Joberg defies stereotypes

Johannesburg, South Africa has the reputation of being rough, very dangerous and an iconic reminder of struggles and triumphs of the late Nelson Mandela. Everyone I spoke to referred to Joberg as a shithole and told me not to bother going.  I was told Joberg is where the money is, but Cape Town is where the lifestyle is.  Despite the poo-pooing of Joberg, I’m so glad I went. From the moment I landed, I knew this trip was going to be amazing when I was greeted with a rainbow.

Joberg fun fact: its the largest city in the world without a natural water source.  That's right, no river, no lake, no ocean.

I was having so much fun in Cape Town, it was a struggle to pull myself away.  The reason I was even going was because I had figured it would be a waste to go all the way to Africa and not hit up Joberg and I had met a new friend, Viva, while on a plane in Ethiopia. She was super fun and I promised I would go out so I did.  Viva was an incredible hostess.  She organized an amazing visit that included a tour of Soweto, a trip to Lion Park, a tennis match and a fun night out with her family and friends.

Emily and Viva

Soweto is a township in Joberg named after its southwest proximity to the city.  It was a township where they moved black and colored people to during the apartheid.  Viva and I took a 4-hour tour of the area, which included a walking tour of township housing, Nelson and Winnie Mandela’s house, museums and a sip of homemade beer from one of the local breweries.

Township living

Winnie and Nelson Mandela's house.  Notice the soot above the window where a fire bomb torched their bedroom

Home Made Beer

Next up, Viva took me to Lion Park.  She had boasted that we could play with baby lion cubs for a couple of minutes and do a self-guided game drive of 5 lion habitats.  Oh boy, did she undersell this adventure!  It was incredible.  We arrived a little late, so we had to start with the game drive even though we were really only in it for the cub handling.  However, while we were driving through the parking lot, A GIANT GIRAFFE walked out of the safari park and into the parking lot. 

A Freakin’ giraffe!  It walked across the grates and into the parking lot and stuck its head in toward our sunroof.  I squealed like a pig when I saw the giraffe walking toward us.  The parking guard just laughed and laughed.  As the giraffe came closer, the guard said, “Carefull, sometimes she likes to kick cars.” At which point Viva took off like a lightening bolt.

The self-drive was good.  There were 5 prides of lions, 1 enclosure of wild dogs and another with Cheetahs.  We drove around for about 40 minutes then headed into the interaction part of the park.

Upon walking in, there was a group of 14 people that had arrived before us and got to go into the lion cub enclosure.  As they were doing so, a staff member walked out with bowls of meat, which distracted the lion cubs and made for a less-than-stimulating experience for the tourists.  Seeing this, Viva and I decided to wait until after they were done eating and went to pet and feed the giraffes. 

Long ass black tongues

The teeth look scarier than they are.  They are not sharp at all.

The 1-month old baby giraffe was still 5 feet tall

Next were the cubs.  They were adorable.  We played with 4 male cubs that were 3-4 months old.  They were fully fed which made me feel better.  The cubs were so playful, that it was ridiculous.  They pawed at us and let us pet them, they swatted at Viva’s shirt strings and wrestled and bit each other.  It was so fun.

Creeper

Simba looks fake

Look at the camera, dummy

After Lion Park, I put on my tennis gear and was ready for the match Viva had arranged for me.  Nick was a 14-year old prodigy.  He kicked my ass, but I loved every moment of it.  Thank goodness the rain ended our rally early and saved my ego.

Beaten by a child…again

We finished out the evening with a pasta dinner party and a night at the bar with friends.  I was fortunate to have found such an amazing friend to show me Joberg and defy all of the stereotypes that I had heard.  Viva, you’re amazing.  Your family is amazing and your friends are absolutely lovely.  Thank you for inviting me out and showing me the best of Joberg.

Emily and Viva

Great Barrier Reef

I'm back on the road again after a Thanksgiving holiday stint in Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles. 

I meeting Richie and Conrad in Arlie Beach near the Great Barrier Reef then heading to the Gold Coast of Australia. Despite jet lag, this place is pretty great and I may have to pop back up for a scuba adventure before heading to Vietnam. 

Here's a first glimps of the islands on my flight in. 

They have weeded out the losers and collected a super fun bunch of fellow travelers from the US, Qatar, and Australia. 

South African Wine Country….Stellenbosch

I've mentioned before that I love Cape Town because it is essentially just like California but half the price.  Well, California has Napa Valley, Sonoma and Paso Robles and Cape Town has Stellenbosch and Frenchhoek just 45 minutes away.  Same same…..just like I said.

The wine in South Africa was absolutely lovely….and inexpensive thanks again to the current exchange rate.  The vineyards in South Africa were painted with lush green vines with a mountainous backdrop, it was incredible.

I was super lucky this weekend because my friend Shirley, from Mozambique, popped into town to explore wine country with me.  Our visit was met with torrential rain that postponed our trip one day knocking Betty's Bay and the penguins off of our excursion plans.  It turned out to be a good thing since the rains flooded the road between Betty's Bay and Stellenbosch, but not the roads from Cape Town.  Plus, what else were we to do in a beach and mountain climbing town in the rain?  Drinking wine was a perfect alternative game plan.


We had plans to hit 4 vineyards, so I hired a car to chauffeur us around town safely and we stayed the night at the Stellenbosch Hotel.  The day started with the Stellenbosch open market which was still pretty good considering half of the vendors didn't show up because the grounds were semi-flooded.  The food looked spectacular, but we didn't stay long since we thought we were at the wrong farmers market and we had to check into the hotel and get ready for our chauffeur.

South African Farmers Market's idea of funny highway art

We were picked up around 12:30 in a grey sedan and hit vineyard after vineyard each one more beautiful than the last…I think.  I was pretty tipsy after the 3rd vineyard and we were able to visit 5 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.

VINEYARD #1: MEERLUST

Shirley and Emily at Meerlust

VINEYARD #2: JORDAN

I made Shirley do this….but I think she'll be glad she did

 VINEYARD #3: DeMORGENZON

DeMorgenzon was interesting.  The girl that did our tasting was telling us that there is one patch of grapes that was divided in two.  Theoretically, they should produce grapes that are exactly the same since the soil conditions are the same, the sunlight is the same and they are harvested right next to each other. However, one patch has classical music played to it 24-hours a day and those grapes mature 3 weeks later than its twin harvest.  They think that the bacteria in the soil reacts differently to the music keeping the grapes on the vine longer and producing a higher quality wine.  Interesting, right?

Musical grape patch

VINEYARD #4: JC LeROUX (sparkling wine)

This tasting room looked very "Las Vegas"...

We made it just in time….

VINEYARD #5: WARWICK

Shirley is DONE!

Winning

Its safe to assume that I fell asleep at approximately 6 PM that night.

On Sunday, Shirley and I headed to Frenchhoek to see how those vineyards fared compared to Stellenbosch.  Needless to say, the weather was incredible.  The torrential rains produced crystal-clear air and grand puffy clouds embracing an animated blue sky.  As you can see from the photos, the mountains looked incredible sandwiched between the bright green grass and absurdly blue sky.

La Motte Winery

Leopards Leap Vineyard

Sunday afternoon, we drove back to Cape Town and caught some live music in Du Vaal park with my friend Gil.  More wine….more cheese….more fun.  It was a great weekend.  The rain was no match for excellent company, good (and bad) wine and a designated driver.

Gil, Shirley, Em