Last night I had dinner at the Darkie Café. I’m writing about it because:

1. The Darkie Café is smack in the middle of downtown Jozi, in the mining district – one of just a few restaurants in that area that are open at night.

This weekend I participated in a workshop on urban exploration in downtown Joburg, sponsored by Dérive app. Dérive is a new online application that encourages people to explore cities in a unique way – following a set of random instructions from a virtual deck of cards.

I broke my iPhone yesterday.

Don’t be deceived by the smile. This is just me trying to be a good sport. I’m not happy. (Photo: Fiver Löcker)

I dropped the phone during an Instawalk. Last weekend, the people at Instagram challenged Instagrammers all over the world to meet up locally and walk together. It went without saying that the Instagram groups from Joburg (@IGersJozi) and Pretoria (@IGersPretoria) would get together and do a walk, as we do on most Sunday afternoons.

…ahem. Penis Enlargement.

Penis enlargement sign on Mint Rd., Fordsburg.

I’ve been planning this post for a while. But when it came time to actually write it, I hesitated. I don’t want to offend anyone and I don’t want to invite the wrong kind of web traffic, if you know what I mean.

A few weeks ago, while Dad and I were staying at DeHoek Country Hotel, we found ourselves with an afternoon to kill in the Cradle of Humankind.

UPDATE (August 2017): Sadly, the Leopard has left Melville and reinvented itself as a much smaller deli at 44 Stanley in neighboring Milpark. The new Leopard still serves delicious food, but is no longer a full-service restaurant (no tables, only take-away).

Constitution Hill is one of the most historic places in Johannesburg. It’s ten minutes from my house. I’ve referred to Constitution Hill – the home of South Africa’s highest court and site of the historic Old Fort Prison – in my blog many times, including two years ago when I promised to write a post about Constitution Hill in the immediate future. I even held a photo exhibition at Constitution Hill last year.

Right around the time that my Dad booked his trip to South Africa, I was offered the chance to spend a weekend at DeHoek Country Hotel – a five-star hotel and restaurant outside Magaliesburg. Perfect timing, I thought. Dad’s birthday fell on the last weekend of his visit and this would be a good way to celebrate.