The Ruins of Rose Road
The moment I saw the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation announce this tour – even before I read the description – I signed up.
Touring Soweto with a South African Blonde
Last week I did an all-day tour of Soweto with Eenblond Tours. “Eenblond” means “a blonde” in Afrikaans, which makes sense because that’s exactly what Gilda Swanepoel is.
Gilda and I are kindred spirits – we’re the same age and our life stories have many parallels. Gilda spent lots of time traveling solo around southern Africa and used to write a travel blog. She loves getting to know Joburg’s people and cultures in a very intimate way. I’d been meaning to take one of her tours forever and she does lots of different ones, around Joburg and all over South Africa. But I was particularly keen to go to Soweto with Gilda.
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The Louis Botha S-Bend: Walking Through Joburg's History
Along Louis Botha Avenue between Orange Grove and Yeoville there is a half-kilometer stretch of road previously known as “the death bend”.
Louis Botha is one of Joburg’s main thoroughfares between north and south, connecting Alexandra Township and the city’s northeastern suburbs to downtown Joburg. The road is notoriously ruled by speeding minibus taxis. This particular stretch is a relatively steep downhill from south to north and has a few dangerous curves.
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Bank of Lisbon: The Implosion of a Jozi SkyScraper
Yesterday morning I watched the Bank of Lisbon Building, a 31-storey tower in downtown Joburg, fold inward on itself and collapse to the ground in a cloud of dust.
I photographed the implosion from just under three blocks away, on the eighth floor of Corner House – one of Joburg’s oldest and most iconic buildings – while peering through the porthole-shaped window of a turret with a giant jacuzzi tub in it.