Johannesburg, South Africa, is one of those dream holiday destinations I would always want to return to over and over again. The city was built on a rich history of gold mining, thus the nick name: “The City of Gold.”
I have had the privilege of visiting Jo’burg or Jozi three times so far. It is the financial and commercial capital of South Africa and is a destination I would love to re-visit because of its awesome beauty as a hub of culture and art, warmth and my fond memories.
The first visit was in December 2006 when we went on a family holiday; while the last two were when I was on transit at Johannesburg International Airport (which has since been renamed Tambo International Airport) to Livingstone, Zambia, famous for being home to Victoria Falls; and the last was in 2013 while enroute to Cape Town, to attend our friend, Colleen Morna’s daughter’s wedding.
For the seven days of R&R (Rest and Relaxed) vacation, we stayed at our friend’s impressive home, at Planetarium, an exclusive and leafy suburb of the city near the retirement home of former President Nelson Mandela; we had one of the best Christmases ever abroad.
Colleen is a Zimbabwean citizen who fled with her parents and family during the height of Robert Mugabe’s kleptocracy and land grab fiasco; she relocated to South Africa, went to college, met Kofi Morna, a Ghanaian, whom she married and were blessed with two lovely daughters, Janine and Michelle.
On the eve of our family trip she offered to ‘lend us’ their house, car, two dogs (Ginger and Frisky), house help, Nancy Padare, and Tinashe Padare, her son, while they were away visiting her in-laws in the West African country.
Our first trip started with drama at the Johannesburg International Airport (which has since been renamed Tambo International Airport) soon after we landed and disembarked from Kenya Airways flight from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, at midnight after an enjoyable five-hour flight.
As we walked to the immigration department to have our passports and Yellow Fever certificates vetted and cleared, we saw a huge smartly dressed man carrying a ceremonial stick overtake all the passengers as if we did not exists as he went ahead of the queue and demanded to be served. Despite protests by some of the passengers, the man did not care and carried himself with a lot of air.
Meanwhile, my wife Rosemary, our children, Biko and Terry, and me, waited patiently for our turn to be served after we had picked our luggage ready to start our well-deserved holiday. But just as we were about to leave one of the biggest and well organized airport I had ever seen in Africa, we noticed a commotion in the next teller where the bulky tall man had been kept waiting for some time and was throwing tantrums like a baby.
“Don’t you know who I am? Why are you keeping me waiting? Don’t you know I am a Cabinet Minister in Gabon and I have an appointment to see your President, Jacob Zuma?” the man shouted at the top of his voice as he waved his ceremonial walking stick in the air in anger.
Security officers were called in as he continued to make a fuss and to be a nuisance who politely directed him away from the public area into a VIP (Very Important Person) VIP’s waiting room.
When we asked the airport officials what was amiss, one of them revealed to us that they had blocked the irate man from entering for lack of the mandatory Yellow Fever certificate. Africa.
In the absence of the certificate, an affected passenger had an option of staying in quarantined at the airport for two weeks or returning to their home country in the next flight.
As we left the airport, we were told the foreign guest was very frustrated and made frantic efforts on his cell phones to “his friend the President” to help him bend the rules, but in vain.
We boarded a taxi and were dropped off at our family friend’s house shortly before 1am. and we were amused to have two huge dogs standing by the electronic gate keeping vigil as we entered and off loaded our luggage and were ushered into the home by Colleen’s jovial house help and teenage son.
Nancy had a welcome drink for us, just like in a five-star hotel, and a delicious hot meal and dessert. She then showed us the three bedrooms that they had reserved for us. As we unwinded and jumped into bed for the much-needed rest and sleep, the ambiance and comfort of the room and warm bed quickly took over us as we slipped into slumber land.
The following morning, we were woken up by the sounds of birds singing sweetly on the roof, trees and beautiful garden in the compound as Nancy, who is a Zimbabwean, cooked a sumptuous breakfast for us.
Day One took off well; we took warm shower and dressed up ready for the dream holiday. Our son Biko and daughter Terry made themselves at home by switching on the mega television set and had a thrill of a time playing video games and watching cartoons and movies on DSTV.
For once I realized how smart our children were as they maneuvered between the many TV channels and their video games. On her part, Rosemary went into the kitchen and was shown around by Nancy as we prepared to go to a shopping mall in the neighbourhood to buy groceries and drinks.
