Louis LECLERCQ 304 pages

My schedule in South Africa

I would like to split my travel in South Africa with two main parts.
The first part of it would be consecrated to the cultural side.
So I decided to go to Johannesburg in first, which is a city that has a very
thick historical past.

DAY 1 :
So my plane lands at Johannesburg airport at 8:10 AM, and the morning is
consecrated to the move in the guest house (24 Onvrey Boutique Hotel), where I
take my lunch.

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In the afternoon, I visit the Apartheid museum, which is quite close to the guest
house. The visit takes 2 hours long, and it is really enriching and informative. It
costs 5€ (110 rands).

Then, to stay in the atmosphere of Apartheid, I go to the famous city of Soweto in

order to see the « Mandela House », which costs 1€ (20
rands). The taxi costs 32€.

In the evening, I have dinner in a well-known and authentic restaurant, which

serves typical South Africa
dishes in Soweto
(Sakhumzi Restaurant). It
costs around 30€ (632 rands).
After that, the taxi brings me back to the hotel. 2
 DAY 2 :

That day, I go to visit the Newton district. This is the cultural district of
Johannesburg par excellence. You can find a lot of theaters, concerts or places to
listen to South African music. There, you can observe some tracks of the first steps
of jazz in the country. So as not to inflate the budget too much, I visit this district
and the rest of the town
centre on foot.

I take lunch at the Niki’s Oasis Jazz Restaurant. Newtown is fondly known as “jazz
town” and there’s no better place to celebrate that heritage than this restaurant.
They host weekly jazz sessions, bringing you only the best in music and
entertainment, as well as scrumptious soul food. It costs me around 25€.

In the afternoon, I go on foot to the « Constitution Hill Human Rights Precinct ».

Situated in the heart of Johannesburg, Constitution Hill is a living museum that tells
the story of South Africa’s transition from colonialism and apartheid to democracy.
The tour focuses on the new Constitutional Court of South Africa, built within the
walls of the Old Fort, which dates back to 1892 and was once an infamous prison,
where many of its members were imprisoned. It makes wider my knowledges about
the country. It costs me around 5€ (90
rands).
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In the evening, after a well-deserved shower at the guest house, I come back to
Johannesburg’s town centre in order to see Klitsgras Drumming. It is a well-known
music band, whose particularity is to play traditional music, especially drums, on
different public squares. I go
there on foot so I can also
enjoy the city by night.

DAY 3 :

This day, I would like to discover Johannesburg from a more artistic angle. So I
decide to visit some art museums located in the city.
First of all, I go to the Johannesburg Art Gallery. It is the largest art collection in
Africa, and it regularly rotates its incredible collection of 17th and 18th century
European artworks, and artworks by renowned South African painters and objects
by traditional black African artists. The visit costs 27€.
After the visit, I go for a lunch in the area. So I take lunch in a typical restaurant
close to the Gallery and also close to the next destination. There are a lot of these
restaurants in the streets so it’s easy to eat quickly and authentically. The lunch costs
me around 150 rounds, which represents 7€ ! The food isn’t expensive in the
country.

After the lunch, I go to my next visit on foot : the Wits Art Museum. Completed in
May 2012, this modern museum is the first African art museum on the continent,
with an extraordinary collection of 10,000 works and a dynamic program of events
and exhibitions. The visit is free !

At the end of the day, I return to the guest house, where I have dinner and sleep.

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DAY 4 :
This is my last day in Johannesburg. So I consecrate it to a global tour of the city.
First, I go to the Hillbrow Tower. This is one of the important landmarks in
Johannesburg. It is located on the edge of the Hillborough district of Johannesburg
and is 269 meters high.

There is a sublime view from the high of the

tower, so you can see whole of Johannesburg.
The visit costs around 23€.

Then, I go the Mary Fitzgerald Square,

Which is an intersection of a multitude of small
streets which contains beautiful restaurants and
covered markets. I make the most of the
opportunity to buy some souvenirs with my
own
money. I take my lunch over there, and taste
some
local specialities.
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In the afternoon, I visit the Liliesleaf Farm. It was the secret headquarters of the
ANC (African National Congress) during the 1960s and reopened as a museum in
June 2008. This well-organized complex tells the story of South Africa's liberation
struggle through a series of high-tech, interactive exhibits. This well-organized
complex tells the story of South Africa's liberation through a series of high-tech,

interactive exhibits. The guided tour costs 14€.

After this, in the late evening, I come back to the guest house. Indeed, I have to get
my suitcase ready for next day, because I leave Johannesburg in order to go to
Pretoria for two days.
DAY 5 :
I leave the guest house in the morning and go to the city of Pretoria by taking a taxi,
which costs 74€.

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It takes me 3 hours to go to the hotel, in Pretoria.
I take my lunch at a restaurant not far away. It costs 15€.
After that, I go to the Voortrekker Monument with a guide. It enables me to better
understand the importance of this monument.
This monument is of great significance to many Afrikaans speaking South Africans,
it represents Afrikaner nationalism. The monument is in the shape of a large stone
cube. The interior walls illustrate the story of the Great Trek, a mass movement of
Afrikaaner Boers who resented
British rule. The entire tour costs
around 30€.

I eat a sandwich on site, that costs 2€.

For the dinner, I go in Pretoria’s town centre and find a typical restaurant. (10€)

DAY 6 :
Today, I make a historical visit of Pretoria. It enables me to improve my knowledge
of Pretoria's past and tick off some of its most important sights with a
comprehensive guided tour. Transport in an air-conditioned vehicle is included to
speed up my sightseeing, and stops on the route include the Kruger House
Museum, Union Buildings and also
Nelson Mandela’s statue. It costs 71€.
The guide takes charge of the lunch.

I take dinner at the hotel. (15€)

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DAY 7 :

This morning, I have to leave early the hotel, on order to take my flight in the
direction of Cape Town. This is the most popular and touristic city of South Africa.
The flight costs 40€ (839 rands).

I arrive in Cape Town around 17h00. I reserved the « Hotel Sky Cape Town », which
costs 168€ for four nights.
In the evening, I go in the town centre of Cape Town, which is very animated by
night. There I have a dinner for 20€. Then, I go the well-known big wheel of Cape
Town. It costs me 3€.

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DAY 8 :

This day is consecrated to the visit of Robben Island, where is located the prison of
Nelson Mandela during the Apartheid. You can go there by taking a boat. There, I
walk in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela and learn about the history of slavery in
South Africa. I visit the infamous Robben Island high-security prison, which once
housed political prisoners. On the island, there is also cute seals, with which you can
play. The entire tour costs 18€. I have lunch on tthe island (4€)
DAY 9 :
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