical walk in Kensington with the Fun Seekers Johannesburg Meetup Group.

Our walk started and ended at the Kensington Bowling Club (traditional English lawn bowling, not the indoor 10 pin style). There were 2 different planned walks, a 4km and a 7km walk. We had initially decided to do the 7km walk in order to explore more of Kensington however what we didn’t know was that it was also planned to do the 7km walk in about the same time as the 4km one. Within the first 5 minutes we found ourselves already lagging behind in the slow group (nothing new here) as we were enjoying snapping photos and listening to our wonderful guide Isabelle reveal the fascinating heritage of Kensington.

The Kensington ClubThe Kensington Club

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Melville Koppies – Back to Nature in the Heart of Jozi

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South Africa is a true paradise for nature lovers like us, and before moving to South Africa, we spent a lot of time reading and dreaming of all the places we could visit on quick weekends away from Joburg as well as longer, extended trips all over the country and surrounding areas to get our fill of the great outdoors.  We looked at living in Joburg as sort of a gateway to all the places we really wanted to see in South Africa; just a big city that we would try and escape from as often as possible.  Jump forward a couple months and I am happy to report that you don’t need to escape Joburg for a nature fix.

Before moving here, we had never visited Joburg and I was very surprised by how green it is here (said to be one of the greenest cities in the world) and also totally enchanted by the beautiful, blooming Jacarandas when we first arrived.  We soon discovered that there are many nature reserves right in Joburg and the Melville Koppies was one of the first we visited.

Melville Koppies Nature ReserveMelville Koppies Nature Reserve

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Visiting the Union Buildings in Pretoria

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A few posts back I wrote a bit about our November visit to Pretoria to see the Jacarandas and promised to write more about the trip later.  Pretoria is about an hour north of Joburg and one of the 3 capitals of South Africa (Cape Town and Bloemfontein are the others).  There are quite a few sites to see in Pretoria, however as our main goal for the day was to see the Jacarandas, we headed straight to the Union Buildings which I had read is the best place to see them.

Union BuildingsUnion Buildings from the Garden Below

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Goodbye Madiba

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As the world already knows, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela passed away on Dec 5 2013 and today he will be laid to rest in his homeland of Qunu in the Eastern Cape.  The past 10 days have been a period of national mourning, bringing together the people of South Africa and all over the world to not only mourn, but to celebrate the extraordinary life of Nelson Mandela.  I have only lived here a bit over one month, and if it wasn’t for Mandela, I know I wouldn’t be here right now, writing this post in the beautiful country of South Africa.  Thank you Madiba.

Nelson Mandela Square in SandtonNelson Mandela Square in Sandton (taken right after we moved to South Africa)

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