On my part, I enjoyed myself playing a variety of music from the big collection owned by our host. Thanks to Rosemary’s previous many visits to the city and buying me some of the best South African Jazz, gospel, reggae and traditional music, I was feeling like a Rastafarian, irie (high)! And literally like a turtle that had been thrown into water.
Meanwhile, Rosemary and I walked around the manicured gardens and lawn and took a very refreshing dip in the round-shaped swimming pool that was on the highest point of the property overlooking the Johannesburg‘s skyline.
Biko and Terry later joined us later and we enjoyed competing, splashing water on each other and feeling the Christmas spirit of quality time, joy and thanksgiving to our Creator.
We then refreshed ourselves and dressed for a ride into down town with Rosemary behind the wheels with Tinashe as our tour guide.
As we were about to leave the compound, the two dogs, which never bark, showed up as usual and stood by the gate as it was opened and closed and ensured that no one accessed the residence.
Cultural shocks
The next shock was to see a whole neighbourhood full of Chinese citizens and renamed China Town; making us wonder whether we had made a mistake to board a plane to the Far eastern country!
The other was to see my wife driving “on the wrong side of the road” forcing me, as the co-driver, to keep on stepping on an imaginary foot brake and was tempted to use the hand break whenever an oncoming vehicle came too close for comfort.
While stopping at a traffic light at an intersection, I saw a big group of youth with buckets and washing paraphernalia rushing to wash the windscreens of the cars and requesting to be paid. Initially I had thought they were demonstrators or car-jackers. Our tour guide warned us to always roll up our windows and keep closed and the doors as well locked, lest some of the boys and others force open and steal valuables.
We arrived at one of the biggest shopping malls I had seen, Rosemary parked the vehicle and then we walked in and were mesmerized by the rows and rows of shops, food courts and other amazing items on display.
To be honest, we we’re spoilt for choice, everything we ever wanted to see and buy were there, plus more. Biko and Terry were excited and wanted new clothes, toys, video games and you name it.
On my part, I restrained myself knowing availability must be balanced with affordability and capability to purchase. I was content with few clothes, souvenirs, books and music CDs and videos to beef-up my lean collection back home.
As we were walking from shop to shop, we bumped into one of my mother’s cousin, Florence Nundu, in the crowd. It was such a wonderful re-union, she told us she had relocated there after working and resigning in one of the big flower farms in Naivasha, in Nakuru County.
We then had a sumptuous lunch together at The Spur, a leading steak house in South Africa with outlets in Nairobi. Each of us had a plate full of one of the best roast pork, fries and some other delicacies to feast on. We were unable to finish so we asked the waiters to pack and allow us to carry the leftovers to our residence. The rest of the afternoon in the residence was relaxed, some of us took a nap, and others went swimming while the rest played video games and watched movies and cartoons.
We spent early afternoon visiting SOWETO (South West Township) township where we had a conducted tour of Mandela’s House; Hector Pieterson Memorial, and a flea market where cheaper clothes and souvenirs from all over Africa were sold in an open yard.
Back at the residence, we were entertained with stories and jokes by Nancy and her son who spoke English with a strong Zimbabwean accent forcing us to adjust our ears and ask them to repeat some words and names such as factory, planning, apple and Agnes which they pronounced as fectory, plenning, and epple and Eggnes!
We called it a night early at 9pm, after the long day after enjoying some TV programmes and shows on SABC and the numerous stations on DSTV, which was a far cry from our limited menu on local TV stations like NTV, KTN, KBC and Citizen, by then.
The following day, we had a packed day starting after home-made breakfast at our friend’s house then we went into downtown to visit Rosemary’s friend who was a producer at SABC and had started a new channel, One Gospel.
While at the reception, my eyes caught the headline on one of the dailies and a news story about an incident at Johannesburg International Airport with a photo of immigration officers literally “sleeping on the job” during the night shift.
For the next 30 minutes of the SABC tour, it was refreshing and challenging to see the sophisticated ultra-modern audio and video equipment. The security was tight and friendly. Our hostess also introduced us to some of her colleagues.
From the SABC station our next stop was the office of Gender Links the NGO run by our friend Colleen. We were received by one of the staff, Agnes Odhiambo, who took us around and introduced us to some of her colleagues who were on duty including their driver, who was a Zimbabwean.
