Guest post by thadeus_d3
Map tips: each color represents a different day. Click a marker to learn more about the spot, and click the star in the map header to save the entire map under Your Places in Google Maps.
Day 1
- Maboneng Precinct
- Faircity Mapungubwe
After arriving at the airport, we checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Faircity Mapungubwe Hotel Apartments due to the location and amenities. We were overall happy with the hotel. After checkin, we explored the Maboneng area on foot. It is very walkable and was more of a business area, than residential area.
Day 2
- Apartheid Museum
- Mandela’s House
- Hector Pieterson Memorial
- SOWETO TOWERS
We headed to the Apartheid Museum first thing in the morning to get a better understanding about South African history. The museum was an great experience and is highly recommended. You could honestly spend 5+ hours there with all of the exhibits. Next, we headed to Soweto. one thing I’d like to mention is that a tour of Soweto is not necessary if you have a rental car. Most of the tourists in Soweto were part of tour groups because of the reputation in Soweto. We found the locals very friendly and welcoming. In Soweto, we stopped at the Nelson Mandela house. Overall, it was a pretty cool sight, but the house was small and I’m not sure if it’s worth the price of admission. After exploring Soweto a bit, we found the Hector Pieterson Memorial. I’ve wanted to visit the memorial after seeing the iconic photo which represents the struggle during apartheid. There’s also a museum there, but we opted to skip it and buy souvenirs nearby. On the way to our hotel, we stopped at the Soweto Towers.
Day 3
- Gandhi Square
- Top of Africa
- City Hall
- Nelson Mandela Bridge
- Braamfontein
In the morning, we walked along Gandhi square for some shopping. Next, we headed to the Top of Africa. The top of Africa was an observation deck that’s on the 50th floor of the Carlton Centre. The views were great and it was definitely worth the $1 admission.
After leaving the Top of Africa, we headed to City Hall to take a few pictures of the exterior. Later that night, we went out to Kitchener’s Carvery in Braamfontein for drinks. Along the way, we crossed the Nelson Mandela Bridge which is illuminated at night.
Day 4
- Constitution Hill Human Rights Precinct
- Oriental Plaza
- SAB World of Beer
- Kitchener’s Carvery Bar
On our final full day, we visited constitution hill. Constitution Hill was the site of a fort that was later turned into a prison. Afterwards, we went to Oriental Plaza for some souvenirs and food. It’s basically a giant indoor/outdoor bazaar with some excellent deals. After spending way too much time there, we took a tour of the SAB world of beer. SAB stands for South African Breweries and offers private tours and tastings. Being a homebrewer, I found it to be great. We tried Umqombothi, traditional African Homebrew, as well as several of SABs commercial offerings. At the end of the tour/tasting, you are given 2 drink tokens to use at their rooftop restaurant. Well worth the $10 admission cost. Went back to Kitchener’s Carvery for drinks.
Traveled in October 2015
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