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On Monday 11th we flew to Johannesburg, getting to the airport ridiculously early. We ended up watching Olympic boxing as it was the only thing on, and then on our arrival in Joburg our pickup didn't arrive, so we spent 2 hours waiting for him! Once we finally got to our hotel, we found we had a massive room which was a nice change from camping, but realised the only "safe" thing to do in the city was to go to the mall!
The next day we did yet more shopping, and then went to see the new Batman film and had dinner in Nelson Mandela Square at Sandton Mall. It didn't really feel like we were in Africa!
On the Wednesday we went on a tour through Joburg and to Soweto, the Black township. We also saw Nelson Mandela's house, the Apartheid Museum, Desmond Tutu's house, and the Hector Pieterson Museum. However, when they dropped us off at the Apartheid Museum, they told us they'd pick us up at a certain time, but surprise surprise they didn't turn up, and we were left waiting in the middle of Joburg, the most dangerous city on earth, for 2 or 3 hours! After calling a driver from the hotel, he managed to get stuck in traffic, so we stood around in the dark waiting for him - exactly what you want to avoid in Joburg! In the end we managed to get home ok, and had some nice Italian food and some red wine.
On our last full day in Joburg, we went shopping at the craft market and bought some tribal masks after lots of negotiating with the guy selling them. I think we managed to get a good deal :-s
We also went to the Montecasino and played a bit of blackjack, but we quickly ran out of money! Just as we got back to the hotel, Simon realised he had lost his debit card, and after lots of phoning around had to give up and cancel it!
We left Joburg on the 15th for a long flight to Delhi.
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