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Lilliesleaf Farm: A Page in the Book of the Liberation Struggle
A small but important part of South African liberation mythology was committed to posterity this week when the Lilliesleaf Farm in the Rivonia suburb of Johannesburg was declared a museum and national monument to the Liberation Struggle. Although the bustling suburb of Rivonia has since grown up around this apparently innocuous house, in the early 1960s it was an isolated farm location, and proved perfect for a time for banned members of the ANC to hide-out from the ubiquitous and highly efficient police and security services. The house was home for a few months to Nelson Mandela himself as he laid low pretending to be a gardener and a cook. It was also a meeting place for most of the luminaries of the struggle, and many of the defining policies that ultimately saw the overthrow of apartheid some 30 years later were devised here.
Date: June 10th, 2008 |
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Johannesburg International Airport (OR Tambo International Airport)
SA Logue’s handy guide to Johannesburg International Airport.
Date: April 25th, 2007 |
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Note to Susfloos: Head to the Apartheid Museum or Newtown
Susfloos posts a query on the BootsnAll South Africa travel forum: what to do during a five hour layover in Johannesburg?
If you were both coming and going via Johannesburg International Airport, Susfloos, the answer would be: nothing. It’s too far from the city to justify a trek in. But, since you’ll be transferring from the airport to the Intercape Bus terminus at Joburg’s train station, which is in the center of the CBD (more or less), you do have an option or two.
Date: July 27th, 2006 |
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Musical Explores SA’s Slave Roots
Don’t miss the chance to catch the songs of South Africa’s own Woodward and Bernstein, I mean Rogers and Hammerstein, I mean Gilbert and Sullivan (!) - David Kramer and Taliep Petersen, who have brought their smash-hit musical Ghoema to the University of Johannesburg Arts Centre, where it runs until July 23.
In fact, the musical duo are something like a Woodword and Bernstein after all: their show entailed quite a bit of investigative work into the rather murky origins of Afrikaans, and specifically Afrikaans traditional music. In essence, Ghoema is a musical time machine that takes the audience back to the days of slavery at the Cape, and listens in on who was singing what, and the different meanings the songs had to the different singers (masters or slaves).
Date: July 13th, 2006 |
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Soweto Landmark: the Cooling Towers
Spotted! The twin cooling towers of the defunct Orlando Power Station in Soweto, South Africa’s largest township.
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Soweto Cooling Towers
Where are they? Between Pimville and Orlando West (the latter being the former home of Nelson & Winnie Mandela; one of Desmond Tutu’s current homes; site of a June 16th massacre; etc.) | Map
Date: July 11th, 2006 |
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Apartheid Museum and Voortrekker Monument
The Commemorations and Memories of a Race Struggle
South Africa is one of the few countries in the world where the politics of revolution are a tourist attraction. Every backpackers lodge in Johannesburg offers a variant of the Soweto tour, and of course it is impossible to complete a visit to the Mother City without a trip across the bay to the penal settlement of Robben Island, where a peep into the prison cell of former president and iconic revolutionary Nelson Mandela is somewhat akin to a visit to Graceland. Moreover, one of the most compelling and popular sites on the urban map of South Africa is the Apartheid Museum of Johannesburg.
The Anti-Apartheid struggle of the 1980s was always more than the usual dry stuff of political revival, and had about it something of a global cultural movement. Symbolic shanty towns were built in the grounds of progressive universities the world over, and music concerts were held as old and young, academic or working class, punk rocker or hippie, were all in some way mobilized and involved in the last great push to end institutionalized bigotry and racism in Africa. The eighties generation is now the upper strata of the productive establishment, and has left it to a new generation to tour the halls of the Apartheid Museum in order to ponder and digest this vast anachronism that galvanized the world, and crumbled not a moment too soon.
Date: March 5th, 2008 |
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Johannesburg International to Become OR Tambo International
Alert! As of next month (27 October, to be precise), Johannesburg International Airport will get a new name: OR Tambo International. The “OR” bit stands for “Oliver Reginald” - he was one of the African National Congress’s greatest leaders, having worked with Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela to advance the cause of freedom for all in South Africa.
Date: September 1st, 2006 |
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Joburg’s Gritty Beauty, as Uncovered by the New York Times
SA Logue is firmly of the opinion that Johannesburg is worth a stop on any tourist’s South African itinerary. It’s the continent’s southern powerhouse of arts and culture, and a few nights out in its sophisticated environs - not to mention a day trip to Soweto - usually results in new appreciation and understanding for South Africa’s ongoing development as a democracy. You can’t say you know this country until you’ve been to Jozi.
People seem to be catching on to Joburg’s unique delights, too - like Michael Wines of the New York Times (will some reader complete the limerick, please), who gushed about it in Sunday’s paper:
Date: July 18th, 2006 |
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Safari Advice for First-Timers
The Seattle Post Intelligencer has published a piece on a safari trip to Botswana - with a day’s excursion to Johannesburg and Soweto - that should be of interest to all who’ve ever wanted to get up close and personal with southern Africa.
Tips for Booking and Taking an African Safari (Seattle Post Intelligencer)
John Engstrom, who wrote the article, had a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and picked up some valuable travel tips for others along the way. The only quibble I have with his piece is the “worth every penny” price for his Soweto tour. $70 a head is …
Date: July 12th, 2006 |
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Budget Airline’s Specials Start Today
Alert! Interlink Airlines, South Africa’s youngest budget airline, has introduced two limited-time sale fares for the country’s busiest tourist routes.
You can now fly between Johannesburg International (JNB) and Kruger Mpumalanga (MQP) airports for just R299 (one-way), and between Cape Town International (CPT) and JNB for just R499.
Date: June 30th, 2006 |
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