10 Great Southern African Beers and where to drink them

If you're really into your beers then you may be disappointed at first to find that the most widely available South African beer is SAB Miller's ghastly Castle lager. When we first arrived here I was determined to 'drink local', but two Castles in and I couldn't stomach it any more. Aside from Castle the most widely available and slightly more acceptable refreshing brands from the SAB Miller world domination project are Carling Black label and Hansa. You will find these brews everywhere, from the grand Rand Club to a Soweto shebeen. 

SAB Miller may have a strangle hold on the local beer market but dig a little deeper and you will find there are a million more satisfactory (and more expensive) ways to itch that spot that can only be reached by nice cold beer. In fact, African beers are pretty darn good.

1. Castle Light

Sorry for being misleading, this is actually not a great South African beer. For one thing it is 'light' (although not super light, it's still 4%). The main reason I feel it needs to be mentioned is the local belief that it is ok to drink Castle Light and drive because it won't get you drunk. Common sense people! If you are tanking beers you shouldn't be driving, they will make you drunk. Unfortunately local attitudes to drink driving in South Africa are not akin to those back in Europe and you won't be tackled to the ground and have your keys confiscated if you leave the party a few beers worse for wear - and especially if you point out that the beers were 'light' [sigh].

2. Carling Black Label
Ok, last of the not actually really great beers. The Black Label has to be mentioned because it is the most widely available and is the quintessential South African beer, everyone drinks it. Apparently the slang name for Black Label is zamalek, essentially meaning strong brew as it's 5.5% and is available in 750ml bottles. Drunk really cold as a sundowner in the middle of the African bush...yeah, that's what this is all about.

3. Windhoek Draft
Now to the the real greats, or the ones which I actually drink regularly. Windhoek is produced by Namibian Breweries according to the beer purity laws of the old German colonials. It is available pretty much everywhere and is very drinkable. It's nothing fancy, just a good solid affordable lager type beer. They call it Draught, but it comes in a bottle or can, don't get confused.

4. Tafel Lager
Also from the Namibian Breweries stable. If you can't get the Windhoek Draught, Tafel is pretty much just as good.

5. Citizen's Alliance
This is currently my favourite South African craft beer. It's an American amber ale 'made with honor' in Cape Town. It's a pretty heady 5.5% and has some really strong but smooth flavours going on and is one of those beers you find yourself trying to savour like wine and not just chugging like water. 

6. Jack Black Premium Lager
This seems to currently be everyone else's favourite craft beer. It's a pretty simple lager but much higher quality than the standard discount booze fare. If you're doing a braai, stock up on these and everyone will be impressed.

7. Darling Brew - Slow Beer
The bottle and the branding is pretty cool, but the beer is actually pretty awesome too. A yeasty lager, with just a tiny hint of sweetness, it feels pretty posh (given the bottle and price) and is very easily enjoyed.

8. Smack! - The Bree Street Belle
This is pretty much only available at the Market on Main in Maboneng, Joburg (which I guess makes me sound like a total hipster beer snob - as if I wasn't already sounding that way). They just started micro-brewing it in March 2013 so it has a lot of work ahead of it to spread to the bars and shops. I absolutely love it. It's a golden ale style but with just a hint of bitterness. Crisp, flavoursome summer perfection.

I love the Smack! designs

9. Standeavan - Bohemian Pilsner
Pretty much what it says on the tin - Bohemian Pilsner - what's not to like about that? Standeavan are micro-brewers based somewhere near Durban so I've yet to spot them in any Joziburg pubs, but they are stocked in quite a few of the posher liquor stores. 

10. Boston Breweries - Van Hunk Pumpkin Ale
Worth mentioning because of the pumpkin of course. It's not usual to find beers like this around these parts, so what Boston are doing with this is really, pretty cool.

Where to drink craft beers in Joburg

I wrote about craft beer venues in some detail for the great online Joburg magazine Gummie recently - so...I won't go in to too much detail, I'll just plug my work and say - you should go and read all about Johannesburg's best craft beer places here.

