Our modern world is amazing - we hop on a plane travel 5,600 miles at 550mph and at 40,000 feet, drink bubbles and sleep - 12 hours later we hop off at the other side of the world..
And yet...our taxi driver and our tour guide for tomorrow, Stephanus, fills us in. Load shedding or power cuts to you and me. Every district has no power for several hours a day. This makes negotiating the traffic lights interesting.
Well at least you can down load the App to check when you will be off - that's if you can charge your phone, of course.
Our lovely host, running our lodge for 30 years, explains that she keeps the lights on for guests and the kitchens open by a mixture of generators, solar power and direct supply but the lack of maintenance at the local electrical sub station means that if it is turned off for a 2 hour load shedding session it is many more hours before it comes back on again.
Successive governments have struggled with the democratic process and keeping corruption at bay meaning that the infra structure suffers from lack of investment.
She is more worried about the water supply and just this week has sunk a bore hole at the property.
I will let that hang there...
This is leafy, well to do Melrose district, home to international cricket and golf. It is not a township. The area is prosperous, many properties large . There are private schools and a shopping mall.
Hope springs eternal - this is a magical time of the year the world over.
Spring.
The days are still shorter - dark by 6.30pm. But the sky is blue and the middle of the day warm, hot even. The plants are starting to burst with colour and I found this little chap by the pool. Just 4 weeks ago they had a smattering of snow the first here for 11 years and only the second in 25 years. Climate change or so it seems.
And the smiles the brightest of smiles and the best welcome from the lovely people of Johannesburg.
These are my first thoughts from a newbie to South Africa.
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