The Best Kept Secret in Johannesburg, part II.

Subscribe in a reader

In Johannesburg everyone is going somewhere. That is because of the busy nature of this city. Everyone is going either to work or heading for a breakdown or recovering from broken promises, or falling in love again. Proves that nothing stays the same. Do you think Johannesburg is like any other city with its tall buildings, a lot of transport, plenty of shops and restaurants, and banks, and all the fuss and stress?

Think again! It is never too late to take a holiday. You can go fishing (if you particularly dislike physical activity), or go to a game reserve (if you like photo safari), or to dine in a very nice place, where you can enjoy beautiful view.

I decided to go to a game reserve, just 30 minutes away from my place, also in Kromdraai. Rhino&Lion game reserve is not very well known, however not far away from Johannesburg. It is also paired with Wonder Cave. It is amazing how much can change when you are not so far away from city! Just one hour away from busy Johannesburg CBD, with its crazy traffic and narrow streets and from other area with tall buildings- posh, business-like, polished and refined Sandton and you step into Big Calm, country of patience, beauty, fresh air and nature. Today we will go to Rhino&Lion game reserve and Wonder Cave, which is situated on the territory of Rhino&Lion game reserve, the third largest Cave in South Africa. The first is Cango Cave and the second is Sudwala Cave. Wonder Cave was discovered at the end of 19th century in pursuit of gold. There were no gold, only limestone. The Cave never made it into the production line. There is a natural formation of lime stone, but to use the cave as a source of the lime stone proved to be a useless exercise- too expensive and laborious. The Cave itself believed to be (now you must take your hat off…) 2,2 millions years old.

Somewhere in 1980’s it started to be a tourist attraction. To enter the Wonder cave you have to go down 88 steps, then lift, and then you see it. Some formations are as big as 50 ton, beautiful shape and color. There are stalactites, stalagmites, one of the biggest and most beautiful formations called Madonna. We took photographs, again lift and now 88 steps up. When we came out some of us were panting. It was the end of July, there were not so many people. The day was very sunny, as usual in SA (we are spoilt!) and we went to Rhino &Lion Nature Reserve.

Rhino&Lion game reserve has rustic camp rest and luxury log cabins on its premises (how convenient!). If you don’t like you spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend/etc-tell them: “Darling! Can you just wait outside for me, till I fetch the key”. And outside is still game reserve, and wild animals sometimes can come, including lions, who’s territory just nearby, over the fence. I’ve never seen anybody outside of little houses.

Just joking, of course.

What will give you the greatest pleasure during events like this? Of course if you see something unexpected. That was rhinos in their natural habitat. And other animals.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The leaves feel like rain.

Image
          The leaves feel like rain outside of the window.      I made a mistake and realised that, probably, I changed the word fell for feel for a reason. May be it is me, may be we all, women, the same. We feel first, then we act. How we feel would influence our decisions.       If I don’t FEEL IT , nothing good will come out of it, take it or leave it. You can call it six sense, you can call it intuition, you can call it whatever, but if my inner barometer not happy, then I will procrastinate, become very slow. There are many reasons for that.       Previous experience? Yes, definitely. Was once there, broke and lonely. I did try to do something by inspiration only. Things don’t work like that, unfortunately. Don’t want to go there again. I decided for myself- will do anything to be independent, but has to play safe.      I am not alone, neither of us, and that’s not only that. There are days, hours, weeks when you know: the time has come. You know everything
Read more

Ghosts of Johannesburg, part II . Hazel Crane

Image
One of the beautiful socialites and businesswomen of Johannesburg was Hazel Crane. She was a firm favourite of A-list personalities after she became close friend of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Hazel was present at most of charity events and she was known for her exceptional generosity. Hazel Crane made headlines of Johannesburg newspapers once again on the 10th of November 2003 after she was shot on her way to the court to testify against a man, who was accused in murdering her estranged husband, and who she helped to arrest. Hazel died shortly afterwards in Millpark Hospital. Hazel was a self-made millionaire, businesswoman and socialite. Hazel was born in Northern Ireland, Belfast. Later on she became a nurse in Zimbabwe, she had to care for her family after her first husband died at the age 25. At that time she was pregnant with her second child. She emigrated to South Africa with two children and nevertheless was able to make a fortune for herself. She was adventurous, lo
Read more

Would you like to try different type of holidays? Try Horse safari!

Image
Subscribe in a reader Never knew that I am actually staying in a wonderful place. Not so far away from me is Hartbeespoort Dam and everything what comes with this place: endless possibilities to explore South African nature and wild life. Surprisingly I did not read too much about it in blogs. People just don’t do horse riding anymore? And it never occurred to me I can’t ride on a horse, I never did. Never in my life. That thought, however, came later when I saw my horse and was invited to climb on it. Well, good for me, there were no other people, and the program in Groot Verlange Driving Academy was able to foresee the situation like that. Yes, they cater for complete beginners. Interesting enough, when I googled places for horse riding I found Groot Verlange in Hartbeespoort and other place La WiiDA in Hennopsriver Valley, also not far from Hartbeespoort Dam area. Both cater for beginners. Both have game reserve adjacent to their stables. I started from Groot Verlange and w
Read more