Dec 17 Saturday

Dec 17 Saturday 

My flight arrived just after 7 am local time.  The line-ups were very very long:  1) to get off the plane, where they were checking everyone’s passport,  2) at the immigration area  and  3) at the custom area.  The good thing was that by the time we finally got to the baggage carousel, all luggage was waiting.

I had done my research and knew that I could catch the GauTrain from the airport to Sandton (Sector of Johannesburg) where I had reserved a hotel through Booking.com  (my favourite GO-TO site now).

 My first pictures of South Africa on the way in to Johannesburg

Found the booth and purchased a ticket to Sandton for 115 Rand  = $14.   (R8 = $1)   From the Sandton station I took a taxi to the hotel, which turned out to be a condominium complex.  Luxurious one at that, and for only $105/night !   Just to compare, a hotel room at the Radisson is $136/night and at the Holiday Inn is $114.   The main reason I selected the Time Square Executive Suites was that they have laundry facilities in the unit !  So guess what I did as soon as I had settled in ?

  I'm lucky to be on the 3rd floor, where I get a nice breeze from the windows.

I dozed off a few times between loads; it took 3 because the washer and dryer are really small.  At 4:30 I decided to walk around a bit to find out what was nearby.  The Security Guard at the gate indicated that the nearest mall was closed for renovations, but still pointed me in that direction since there were restaurants nearby.  It also is on the way to “downtown” Sandton.   It’s about a 10 minute walk to that centre and although most of the shops are not yet re-opened, there were a few restaurants that were, or that never closed for renovations.  Luckily one of them was an Indian restaurant and I thoroughly enjoyed my vegetable and rice dish, accompanied by hot-from-the-oven buttered naan.   I also tried out my first South African beer;  unfortunately I was so tired I don’t remember the name so that I can re-order it again. 

After my meal it was still light, so I decided to walk towards the downtown area.  I soon changed my mind however since the streets were completely empty; hardly anyone walking around.  And this is Saturday night.  On my walk back to the Condo I stopped off  at the Radisson Hotel to see if they had any tourist brochures and maps.  Big hotel, nice Concierge, who went out of his way to assist me, even though I’m not staying there !   Got lots of info, including a list of tours that are available.  Unfortunately none are pre-scheduled;  you book them individually so the prices are quite steep.  He gave me the phone number to call so that I could contact the agency and I was on my way back to the hotel, just in time before darkness set in.