Emzini: The Place to Eat in Westdene
Ever since I moved to Joburg I've been driving past a shabby restaurant building across from the Westdene Dam, at the corner of Lewes Road and Motor Street. The restaurant used to be a Portuguese place called Tasca do Sol and once looked vaguely intriguing, with a...
Ludwig’s Roses: The Rose Capital of South Africa
Ludwig's Roses, a huge rose farm north of Pretoria that has been running for more than 50 years, had been on my radar screen for a while. Several people told me I should visit, but that I must go at the height of summer when the roses are all in full bloom. Somehow...
The Joburg City Park You Must Visit in 2022
I last blogged about the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve, a huge Joburg City Park on the south side of the city, more than 11 years ago. I don't normally like to blog about the same place twice but I think it's time for a Klipriviersberg refresher. It's a truly...
Grieving for Jon, Ten Years Later
For the past couple of months, I've been thinking about what to write in my blog for the ten-year anniversary of Jon's death. Jon died a decade ago tomorrow. Jon hanging out with the locals on a remote mountaintop in Lesotho, September 2010. For those who haven't read...
Corona Finally Came for Me
I finally caught the corona. My "Oops, I caught covid after all" selfie, featuring my newly knitted pussy hat. This news is no longer particularly interesting. It seems like everyone in Johannesburg, and their mother, has had the 'rona at least once at this point. But...
Isolating With Omicron, Brixton-Style
Greetings from the Omicron epicenter! I imagine lots of people in other parts of the world, and even elsewhere in South Africa, are wondering what's really happening with the Omicron variant in Gauteng. We've got some first-hand experience at the Blogitect (blogger +...
Mustardbox 713: Chowing Korean Corn Dogs in Boksburg
A few days ago, I received a hot tip from my friend Debjeet about a Korean corn dog place in Boksburg called Mustardbox 713. Mustardbox 713. I had never heard of Korean corn dogs (Mustardbox calls them "Korn Dogs", which I really like for the alliteration, but I'm...
Outrage Over Omicron: A Rant From South Africa
You all know the story by now, but let me summarize: Thursday afternoon, we learned a group of South African scientists had sequenced a new variant of the coronavirus. It didn't have a Greek alphabet name yet -- just B.1.5-something-something -- but we knew the covid...
Return to De Hoop Nature Reserve
To finish off my Western Cape road trip (read about the earlier parts of the trip here, here, and here), Thorsten and I spent two days at the De Hoop Collection in a remote part of South Africa's Overberg region. The De Hoop Collection is a privately owned lodge...
A Lazy Blog About Cape Agulhas, the Southern Tip of Africa
I've been wanting to visit Cape Agulhas since my first visit to Cape Town in 2011, when I took a day trip around the Cape Peninsula and learned that the Cape of Good Hope is not, in fact, the southernmost point in Africa. It took another decade but I finally made it...
Syrian Rose: The Best Restaurant in Fordsburg
I'm taking a quick break from my Western Cape road trip series to tell you about Syrian Rose, my new favorite restaurant in Fordsburg. Syrian Rose is unquestionably the best place in the entire city to chow down on spicy grilled chicken, shawarmas, and fresh fruit...
Astonishing Arniston
Thorsten and I spent two days in Arniston, a tiny seaside town about three hours southeast of Cape Town, as part of a mini Western Cape road trip to celebrate our anniversary. Our stay in Arniston was courtesy of the Arniston Spa Hotel and Cape Country Routes. I...
Wine Tasting Dos and Don’ts: Lessons From Noble Vice
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I really enjoy wine tasting in South Africa. I've done a few media visits to various South African wine regions over the years, and recently I've made an effort to actually learn something about wine so I can figure out which wines...
Roasty’s Roadhouse: Worth the Journey to Fourways
Eighth in my “Roadhouses of Gauteng” series. Browse all of my roadhouse posts or view a map of the roadhouses I’ve visited. I am not easily convinced to drive to Fourways, an outer suburb about 30 minutes north of central Joburg. And when I first started my roadhouse...
Heather Mason
I’m an American writer/blogger/photographer living a quirky life in Johannesburg. Follow along as I explore Johannesburg, South Africa, and the rest of the world.