The Craft Beer Guide on Gummie.co.za

Incidentally, for the record: The Griffin, Foundry, Stanley Beer Yard, Chalkboard Cafe, Neighbourgoods and Market on Main, Wolves, Good Luck Club, The Leopard, Odd Cafe :) 

Bram Fischer and the Rand Club

Inspired by reading Bram Fischer's biography at the Liliesleaf Farm museum recently, when I saw that there would be a performance of the one man play The Bram Fischer Waltz in Johannesburg I just had to go. The play was originally written in Afrikaans by Joburg based writer/director Harry Kalmer. It went on to win a slew of Afrikaans theatre awards and was subsequently translated into English for the 2013 National Arts Festival. Here's the blurb which explains what it was all about:

The moving story of Bram Fischer, the Afrikaner communist and lawyer who saved Nelson Mandela from the gallows but died in prison himself. Based on research and conversations with people who knew Fischer well, this play explores the personal life, political outlook and choices of an extra-ordinary individual who paid the ultimate price for his beliefs.

Unless you are really familiar with the ins and outs of the anti-apartheid movement in the 1950s and 1960s - and particularly the Rivonia Trial - you may not have heard of Bram Fischer. His name seems to have dropped quietly from the list of famous heroes and has only reappeared in recent years as historians reconsider his story. Recently the Bloemfontein airport was renamed in his honour and a number of biographies have come out putting this great man back in the spotlight.

Bram Fischer was a lawyer by profession. He was born into a very privileged Afrikaner family - his father was the Judge President of the Orange Free State and his grandfather Abraham was once the Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony. He studied at Oxford University and married a niece of prominent South African statesman Jan Smuts (she also was a staunch anti-apartheid activist and his closest ally). He was also a committed Marxist and a leading figure in the South African Communist Party. He gave up a life of immense privilege and went against the prevailing attitude of his community to dedicate his life to helping end apartheid. As he says in the play: 'at least we can say that there was at least one Afrikaner opposing this system they call apartheid' [sic].

The play sees Fischer looking back over his past from a prison cell in Pretoria where he has been sentenced to life imprisonment for his communist activities and conspiracy to overthrow the government. We hear about his admiration for his comrades Nelson and Walter and their inspirational speeches from the dock during the Rivonia Trial (where he was acting as their lawyer). He also tells of his heartbreak at the sudden death of his wife during a car crash (he was driving the car). And we also hear about his last days of freedom on the run from the South African authorities. The whole story was utterly engrossing and my compliments must go out to the amazing David Butler for his touching portrayal of this truly great South African.

Bram had been a secret member of the communist party since the 1940s. In 1964 he was charged for leading the South African Communist Party (it was illegal to be a communist in those days). He was released on bail and travelled to London where friends encouraged him to forgo his bond and go into exile. Bram Fischer however would not give up on his homeland: “I am an Afrikaner. My home is in South Africa. I will not leave my country because my political beliefs conflict with those of the Government.”

On his return to South Africa, Fischer then went on the run joining the underground liberation movement, determined to sacrifice all he could for his country's freedom. He left a message for the court explaining his motives: “My decision was made only because I believe that it is the duty of every true opponent of this Government to remain in this country and to oppose its monstrous policy of apartheid with every means in his power. That is what I shall do for as long as I can...What is needed is for White South Africans to shake themselves out of their complacency, a complacency intensified by the present economic boom built upon racial discrimination.”

After 290 days on the run he was captured and put on trial. Some friends encouraged him to publicly renounce communism to gain a lesser sentence. Fischer was however true to his beliefs and delivered a passionate defence of his actions and proudly proclaimed himself to be inspired by Marxist theories.

