A Weekend in Greyton (and a bit of Malgas)
After our recent stay in Suurbraak, Thorsten and I had a weekend to kill in the Overberg before flying back to Joburg. We decided to spend two nights in Greyton, about 90 minutes from Cape Town, where neither of us had been before. We also made an afternoon detour to...
Art in Downtown Joburg: Open Studios 2023
I've written many, many blog posts about the vibrant art scene in Joburg, especially downtown Joburg, over the years. But it bears repeating, especially now: Joburg's artists are this city's beating heart and its greatest asset. Art is keeping downtown Joburg alive. I...
Suurbraak: Paradise in the Overberg
Thorsten and I recently spent three days in Suurbraak, a tiny town in South Africa's Overberg region. Thorsten (who is an architect) designed a holiday house there several years ago; now he's designing a second house for the same clients. I was lucky enough to get...
Axe-Throwing in Johannesburg
I recently received a media invitation from Johannesburg In Your Pocket to go axe-throwing in downtown Joburg. How could I refuse? I had never thrown an axe before –- it’s not something one does in normal life, especially not in the middle of the city -– and I’m...
Friday Morning at the Biggest Fresh Produce Market in Africa
A couple of miles southeast of downtown Joburg, in a place called City Deep, there's a produce market the size of a small town. The Joburg Market (next door to the Mutliflora Market) is the largest fresh produce market in Africa -- or the largest in the Southern...
Literary Magic at the Soweto Book Café
Last Saturday Thorsten and I went to a launch of Eve Fairbanks' new book, The Inheritors, at the Soweto Book Café. I was excited because: 1) Eve and I have been friends for years and I was keen to hear some discussion about her award-winning book, which tells the...
Four Days in Rhode Island, America’s Smallest State
I'm back in Joburg after a month-long trip to the U.S. -- my second American journey in 2023. I spent most of this trip dealing with administrative and family issues, spending time in the same places I normally go: Maryland (and a little time in Washington, D.C.),...
A Brixton Mosaic in Rosebank
This is a quick post advising Joburg art-lovers to go to the Everard Read Gallery in Rosebank to check out the beautiful mosaic in the courtyard. It was made in Brixton. The courtyard mosaic at Everard Read, created by Bronwen Findlay and her team. The hadeda is, of...
Pomegranates and Turkish Food in Centurion
Centurion, an anonymous no man's land between Joburg and Pretoria, is home to a magical place called Buyuk Chamlija: a self-described "Socio Eco Techno Village" that grows fat, juicy pomegranates and has a Turkish restaurant shaped like a beehive. I think one of the...
Bev’s Burgers: My Joburg Burger Obsession
In a city/country that seems to be full of bad news, here's a nice story: A man named Bev with no formal culinary training cooks hamburgers in his house during covid, starts selling said burgers to his friends, sells out repeatedly, opens a kitchen at a local bar,...
Quirky South Africa, Part 3: The Garden Route
Read Quirky South Africa Part 1, about padstals, and Quirky South Africa Part 2, about Bethulie and the Gariep Dam. I was talking to some South African friends about my visit to the Garden Route recently, and one of them said: "Maybe this is a dumb question. But what...
St. Alban’s: A Hidden Cathedral in Ferreirasdorp
This post is not part of my Hidden Joburg series, which I started last year (and will eventually return to). But it should be. St. Alban's Anglican Mission Church in Ferreirasdorp would have been a perfect addition to the Hidden Joburg book and I don't know why it was...
Quirky South Africa, Part 2: Bethulie and the Gariep Dam
As described in my previous post, my mom and I took a road trip from Joburg to the Garden Route and back. Along the way we stopped over in Bethulie for a journey through South African history and a drive around the Gariep Dam, among other things. I'd been to Bethulie...
Quirky South Africa, Part 1: Padstals of the Platteland
My mom came for a visit and the two of us took a weeklong road trip through the South African platteland (Afrikaans for countryside). We drove from Joburg to Bethulie, Bethulie to the Garden Route, up through the Karoo Desert to Hanover, and then back to Joburg. Tiny...
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.
