IFLY theworld.com

Johannesburg

Here’s a movie about Capetown. This movie will give you a quick impression of the destination. The movie is not made by our own IFLY crew members. A special IFLYtheworld movie is in production and will be online soon.



IFLY tips

Apartheid museum (2 hrs)
Jahannesburg-01
The Apartheid Museum opened in 2001 and is acknowledged as the pre-eminent museum in the world dealing with 20th century South Africa, at the heart of which is the apartheid story.
When you enter the museum they give you the feeling of Apartheid already. At random they give you a ticket, which allows you to go to the entrance of non-whites or whites only. You see the same exhibition but a fence separates you. Admission for adults is 40 Rand. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. The address is Northern Parkway and Goldreef Road, Ormonde, Johannesburg.

Sandton shopping mall (1 - 3 hrs)
The best place for shopping is in Johannesburg’s suburb Sandton. This area is relatively safe and there’s a wonderful shopping mall with many restaurants and bars as well.
Located in Sandton's prestigious Central Business District, Sandton City offers an exciting shopping and leisure experience with over 300 shops in breathtaking surroundings. More information about shops, events and opening hours can be found here.

Game drives (1 - 3 days)
Johannesburg-03
There are many game reserves where you can go for several days. We’d like to highlight some of them. The first one is Welgevonden private game reserve. The name is already wonderful; it means ‘well found’.
This is a place of rare and rugged beauty, plentiful wildlife and prolific birdlife. Experience the spirit of true wilderness with spectacular scenery and excellent game viewing. Welgevonden is home to over 50 different mammals, including the Big Five, and boasts one of the largest populations of white rhino on a private reserve anywhere in Africa. There are several lodges where you can stay. More information about that can be found here.
Another wonderful park is Madikwe Game Reserve, situated against the Botswana border, 90 km north of Zeerust, just three hours' drive from Johannesburg.
Madikwe is a Big Five game reserve and it is one of the largest game reserves in South Africa. The rich diversity of vegetation ensures a wide range of game and the topography offers ideal game viewing opportunities. More information about lodges in this park can be found here.

Pilanesberg Park (1 - 2 days)
Johannesburg-02
Pilanesberg National Park is nearby Johannesburg and it’s very well possible to do a daytrip to this game Park. It’s just two hours drive from Johannesburg. You can rent a car and drive there yourself.

The park accommodates virtually every mammal of southern Africa, and it is also home to the ‘big five’; lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo. Visitors are offered many opportunities to experience the wonders of Pilanesberg. There are nearly 200 kilometres of excellent quality roads for either self-drives or guided drives, and professional guides operate within the park. For more information about the park, click here.

Lions Park (½ day)
Johannesburg-04
Are you mad about lion’s; you should go to Lion Park just outside Johannesburg. The Lion Park is home to over 80 lions including the rare white lions and many other carnivores such as cheetah, wild dog, brown hyena, striped hyena, spotted hyena, black-backed jackal, side-striped jackal, and a wide variety of antelope, which roam freely in the antelope area.

Guests have an opportunity to interact with some of the animals in the Cub World area, which has a giraffe-feeding platform that puts you at eye level with our tame resident giraffe creating a fun experience for all ages. Then there is the popular cub interaction, which allows guests to touch the cubs and take photographs. Especially that last thing is a great experience. You can go there with your own rental car. The park is open daily from 8.30 am to 5 pm.

Sun City (1 day)
Next to the Pilanesberg Park is a weird place: Sun City. It’s not a real city but still our IFLY crew members like it so much we gave Sun City its own page. Including a movie about Sun City.

Soweto Bungee jump (½ day)
Johannesburg-05
Thrill seekers should go to Orlando Towers in Soweto. These disused cooling towers are developed into a vertical adventure facility and tourist attraction for Soweto. The site currently offers the bungee jump, power swing, internal swing, and lift ride to the viewing platform. So if you are not a thrill seeker and only like to accompany someone who likes to make a jump, you can relax at the viewing platform and enjoy the scenery and the wonderfully painted towers.

A bungee jump (100 metres) can be made from the sky bridge in between the towers. A power swing can be made from the platform at the rim of the tower. You will face the open sky and take a leaping swing into the gap between the towers. You will free-fall for an exhilarating 40 metres before the pendulum of the rope attachment will swing you up and out again, with a spectacular view over the Orlando Dam. It’s even possible to make a swing inside a cooling tower.

A bungee jump will cost 480 Rand and a power swing 360 Rand. The Towers are open seven days a week from 10 am to sunset. Bookings can be made here. Directions to go there from Johannesburg you will find here.

Butcher Shop & Grill (2 hrs)
South African beef is leaner in natural fat (11 percent) than beef from the USA (33 percent) and Europe (23 percent). And the taste of the meat is like nowhere else in the world. So you have to try this. A great place in Sandton where you should try this is the Butcher Shop & Grill. This restaurant uses ‘aged meat’. The meat is hung in carcass for up to three days; thereafter the rump, sirloin, fillet, rib eye, t-bone and prime rib are ‘wet aged’ for approximately 21 days.

Of course they serve great lamb, chicken and fish as well. But you have to try their beef. They also have a great wine assortment to accompany your lunch or dinner and to take away. And, as it is a butcher shop in the first place, you can order your meat to take away. The Butcher Shop is located at shop 30, Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, Johannesburg. Call them for a reservation at +2711 784 8676.

Skydiving Pretoria (½ day)
Johannesburg-06
If you like to see South Africa from a different angle you have to go up in the air. And when you’re up there, why don’t you choose for the quickest way down and jump out of a plane. Wonderboom Airport in Pretoria is the closest skydiving club to Pretoria and Johannesburg. This airport is home to Gauteng Skydive, where you can make a tandem skydive.

They offer the highest jump altitude (11000 feet, over 3,5 kilometres) and the longest freefall in the country. Once you leave the aircraft and experience the feeling of freefall, your life will change forever. After a 40 second freefall your tandem instructor will deploy the parachute. Together you will fly the parachute back to the landing area to complete your first skydive.
They offer a video, DVD and still photograph facility so that you can brag about your tandem skydive with your friends and family. The cost is 1370 Rand for the tandem only, 1950 Rand including DVD and still photographs. Directions to Wonderboom Airport can be found here.

Melrose Arch (2 hrs)
A new and already very popular place for shopping, dining and much more is Melrose Arch. It’s not an ordinary shopping mall, it’s build like old fashioned shopping streets, but brand new. The shops are open from 9 am to 6 pm. Only on Sundays and public holidays the shops close at 4 pm. And after you did your shopping you can continue in one of many restaurants and bars.

Melrose Arch is located in Sandton, just outside downtown Johannesburg. From the city you take the M1 North towards Sandton. Take the Corlett Drive Off ramp. Turn left at the end of the off ramp. Turn left just after the BP garage on your left hand-side into Melrose Boulevard. You are now in the Melrose Arch Complex. If you are already staying in Sandton, it is a five to ten minutes drive.


IFLYtheworld.com tries to be up-to-date with all travel information. If you despite our effort experience some things we need to know to update our tips, send us a message.

IFLYexchange

Prices of tips and articles are shown in local currency. To see it in another currency convert it here.

Prices are of course subject to changes. If you experience another amount as shown in this tip, let us know.


Language of the world

Of course you like to speak a few words of the local language onboard the plane or at your destination. Here you find some simple basics of the main language spoken in Johannesburg.