» What to do with kids in Joburg

Two great weekend outings to visit on the outskirts of Jozi

liz — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:32:53 +0000

See http://www.jhblive.com/reviews/adventure/a_walk_on_the_wild_side/68982

More from Adi Goeller’s great weekly Newsletter: Fifty Two – weekly things to do and see in Joburg

liz — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:48:21 +0000

As always Adi gives some great things to do and see in Joburg in his weekly newsletter – below comes from his latest newsletter no 39

This week’s pick: Sandboarding the Gold Mines
Genre: Pure rush
What: Johannesburg’s gold mining days produced man-made mountains of soft yellow sand – these wildly recognised dunes, dotted about the East and South Rand, are composed of ever so finely crushed rock. These desert like beauties are disguised by towering blue gum forests and unattractive shrubs but the treasure of the 21st century (the steep unspoilt dunes) are gold in a city where you’re looking for new and interesting things to do. These ’seemingly ugly’ mounds call for another type of rush.
FiftyTwo review: To be fair sandboarding isn’t snowboarding but definitely still encourages extreme action and satisfaction. You’ll be strapped into a snowboard, given a short briefing and nudged on your way. As soon as you’ve got the hang of keeping low and balanced you’re able to get daring, fast and skillful. With powder like sand and clean tracks this place is something you’ll be proud of in Joburg – firstly it’s ruggedly beautiful and secondly it’s one of the few places hosting an opportunity to learn the international sport in SA. This is an adrenalin rush, your blood will pump, you’ll want more. If you’re thinking ‘try hard’ sandboarding – you’re wrong.
Tip: Be sure to take your old skiing mask in case a wind whips up the sand – it can get nasty.
Interesting fact: Over 200 mine dumps are visible around our town – some over 50m in height. Plans are afoot to reclaim gold from them, which will change the face of Joburg – so get boarding while you can.
Where:Mount Mayhem in Benoni.
Book: R250 per person – includes board and great instructors. Times are from 10:30 to 15:30 – but you can board as long as you like. Call Marco from Pure Rush Industries on 082 605 1150 to book a ride.

Spring is here – get out and enjoy it

liz — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:14:24 +0000

Park areas closeby to Liz at Lancaster – enjoy the warm weather and the spring air http://www.jhblive.com/reviews/adventure/searching_for_sunshine/44423

Annual Deutsche Internationale Schule Johannesburg Schulbasar on 29th May

liz — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:19:00 +0000

From : JT Communication Solutions

German School Bazaar heats the winter chill

05/03/2010 13:35:48

The annual Deutsche Internationale Schule Johannesburg Schulbasar will provide a fun-filled day of entertainment on Saturday 29 May 2010. Since 1893, the Deutsche Schule zu Johannesburg has hosted this event, nurturing it to become a “must see” on the Johannesburg lifestyle calendar. On several occasions, up to 30 000 people filled the school grounds in Parktown to experience German culture at the food and drink stalls in the carnival-like atmosphere. The Schulbasar initiative has also assisted the school to raise funds for its various social programmes. In 2005, the school decided to separate the Basar into two functions, namely the Deutsche Schule BierfestTM and the Schulfest/School Basar, in an effort to establish better security for festival goers at the school premises. The Bierfest was moved to an external venue, and the Basar was transformed once again into a family event for the German and local community in South Africa. As a part of its reincarnation the School Basar now offers a limited number of tickets for patrons of the Basar in an effort to offer better security and to create an authentic family fun experience for the young and old, re-enforcing the school’s image which focuses on family. Deutsche Internationale Schule Johannesburg Marketing Manager Gaby Ullmann says it is good for the festival to focus on family because it is hosted at a school. “The Basar offers a lot of entertainment for every age group. The Regenbogen Kindergarten will look after and entertain the little ones; we have games, carousels, jumping castles, magicians, stilt walkers, clowns, balloon sculptors and so many more exciting things. All our classes have organised at least one activity or attraction for young and old.” For teenagers, the school has organised go-karts, bunjee jumping, a disco, soccer activities and foofy slides. For the older festival goers, there will be two beer tents with local and imported beer, the Beer Mug Band and other music entertainment, lots of German and local food like Eisbein, Fleischkase und ‘Wurst mit Kartoffelsalat’. For more information and ticket sales go to www.dsj.co.za or call Gaby Ullman 011 482 3033 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 011 482 3033 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or e-mail marketing@djsmail.co.za Notes for the Editor: – Entrance tickets are available from the DSJ: Advance ticket sale R 80, Pensioners R50. – At the gate tickets cost R100 (no reduction for anybody), children under the age of 12 are free. – Alcohol will not be sold to persons under the age of 18; ID has to be produced on demand – Free park-and-ride at John Orr Technical High School, Owl Street, Milpark, off Empire Road – Free Parking at Milpark Hospital, Guild Road – Parking at the Boy Scouts – on entrance fee For media related queries interviews, photos etc. call Rami or Zama on 011 788-7632/1 or e-mail: media@jtcomms.co.za / info@jtcomms.co.za

Thumbs Up for Joburg Zoo

liz — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 06:46:52 +0000

Johannesburg has wild life parks on its doorstep: Pilanesberg Game Reserve a two hour drive away – has the Big Five and although the Rhino and Lion Park is much more restricted and on a way smaller scale, it does provide an interesting introduction to Africa’s wild life species. Given this, the Johannesburg Zoo is still a good option for a day’s outing in peaceful surroundings right in the centre of the City’s suburbs. Accordinfg to Scott below , the Johannesburg Zoo (www.jhbzoo.org.za ) compares favourably to San Diego Zoo. And there are even night tours to see the nocturnal species.

