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Published: March 19 2014

A panorama of the Johannesburg CBD at sunrise looking east across the M1 highway. Photo wikipedia.org

The vibrant city of Johannesburg is the perfect springboard to the rest of South Africa. It is a country of surprises and will reveal her glory to those who take the time to properly explore. I would advise travellers to take as much time as possible to experience the diversity that this beautiful country has to offer. In this series we will look at places in SA about which you have probably not been told. You will be well rewarded for getting off the beaten track. That is not to say that we could leave out the well-known stops either, but let's begin in the city we call "the big smoke".

Emperor's Palace - Photo courtesy emperorspalace.co.za

Johannesburg was born as a mining town in the late 1800s when gold was discovered. To this day, Johannesburg has the deepest mines in the world; the deepest is called TauTona, which is 2.4 miles deep. This gold mining heritage led to her other nickname: Egoli "City of Gold". This city has a greed and a hunger that translates culturally to the yuppies speeding down the William Nicol Highway in their BMWs, the Friday night pick-ups at the many bars and clubs, and, unfortunately, the rampant crime. The wealthier live behind 8-foot high walls and electric fencing but don't let that scare you off. Johannesburg, although not for the faint of heart, has an Afro-urban energy, good-looking people, interesting history and a great social scene.

You'll see her at her best if you are fortunate enough to do business there. As the financial capital of Africa you'll find brilliant business people, world-class banking services and fantastic creativity. It's almost like "Joburgers" feel like they have to prove that they belong in the "first world". Johannesburg has this strange mix of first-world and third-world; a figurative canyon lies between the have's and have not's. "Locations/ Informal Settlements" stretch out on either side of the gleaming CBD as far as the eye can see, full of illegal immigrants come to seek their fortunes from our poverty stricken neighbor, Zimbabwe.

The Neighbourgoods Market - Photo theincidentaltourist.com

The city center is being revived, successfully in some parts, like Braamfontein, which has spawned the Neighbourgoods Sunday market. The market sells fresh farm goods, homegrown arts and crafts and as the founders describe it, is "inspired by the energy that makes Joburg". You'll also be able to see the Nelson Mandela Bridge, an iconic symbol of unity in downtown Johannesburg, not least because it is named after our beloved ex-statesman. The bridge links Braamfontein and Newtown and was designed by Dissing+Weitling who won the South African Institute of Civil Engineering award for technical excellence. Newtown has some great nightspots for the young and young-at-heart where you'll get to see the "new", multi-racial, funky South Africans at play. Nearby 44 Stanley offers good lunches, interior design stores, knick-knacks, local fashion designers' collections and local art. Check out The Dance Factory for African inspired dance and local talent The Apartheid Museum offers a sobering lesson on where we came from, housed in a contemporary building that shows how far up we can go.

Mandela Bridge at sunset. Photo courtesy Gauteng Tourism Authority

What would a trip to Johannesburg be without a tour of Soweto? You can visit Vilakasi Street, the only street where two Nobel Peace Prize winners lived. You can tour Nelson Mandela's home housing some interesting memorabilia from his iconic life. See the calabash shaped FNB stadium, the twin towers (that sometimes offers bungee-jumping), and take a drive through the Kliptown squatter camp. Make sure to stop at a "shebeen" (informal bar) for a quart of beer.

The Cradle of Humankind is roughly 30 miles from Johannesburg and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a series of limestone caves which have yielded a large number, as well as some of the oldest, hominin (pre-Homo sapien) fossils ever found. Some of the fossils date back as far as 3.5 million years ago. In 1935 fragments of an ape-man's skull were discovered, which began attracting archaeologists from all over the world to this site. The site is still being excavated and, as recently as November 2013, a six-women international team uncovered over 1,200 hominoid fossils. Visitors can explore this fascinating network of caves, taking guided tours of the Sterkfontein caves. For the brave (and not claustrophobic) there are abseiling adventures and rock-climbing in the caves. Check out http://www.wildcaves.co.za if this excites you. There are great restaurants nearby: Black Horse Brewery and Restaurant for casual family-friendly dining in a beautiful country setting and for fine dining visit Roots Gourmet Restaurant famous for its delectable French, African and Asian cuisine and well-stocked wine cellar.

Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens - Photo courtesy sanbi.orgA favorite spot for locals to picnic, just outside Johannesburg, is at the Krugersdorp botanical gardens, The Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens. Stop at a Woolworths Foods to buy your sparkling wine and snacks, take a blanket and sit under an Acacia tree where you can enjoy the wide variety of indigenous plants and flowers. The gardens also have a resident pair of breeding black eagles and it is a magnificent site to watch them soar above the cliffs.

I hope you enjoyed our first stop in the "City of Gold". Stay tuned because next on our itinerary is The Kruger National Park and surrounding game farms.

 {module Stephanie Bekink}