The last scenes of the play are very moving as the final months of Bram Fischer's life were unbearably tragic. Suffering alone in his cell from brain cancer, his health deteriorated drastically and following his partial paralysis and loss of speech the authorities were eventually persuaded to allow his brother's home in the Free State to be declared a prison. He died there in 1975 long before the end of apartheid. His ashes were confiscated after his funeral by the prisons authority and his final resting place is unknown.

The Rand Club

The Bram Fischer Waltz was performed in a most incongruous venue - the Rand Club. The Rand Club is a historic members club in the Joburg CBD which dates back to the days of Cecil Rhodes and the Randlords. Under apartheid it was a whites only, males only club which also discriminated against Jews. Thankfully nowadays anybody is allowed to spend some time relaxing here so long as they obey the 'dress code' (no jeans, no trainers, no sports clothes etc).

The building is super colonial in style. It has a grand staircase, massive bar where they serve beer in engraved tankards (keeps your brew super cold!), an olde worlde library, various posh function rooms, a gun room (yes really), some (probably) extremely valuable and very beautiful drawings of exotic animals and birds and portraits and busts of a grand array of leaders including the young Queen Elizabeth II, Cecil Rhodes and of course dear Madiba. The theatre is down in the basement where they also keep the Pièce de résistance - a crazy billiards hall filled with the taxidermied heads of various African animals - including a giraffe.

In all the building is well worth visiting so keep an eye out for upcoming events and open days on their facebook page and website.

09.06.2013 Market on Main and Maboneng property

This Sunday we headed down to Maboneng's Sunday market, Market on Main to shop, eat, drink and look into the properties on offer in this growing inner-city gentrification project.

Somewhat similar to the Sunday pop-up markets in London's Brick Lane, Market on Main is largely focused on selling fresh food made from local products cooked right in front of you. Stalls sell all kinds of tasty things such as Thai noodles, dim sum, Ethiopian platters, gourmet burgers, sizzling paella, Durban style curries and barbequed pork ribs. On the drinks side there's homemade lemonade, mojitos, craft beers (that's South African for real ale/microbrewery), good strong Ethiopian coffee and, as we are now in South African winter, hot toddys and mulled wine. The food hall is constantly jam packed with fashionable foodies grabbing lunch at the communal tables and is hectic, but in a festive way.

On the upper floor of the former warehouse is a smaller market selling vintage clothes, funky furniture, handmade jewellery, artworks and some beautiful African fabric inspired shoes and handbags. The selection is small, but enticing. Back down in the warehouse's courtyard entrance you can also find little studios with art exhibition spaces and galleries, which form both the creative and commercial spaces of the artists who live here.

During our exploration of these little studios surrounding the market we came across the Smack! Republic Brewery (do they know that 'smack' is slang for heroin in the UK...?!). Smack! is two months old and run by two young craft beer lovers who had the dream of creating Joburg's first inner-city microbrewery. Their brewing space was most definitely micro - I think even my local pub in England has a bigger production - but we could not fault the beer. This was absolutely delicious, seriously some of the best I have drank in a long time. I can't wait to find it in some bars around town. And check out the bottles, very cool.

At Smack!'s terrace, fancy loft conversion in the background

Bargain Maboneng property

As we sat up on Smack!'s balcony with our pints of Bree Street Belle, we spotted a house viewing across the courtyard. We had landed in Maboneng on open day and the local sales team were there in force to tell us about the area's excellent investment gains. Apparently properties here see about a 12-14% yearly value increase, easily beating inflation. Furthermore, by 2015 the Maboneng precinct plan to develop an incredible 25 more buildings which they now own in the area (I didn't quite catch what that means in unit numbers, but I would say they are looking at adding thousands more flats). More and varied retail space is their next big focus (an area can't survive on a Sunday market alone) and they also plan to build student housing to bring some economic variation to the area, and of course to make it really, really cool.