Although this post by Scott Hanselman www.hanselman.com is over a year old now (23/12/08) , the Zoo hasn’t changed:

We drove to the Joburg Zoo today. I had VERY low expectations for a couple of reasons, most of which were not rational in retrospect. My mom was a zookeeper at the Washington Park Zoo for years, working with elephants and birds of prey. We are members to the zoo and we go all the time. We also visit zoos when we go to other cities.

We’ve also been to Chipangali in Zimbabwe and it was really run down. One of the mistakes I’ve made on this trip is assuming that things in Zim relate in any way to things in South Africa. Zim as I know it is gone, and South Africa is more developed every time I visit. I won’t underestimate this country again.

This is a REALLY cool zoo. I’d say even the best zoo I’ve ever visited, including the San Diego zoo. It’s massive beyond reason for a city zoo. You can even rent a little cart and drive around as walking will take all day. We spent 5 hours there and didn’t scratch the surface. The size of the fences are really small, which is a treat as you can get REALLY close to the animals. We were all of ten feet from a giraffe.

Spring is here: another wonderful day at the National Botanical Gardens

liz — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 06:56:39 +0000

Yes we are spoilt. South Africa faces so many challenges, challenges with which both locals and the rest of the world are ALL too familiar. However a day like this last Sunday makes up for a lot. In the spring, SAPPI a very large paper making public company, generously sponsors concerts at the National Botanical Gardens in Roodepoort, a some 45 minute drive from Liz at Lancaster. The warm weather had finally arrived after a good month of very cold weather (well cold for us South Africans whose houses and shacks are not geared for cold weather), and the Soweto String Quartet were playing. It was a glorious warm sunny spring day so Pam, who runs Amanzi Guesthouse around the corner, and I set off to get there at about 11 when I thought the concert started. As it turned out the concert only started at 1pm. so we had plenty of space and time to choose a spot, leave our things, and then meander through the gardens looking at the aloes in bloom. What a treat! An added bonus was to look through the telescope overseen by the dedicated people who run the black eagle project. More of that in another blog. But the female black eagle was on the nest with the only ‘chick’ which hatched in mid May. And then back for the concert – a fabulous show by the Soweto String Quartet and then an added bonus of the Ekuruhleni Youth Choir led by Rolf Schimdt. They sang a whole range of songs and had the crowd eating of their hands. It was a fabulous day.

Joburg’s best kept secret: Boekehuis

liz — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:07:18 +0000

A visiting academic who is staying here at Liz at Lancaster referred this morning to Boekehuis as ‘Johannesburg’s Best Kept Secret’. What a shame not to spread the word about such a gem of a store. The title of Lucille Davie’s article (www.joburg.org. za 7 June 2006): ‘Boekehuis one of the world’s 50 unique bookshops’, says it all. The International Booksellers Federation chose Boekehuis from 734 submissions, to feature on its 2 year calendar of the world’s 50 unique bookshops (2007 and 2008). Davie writes: ‘Opened in 2000, the shop is located in a 100-year-old house once belonging to the daughter of lawyer and anti-apartheid campaigner Braam Fischer. It retains the cosiness of the old house, with an adjoining coffee shop set in a delightful garden. The house still has its gleaming Oregon floors, pressed-steel ceilings and fireplaces.’ In addition to its wide range of Afrikaans books, there are books for the discerning reader which cover topics from cultural studies to history to literature, and much more besides. There is a section of children’s books; and story telling and reading sessions are held to encourage reading among young people. Boekehuis is also a great public space. People can meet over a glass of wine and a snack to exchange ideas when they attend the book launches, author readings and discussion groups which all form part of Boekehuis’ literary programme. So go along to Boekehuis at corner Lothbury and Fawley Streets Auckland Park or contact them on 011 482 3609 or boekehuis@boekehuis.co.za to be put onto their mailing list.

Make the most of warm winter days: get to the National Botanical Gardens, Roodepoort

liz — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:54:28 +0000

Temps this weekend at ca. 19 degrees but due to drop to around 13 degrees again from Tuesday. So …. make the most of the predicted warmer week-end and get out to the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens in Roodepoort. When I went a couple of weekends ago, the skies were blue, the grass was still green, the aloes were out, families were picnicing, the male black eagle was on the nest giving the female a break to circle overhead, and young and old were enjoying the train rides from the entrance to the tearoom.

We climbed up past the waterfall, around the back of the crest of the hill , had wonderful views over the north-west of Joburg, and then back down through the Clivia garden (they will be spectacular when they are start to bloom – in August?)

Look at that mid-winter sky

At the end of the day felt I had been away from Joburg for a week! And best of all there are still lots of concerts coming up:

19 July Local singers perform easy Jazz

2 August Flamenco guitars and Spanish dancers

16 August – don’t miss: the Soweto String Quartet

30 August: Band of the Ceremonial Guard

13 Sept: the Peter Sarstedt

27 Sept: Top of the Pops with Veronique Lalouette

So grab your blankets, make your picnic, take the Sunday papers and make your way to the Botanical Gardens to chill out for the day. Check their website: www.sanbi.org