We then went for take away lunch at KFC which we enjoyed as Rosemary drove us to downtown to the famous Sandton City where we were overwhelmed by the sea of humanity, shops and restaurants on multiple floors of the complex. We took our children to an amusement park in the building which was out of this world! I could not pretend and joined them in playing some of the sophisticated video games!
It was great fun to feel young again and went on and on until Rosemary had to remind us that it was time up to return to our residence.
On Christmas day, I had insisted that we look for a local church to attend the Family Service, as we always do back in Kenya, before going to one of the malls for a special luncheon. But our plans were dashed and thwarted by the sight of South African Metropolitan Police down town that stopped us dead on our track after Rosemary inadvertently made an illegal U-turn as we were church-hunting.
As the officers waved us down, she panicked and quickly apologized profusely; and before the cop could issue us with a warning or ticket, she produced a dollar note, Kenyan-way, and quickly gave him as she apologized profusely saying we were foreigners and did not know the right route to our church. By then, other motorists, looked like foreigners like us, were also on the queues ahead of us waiting to face the law-enforcers for real or imaginary traffic violations.
After being freed, like Mandela after 27 years in detention, we all resolved to return to the residence and make the best of the foodstuffs and drinks which were stuffed and packed in the fridge and freezer for the rest of the day as we watched One Gospel, mostly South African choirs and musicians.
Boxing Day was one of the best during our holiday as Colleen’s driver, Edward, took charge and drove us to Sun City Resort, some 70 Km away. Sun City is rated as one of Africa’s premier vacation destination and is internationally recognized for its superb resort offering hotels, restaurants and swimming pools, the size of a king-size dam.
It was a three-hour drive from Johannesburg and is a must-go for Hollywood celebrities and American musicians like Oprah Winfrey, and Michael Jackson, plus world leaders. We had fun with our driver as he struggled to understand our ‘queen’s English and as we also tried to understand his Zimbabwean accent.
Doubling as our tour guide for Edward was quite a challenge as we tried to communicate with him as he pointed and told us about “the fectory and lend mines, “ to mean factory and land mines along the super highways and beautiful countryside where we met many limousines being driven to and from from the venue.
On arrival, we were welcomed by a team of well-dressed and smiling staff who introduced themselves and then asked us to decide how many days we would like to patronize the world-class facility.
We then consulted and opted for one-day visit which came to $10 dollar per person entrance fee which covered basic meals and drinks in the city away from other cities.
Once inside, we were led to a lift to take us to the first floor where we saw for the first time “a flying train” waiting to ferry us to the amusement park that is in a desert and between three hills.
We then had our lunch and could not resident changing into our swim wear and diving into the artificial ocean which had waves white sands, slides and other special effects. And for the next four hours it was like we were in Mombasa in the Indian Ocean minus the crabs, water weeds and fear of high tides and sharks.
The theme park also had an artificial river, tunnels, waterfalls and waves that were electronically controlled and synchronised blaring music and dazzling coloured lights. By sundown, it was time to pack and start our return drive back to Johannesburg feeling satisfied, relaxed and exhausted.
On the eve of our last day, Edward drove us to visit and tour Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, some 60 Km, away, where we visited The Union Building, which forms the official seat of South African Government and also the house of the President of South Africa. It had a life-size bronze stature of Nelson Mandela on the slopes of the hill the Union Building is built on.
We saw several gold mines along the way and two of the 21 universities in the City of Gold namely, University of Pretoria, University of Witwatersrand and University of Johannesburg.
On our return, we found our hosts, Colleen and Kofi and their daughters had arrived from their holiday in Ghana, and it was such a joyous re-union. We exchanged pleasantries, got to know each other better and later had dinner on their dining room before calling it a night.
The following morning, we were up at crack of dawn ready for the taxi drive to the airport to catch our Kenya Airways flight to Nairobi. We travelled well and on arrival were glad to return to base after such an awesome and blessed holiday. But it was sad news a few months later to be told by Colleen that some criminals had timed their two dogs one evening as the gates were being opened to let her in and caught the dogs and sped off with them never to be seen or heard of again.
Asked how it happened, Colleen could not explain just said: “The thugs moved just too fast for us and took advantage of the well-behaved dogs because they never bark.” A report was made at the nearest police station and an award posted in the local media, but all was been in vain.
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