The first property we saw was a converted factory loft. The ceilings were sky high leaving potential to add space with a mezzanine, although noticeably there were not many windows in the main living space. The showers (two, one for each bedroom), with old industrial windows used as doors, were about the size of your average bathroom and from the balcony you could easily zip-line your way over the courtyard and straight into the brewery bar. It was a large (125sqm) and unique space, which would suite young creatives with imagination and I can only imagine the kind of parties they could have there. Price? 1.5million Rand, which is around  £100,000.

Designer bathroom

Next we moved over to Main Street Life, a seven storey building with a boutique hotel on the top floor and an independent cinema and theatre on street level. The cheapest properties here are the studio flats (around 33sqm), which with their current furnishings unfortunately resembled hotel rooms. These units are on sale for 360K (about  £23K) and apparently rent for around 2,000Rand per month. For something slightly bigger they also still had a corner studio left, which came in at a considerably larger 55 square metres and was surrounded on two sides by full length windows (with views). Price? 550K (about  £35K).

Every floor of the building has its own artworks

The view from the top of Main Street Life

Maboneng are also selling properties 'off-plan' in two other nearby building starting at 580,000Rand for 50sqm in 'Revolution House' and 650,000Rand for a 65sqm loft style space in a building which, when construction finishes, will offer balconies and a communal swimming pool.

The redevelopment of this part of the city is certainly ambitious, poses many questions and has raised its fair share of controversy. The property mogul behind it all, Jonathan Lieberman, believes that in order to really redevelop and lift this tough inner-city area out of poverty and neglect, middle income and rich residents need to be looked after, as well as the existent poor population. Hence high-end properties, bijou dining spots and artisan shops have taken centre stage in the first part of the development. However, many people also argue that Maboneng currently only caters for those with money to the detriment of the local population, and certainly judging by the prices in the local bar I'd have to agree, life is pricey.

More local buildings slated for redevelopment

However, when all is said and done, as the endless spread of Joburg's northern residential sprawl is unsustainable, the regeneration and re-branding of these downtown areas is essential. Getting well-off South Africans to change their perceptions of inner-city living is a highly commendable thing. What these new urbanites do when they get there is another story.

01.06.2013 Bar hopping in Johannesburg CBD

Gerald is a bubbly Johannesburg tour guide, who has also written a popular book detailing all the best that the city has to offer called JoburgPlaces. Gerald had the genius idea of combining drinking with touring the city centre and after a tough few days of moving chaos we certainly needed those beers.

Unfortunately due to a long and tortuous morning of getting involved in something we hadn't really thought we had signed up for (we were just trying to make the TV work, we ended up with a satellite...) we missed the start of the tour.

Here's where we went (excluding a bar in a gold vault in the Mapungubwe Hotel and Darkie Cafe which is opposite it). Note we travelled around in a mini-bus. According to Gerald it is now safe to walk in the CBD after dark, but it is not safe to cross the bridges:

Guildhall Pub

Corner Market and Harrison Street

Downstairs at the Guildhall

Reputedly the oldest pub in the city, the Guildhall first opened in 1888. The bar itself and the panelling surrounding it is all around 100 years old, while the building's facade, including a wrought iron balcony, is also an important historic relic of old Joburg.

We sat up on the balcony overlooking the library square and the Nelson Mandela Building (the place were Madiba first got a job as a legal clerk at a Jewish firm). Most of the locals tend to sit downstairs at the bar. I've actually popped by here before whilst strolling the inner-city and can confirm that it's got a proper bar buzz in the post-work hours, is safe and the owner is lovely. There's also karaoke on Thursdays (I haven't been...yet).

I read that back in the 1970s the Guildhall was the bar of choice for foreign correspondents working in the city. It was reputedly a bit rough at the edges, but an essential venue for journalists getting their teeth into reporting the madness of apartheid and swapping war stories. How things change.

Reef Hotel 
(not to be confused with Gold Reef City), 58 Anderson Street

The funny tower on the right is all that remains of a grand old Joburg building. It was demolished to make way for a new bank HQ, but the project fell apart after demolition and now it's just a car park.

