Local is Lekker!

Hoezit Tjeps!

Ruth and I are going to have a 'smorgasbord' of local music in the next few weeks. Since our days in Rome, Italy, we have been listening to the music of Hugh Masekela, a black South African with a worldwide following. 'Bra Hugh' as he is affectionately known here in South Africa is a Jazz Trumpeter playing with the distinct African rhythms known as 'Mbaqanga'. The 'q' pronounced with a 'click' of the tongue. We see him play at a venue called 'Montecasino' this Friday...looking forward to it! On the 4th July we venture back to the 'Radium Beer Hall' to see a band called Jackhammer. The lead guitarist is a bloke called Piet Botha who is the son of the ex Apartheid National Party Minister of Foreign Affairs - Pik Botha. I am sure 'Pik' is familiar to many of my readers during the Apartheid years.

Then on the 5th July we are off to Emmarentia Dam to see Johnny Clegg play. Johnny Clegg used to be the front man together with Sipho Mchunu of Juluka. After Sipho left Juluka, Johnny Clegg formed Savuka. As those of you lucky enough to have seen Johnny Clegg perform, this is a man of vast energy and enthusiasm for African music.

That's all the music we have lined up for now. Ruth is off to see Annie Lennox play on the 8th July, but seeing as Ms. Lennox is not a South African, I thought of her unworthy of a special mention.....

I will keep my ears and eyes peeled for any other South African performers in the near future to enhance Ruth's South African experience.........

Curry and Music..

Howdy All.

Ruth and I were hanging out for a curry, so on Saturday night, we set forth for Fordsburg, the curry centre of Johannesburg. The restaurant of choice was a place called 'Bismillah'. Seeing as it is a strictly Halaal restaurant, we had to settle for cold-drink to quench our thirst.

The decor is pretty shabby and basic, but the food was really good. Ruth had a prawn curry and I had a spicy mutton curry. Not as hot as I normally like it, so next time I will just ask for extra 'zing'.....

We didn't spend too long at Bismillah's as we wanted to check out some of the local live music. We headed off to a place called 'The Radium Beer Hall', which prides itself on being Johannesburg's oldest surviving bar.

We arrived just on time for the band to start at 9pm. It has been a long time since we have listened to live music in a pub and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The band was fronted by the singer and acoustic guitarist Josie Field. Ruth enjoyed her music so much that she promptly bought a CD...

Looks like we will be making the 'Radium' our local music haunt...

Weather took a turn for the better. Last week, saw some pretty foul, wet, cold and windy conditions.

Not too much to report at the mo, but keep coming back to see any updates.

Roodepoort Botanical Gardens...

This last Saturday, Ruth and I ventured forth to the Roodepoort Botanical Gardens. I have always loved going to these gardens and to me, they are a special part of Johannesburg. It took a bit longer to get there than I thought, due to the fact of urban spread and the building of high density townhouse complexes in the area. Man, how this place has grown over the last 12 years.... The area looked so different that I managed to miss the turning that used to be a bush road but now is almost a main road!

Anyway, we managed to find the gardens and at R22 ($AUD 3.34) a head entrance fee didn't break the bank either!

Despite development that is threatening encroachment on this beautiful garden, set against the backdrop of the magnificent Witpoortjie waterfall, this is still the home of a breeding pair of Verreaux’s (Black) Eagles that nest in the cliffs alongside the waterfall and no visit is complete until they have been sited.

A visit is also not complete until one has visited the Sasol Dam which is a small dam which has a bird hide alongside it. Ruth and I sat for a while watching what we thought was a bird from the Kingfisher family who kept plunging into the dam, re-emerging with small silver fish in his beak.

Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve

Sawubona!

A few weeks have passed since the last blog, so I thought it about time to throw up another. Ruth and I recently went hiking one Sunday at the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, around 45mins south east of Johannesburg.

This 11595ha reserve used to be one of my favourites when I lived here before. It used to be teeming with buck, zebra and baboons, but this time around we only saw a few buck.

It was a beautiful Highveld autumns day when we set off on the hike. We ended up getting a bit lost, but it turned out that the track we followed was actually the better option in regards to isolation and views. There are a couple of short walks (4.5km and 10km tracks), but these can be very busy on a Sunday afternoon.

We did bump into another group of 4 at one of the huts, so we decided to stop for some lunch with them. Out came the trail snacks, bananas, apples, dried fruit and nuts. 2 people of the other group seemed like they were taking the other 2 on a day tour as they were sitting there with expensive cheese, buscuits and wine. They were even drinking from silver goblets! Who says hiking has to be tough........

Ruth and I then packed up our megre rations and put our feet on the trail again. We were both getting a bit tired by then, so we decided to stay on the road for a while. There are approximately 60km of roads through the reserve, so you can take a leisurely drive around the reserve.

On the way back, we did a bit of bush bashing to get back to the visitors centre and carpark. It was just as well we did as we managed to spot some a couple of Eland buck which is the photograph on the top right.