A spate of new walking tours in Gauteng offers tourists the chance to rub shoulders with the locals. Michelle Colman investigates some of the options.
Tours on foot are all the rage in Gauteng as tour operators respond to the demand for experiential travel. Your Africa is one such tour operator, which recently hosted its staff on familiarisation tours of new excursion options in Johannesburg and Pretoria, in conjunction with Tours 2.0, an operator that specialises in community experiences. Some of their suggestions are incorporated in the itinerary suggestion below.
Your Africa Sales & Marketing Coordinator, Marlise Minnagen, believes the strong accent on ‘local’ is why these tours work so well - tourists are out exploring with locals, visiting their homes and establishments, sharing their food and hearing their stories.
Day 1: Johannesburg from the pavements
During the day
If your clients haven’t yet checked out the city’s inner city attractions from the window of a coach, they can put on a pair of takkies (South African for sneakers) and opt for a walking tour which begins at bustling Ghandi Square, where a statue of the great man surveys the scene. From here they will make their way to the Carlton Centre’s 50th floor, one of Africa’s tallest buildings, to view the panoramic cityscape below. The Mai Mai Traditional Healers Market or the impressive mining houses of the Main Street Mall could also be on the itinerary.
If they’ve done the basics, they can choose a special interest walking tour instead, and there are an increasing number of these. A Newtown Graffiti Tour is a colourful walk exposing the street art of local and international artists. A culinary tour of the suburb of Yeoville, now the home to a multitude of African communities, spotlights the cuisines they offer. A CBD tour with an architectural focus takes in historical buildings associated with the city’s mining and banking industries. There are walking tours of Ferreirasdorp, Fordsburg, Chinatown and Braamfontein, each with their own cultural focus.
Deservedly, Johannesburg has a reputation as Africa’s shopping capital. Your clients can devote a few hours in the afternoon to browsing some of the inner city’s shopping Meccas, where East and West collide in unique products. The Oriental Plaza in Fordsburg, Newtown’s galleries, Maboneng’s Arts on Main and the Small Street Mall, are just some locations where they can buy that piece of African fabric or hand-crafted jewellery they won’t find anywhere else.
In the evening
In the evening, your clients can head out for one of Braamfontein’s slick night spots, such as Randlords, a rooftop bar on the 22nd floor of South Point Towers, or The Orbit Jazz Club & Bistro. They can catch a show – anything from ballet to pantomime - at the Johannesburg Theatre Complex, or something with a distinctly African flavour at the Market Theatre in Newtown. Bassline, one of Johannesburg’s most famous jazz clubs, also in Newtown, has now broadened its scope, and also offers a platform to poets and musicians of other genres.
Day 2: Central Pretoria and a touch of the bush
During the day
Feet once again ensconced in those takkies, your clients can take a Gauteng train ride to arrive in Pretoria a half hour or so later. It’s relatively easy to undertake a self-guided walking tour of the city centre covering the following landmarks:
- Heroes Acre, the burial place of boer leaders
- Church Square, with its historic buildings such as the Palace of Justice and Ou Raadsaal
- Chief Tshwane statue in front of the City Hall
- Burgers Park, the city’s oldest park
- Strijdom Square, with its historic sculptures
- The Pretoria Zoo
- The Union Buildings, seat of government.
The opening of the Dinokeng Game Reserve just north of Pretoria now makes it possible to experience a game viewing safari roughly 30 minutes from Gauteng’s urban jungle. The trip will require vehicle transport, however, which could be arranged with one of the game lodges operating in the reserve. Once in the reserve, your clients will be able to spot a wide range of animals including some of the Big 5 species. At lodges such as Kwalata and Mongena, game drives and walks can be undertaken, even a boat cruise on a local dam.
If time allows, a stop en-route can be made in the mining village of Cullinan, for lunch and a quick shop for curios.
In the evening
Back in Johannesburg, end off the day with a guided Soweto by Night tour. After a dinner of ox liver and onions or steamed chicken and chakalaka in a township restaurant, your clients could find themselves in a jazz club or a shebeen, jiving to a range of home-grown music styles and sampling a local brew.