This is a lovely business hotel, with outstanding staff, very close to the main mining headquarters (hence the name). The restaurant on ground level does an excellent lunch buffet deal on weekdays for local office workers. Meanwhile upstairs there's a very respected gourmet restaurant where they train youngsters from poor backgrounds to become top chefs.

We headed all the way up to the roof (currently only open for private parties) for our drinks. The views from up there are incredible. Hopefully they will open it up soon as a proper bar. It is seriously one of the best 'sundowner' locations in Johannesburg.

Great Dane

6 De Beer Street

After picking up my poor husband (who had only just escaped the TV fiasco) we went to Great Dane, a very popular student joint in Braamfontein. It is next to Kitcheners which is probably my favourite bar in Joburg right now and has a similar crowd. The Dane was absolutely packed and everyone was dancing to Cee Cee Peniston's 90s house hit Finally, even though it was only 7pm. A proper party place filled with outrageously hip looking African students.

Parktonian Hotel

120 De Korte Street

For our final drinks gazing out over the lights of Saturday night Hillbrow, we went to the roof of the Protea Parktonian Hotel in Braamfontein. Again I think this place is only open for guests and private parties and again they are really missing a trick.

As this was our final destination we all had a Springbok shot (mint liqueur and kahlua) and listened with amazement as Gerald explained to us the ins and outs of how downtown Johannesburg fell into decline and why business and upmarket living is now spread across the 'northern suburbs' instead. I'm not going to go into the whole incredible story here, but in a nutshell - this city is changing all the time, and in the CBD things right now are only changing for the better.

24.05.2013 In Linden

Due to various set-backs in our flat-hunting mission, we have been forced to rent a temporary place for another 2 weeks before we can finally move into our proper home. The upside to this has been the chance to explore a new 'hood, which we wouldn't otherwise have spent much time in - Linden.

It may be a bit out of the way, but Linden is a special little place. It's got that friendly small town feel to it, with a healthy smattering of local shops and cafes, just one supermarket and not a mall in sight. There's a real sense of community here which many areas of modern Johannesburg seem to lack.

Here are some of my favourite places in Linden:

The Argentinian

Corner 7th Street and 4th Avenue, Linden

An Argentinian bakery specialising in croissants. You can get a really good fresh breakfast roll (or croissant) with eggs, mushrooms and more here, plus a juice and a coffee for about 50Rand - excellent value. The music is good old-fashioned 1960s folk from Bob, Janis and the gang, staff are absolutely lovely, there's free wifi and not a whiff of pretension. I'd breakfast here everyday if I didn't think such behaviour was absurdly extravagant.

I haven't eaten many croissants in Africa,  but these are definitely very good

The Whippet

Corner 7th Street and 4th Avenue, Linden

This is Linden's trendy cafe and it's always packed at lunchtimes. They have all kinds of smart, well-appointed design details like light bulbs in jam jars and Phillipe Starck inspired tea pots. The Whippet has an impressive selection of exotic tea blends from across the continent and great coffee too. The wifi is not wholly efficient (just 25mb at a time), but the food is gorgeous, they open late on Fridays for after work drinks and they are very dedicated to the local community - as they say themselves it's all about 'South Africans rediscovering their neighborhoods and their own history'.

The Whippet in Linden

Yugo Store

56 4th Avenue, Linden

Yugo store is an historic relic that looks like it just fell out of 1980s Bradford, although apparently according to some web reports Yugo dates back as far as 1946. Impressive. It says it's a supermarket, but actually it's more a warren of all kinds of random odds and ends, some of which have real obvious use, such as the African brand pots and pans, and others which have evidently been here for the past three decades waiting patiently for someone to come in and say 'yes, that's it! The pineapple shaped ashtray I was looking for!' It's like Poundsaver only most things cost around three pounds and some of the stuff is really old.

