#Photography

Read all my lockdown journal entries.

At midnight on Thursday, South Africa is going into a 21-day lockdown.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the lockdown last night in a speech to the nation. Although the situation we’re in is horrifying beyond measure, I feel much safer after listening to the president’s speech than I felt before. I trust President Ramaphosa to lead the country as best he can, and I’m really grateful for that. Trust in leadership is a luxury many people around the world don’t have right now.

A couple of weeks ago I visited Hallmark House, a hip hotel in downtown Joburg, for my friend Gilda’s birthday celebration.

Hallmark House has an interesting story. It was built a few years ago (at great expense) by Propertuity, the real estate company that created the Maboneng Precinct, and designed by acclaimed architect David Adjaye, who also designed the Smithsonian Museum of African American History. Hallmark went up for auction last year when Propertuity abruptly went out of business. The building is now owned by Steyn Investments.

Kameel is the second stop in my  #10SouthAfricanTowns campaign, for which I’m visiting ten small towns across South Africa in 2020.

Kameel means “Camel” in Afrikaans. The original farm there is called “Kameel Bult”, which roughly means “Camel Hill”, and I assume the town got its name from the farm.

I’ve already blogged about Rand Steam and how it is by far the most pleasant suburban shopping center in Joburg. But when I wrote that post I didn’t yet know about Rialheim and Boho Café & Co. – in fact I don’t think they’d opened at that point. As it turns out, this corner of Rand Steam is the best spot in the place.