Ngaire asked me to post this. We stayed for a night in Jburg. K&D had arranged the Westcliff for us and a pickup from the airport and delivery to the airport.

The hotel is in a lovely, upscale area and overlooks the zoo. The rooms, service and food are great. The hotel arranged a 6 hour private tour of Jburg and Soweto for us and it was extremely interesting and informative. We walked away understanding how the city and its people have evolved and are evolving. We were never afraid and our guide was a great guy. I could see spending another day in Jburg again and staying at this hotel.

We also ate a restaurant in a mall there and had a great dinner out on the second day. Our flight was a late night flight and the hotel let us keep the room into the evening. The trip to / from the airport was approximately 30-40 minutes, traffic dependant.

Andi,
According to our schedule we will only be at J'burg airport and don't overnight there. It sounds like you're recommending spending some time in J'burg before flying back to USA.

Sept 13, Cape Town
Sept 14, 15 Hermanus
Sept 16, 17, 18, 19 - Cape Town
Sept 20, 21, 22 - Madikwe
Sept 23, 24, 25 - Leopard Hills/Singita
Sept 26 fly home arrive home on a Saturday

Marcie, as I remember, Andi and Doug were not able to get ff tickets out the same day as rest of us. Turns out, she really loved the city!

Plus, some people are not doing Cape Town and/or Hermanus so stopping in JNB may be in the picture in that case, depending on charter flight times and other logistics.

Olivia is right...Marcie, you may want to look into a private tour instead of hanging around the airport if you have a long wait.

It was no Capetown....but the tour was wonderful and you see a town that went from rich mixed...to all white VERY wealthy to an all black slum...with white people moving out and creating American like suburbs, wealthy blacks continuing to live in the townships, with a segregated environment still present in more subtle ways and not always black vs. white. It opens your eyes.

Incredible wealth and incredible poverty side by side. Very little, if any, middle class.

Folks discouraged us from staying in Johannesburg at all. I am not adverse to coming and going again through Johannesburg. There is still more to see and I would again stay at the Westcliff. So, folks needn't be concerned that it is nothing but an unsafe slum with nothing to offer. I recommend this as a good alternative to Capetown.

It is a very strange (to me) city.
While is is a very black city, I (as a white man) never felt off.
It is a crime filled city.... when we left the Joberg airport via car to our hotel with Michael & Tommie, I saw a number of men with rifles standing guard. But other than that we never felt it.

But the contrasts made it come alive to us.

Don't be stupid & do stupid things, but you'd not do that in any city in the world, either.

Just be aware & embrace what the city has to offer. It has a lot to offer.

Doug

A bunch of tuskers are staying a night in Johannesburg including me. The next day we are going to a wild dog/cheetah research facility. I have heard about this from South Africans who live in Johannesburg. I thought it was good for Andi to share her positive experiences and I will share mine when I get back.

http://www.dewildt.org.za/

Ngaire, don't forget to choose your pet when going to the Cheetah research facility.

Now, I know where we are going for our time in Jburg on our trip home. Sounds great.