In fact I might go so far as to say that Yugo Store needs a blog post all of its own - it is just such a unique place in this land of countless anonymous shopping malls. It's an absolute Aladdin's cave of random stuff; bucket and spade, bicycle wheel, photo frames, nails, strange local soap brands, toy soldiers, loose cigarettes (sold individually - many people queuing up for these), sweets (so many sweets), seeds, towels, coca-cola. You can buy it all in this one shop.

There's an old fella (Mr Yugo I presume) who mans the till all hours, greets everyone by their first name and knows where literally every item in his store is. I've come here on numerous occasions in the last week looking for tin openers, irons, saucepans etc and he always reels off the exact directions 'left side of the store, 3^rd shelf, bottom' in a heartbeat. He seems to know everyone and always has time to chat. He is the reason that local stores are so important in the 21st Century - they keep communities together and remind us to be friendly to each other. Love Yugo Stores.

The Cheese Shop and Cheese Cafe

71 7th Street, corner 3rd Avenue, Linden

I love cheese. Me and my husband even had a cake made entirely of cheese at our wedding, because that was my cheese dream. For me cheese is basically an improvement to pretty much any meal. At the Cheese Shop you can not only buy fancy small-farm South African cheeses such as extra strong Karoo cheddar, you can also have a cheese meal in the cheese restaurant next door – class.

Rembrandt Slaghuis

57 4th Avenue, Linden

Slaghuis means slaughterhouse in Afrikaans (one of many amusing Afrikaans words) and Rembrandt is the real deal. This meat is really outstanding stuff, some of it is so succulent and fresh you could eat it cooked up just with salt and pepper. Damn, it just has so much flavour, it's pure meat feast luxury. Mr Rembrandt likes to give me a gentle ribbing over my terrible Afrikaans, which I actually find quite charming and not annoying as I have been wont to feel in other places. In fact he's actually trying to help me learn. Sweet.

Rembrandt Slaghuis

Oh and on Saturday mornings they set up a braai outside the shop – nyom!

Linden Cycle

63 3rd Avenue

At some point I think I am going to quit walking everywhere and splash out on a bike. When I do, I am definitely getting it from here. They have decent looking second-hand bikes from as little as 500Rand (about 35quid).

Herby's

Need a Swiss or Bavarian hairstylist? Call this guy.

The Blue Room

57 3rd Avenue, Linden

This is a cute little store specialising in 1950s era furniture and other sweet design pieces. They have a set of sparkly early 1960s kitchen chairs in there which I am in love with, but alas I think sensibility will win out. They also sell Lenin bust candles (randomly) and have a good value clothes store next door.

Amuse Cafe

34 5th Street, corner of 4th Avenue, Linden

Unfortunately there are not many bars in Linden. In fact I could rephrase that and say there are next to no bars in Linden. Thank heavens the football season's over.

Linden's one contribution to nightlife is the inviting, vaguely bohemian and gay friendly Amuse Cafe. They have live music from local bands Thursday through Saturday (acoustic night on Thursdays) and the friendly owner Dirk is so laidback he doesn't mind punters just hanging out drinking after-hours and getting on stage to mime the West End Girls video while listening to the full whack of Pet Shop Boys Greatest Hits, as we did last weekend. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Local folk singer Lucy Kruger

05.2013 Because this is Sandton

We've been living in Sandton Central, Johannesburg for almost two months now. Despite housing the headquarters of numerous major corporations, there is little going on here and I'm going to go out there and say it loud and proud - this is probably the most soulless place I've ever lived in. This week we are finally breaking free, so as a farewell to this strange era I've listed up the most notable features of our 'life' in Sandton CBD.

1.    Hydropark

This is the 'luxury apartment complex' where we have been living in a seemingly endless flat-waiting purgatory. I wouldn't complain about this at all if it weren't for the fact that we have also spent at least four months living out of our suitcases in other temporary accommodation during the visa-waiting purgatory.

Notable features of Hydropark:

- They clean the place all the time - hotel style - and they also do our laundry constantly, even if it's only a few pairs of pants and socks in the basket.

- There's an immaculate swimming pool with three barbecues (braai). Nobody ever uses either of these things, ever.

- The capped internet. Don't get me started on this crappy internet...

2.    Nelson Mandela Mall

Outside of Hydropark I spend an uncomfortably large amount of time at this massive shopping centre (where the husband's office is). Being probably one of the biggest malls in the country you would think you could buy pretty much anything here. The only thing I have not been able to find here is a computer shop. But clothes, food, books, dry-cleaning, hair-dressers, shoe-repair, dentist, banks, rifles, fridges, coins with Nelson Mandela's head on...they have all of that.

Notable features:

- Giant statue of Nelson Mandela

- Joyful, joyful - the Sandton library! It's actually rather good. Just bring a proof of address and passport to join.

- Restaurants, loads of them. Stand outs are the Wangthai and the Butchery. For snacks it has to be Bread Basket. Duds include the hugely greasy Trumps Grill.

3. The Bar

There are loads of restaurants in the aforementioned mall, but strangely only one bar. This bar due to its proximity to the office is our de-facto after-work bar. The other things it has going for it are the sports on TV, indoor smoking and...ah I pretty much ran out of things.

On the shady side the supervisors seem to be complete bastards and are often seen publicly shouting down the wait staff in a pretty humiliating manner and there are always hookers hanging around. Oh and the house music gets really loud.  Caffe della Salute is certainly no Silvers, but it will have to do.

4. Delhi Dhabar

Tucked in next to the Benmore Gardens Mall (where the supermarket is) is a small strip of restaurants, ranging from super luxe to Fish and Chips. In between it all you have Delhi Dhabar which is a great Indian restaurant. There's also a strange little Lebanese shop and cafe which does a fine business in nargile smoking pipes.

5. The bus stop

I walk past this bus stop on the corner of West Street and Grayston Drive every day and I still don't really get what this is about. I mean, surely love is the bottom line, no? Conundrum.

Between 15:30 and 17:30 there are hoards of people waiting here for the buses which head directly all the way over to Soweto in the south-west.

Love sits way above the bottom line

6. The robots

South Africans call traffic lights 'robots' here. I like that. As for the robots themselves...bloody hate 'em. With not much 'street life' going on in Sandton people just tend to hurtle through the main streets of this area. Watching the robots changing colours and then preparing to dash across the cross-sections here is an uncomfortable game of chicken.

Just another Sandton street

7. The hotels

Hidden behind the big walls here are some very fancy hotels. So far I have only infiltrated a few, of which these are probably my favourites:

The Balalaika – for the name obviously. Also nice restaurant.

The Maslow – I went here for the Internations event and was very impressed by what lies out the back. A beautifully lit pool, surrounded by palm trees, looked over by some minimalist glass fronted cocktail bars and lounges. Glam.

The Radisson Gautrain – you wouldn’t know from the front but it has a roof terrace with a pool. The view is much of a muchness, but the general atmosphere is unexpectedly fancy.

8. The tuk tuks

In the back of a tuk tuk

Outside the Citibank building on West Street is the rank for Sandton's tuk tuks – Shesha tuks. They only travel a maximum of 10kms from Sandton (for 55Rand) so are perfect for short trips which would actually wind up costing you more if went the Gautrain plus bus route. For example you can get to Illovo Junction (home of Wolves Cafe and the Griffin Pub) for just 30Rand.

If you do go the tuk tuk route (and I would recommend you do) you need a map, as they never know where they are going. Also time your trip. Tuk tuks have a maximum speed of 40km p.h so it is pretty easy to figure out if they are trying to rip you off, which they will be.

Tuk tuks stop working at around 20:00.

9. Gautrain

Of course the best thing about Sandton is the Gautrain. It takes you straight into Braamfontein and the CBD in just 10minutes. I would seriously be lost without my trusty escape Sandton lifeline. Thank you Gautrain!