by 2summers | Nov 17, 2020 | Arts and Culture, Johannesburg, Melville and Surrounds
For more than half a century, the Hong family ran a corner shop at 166 Caroline Street in Brixton, one of Joburg’s oldest residential suburbs. Immigrant-owned corner shops, much like spaza shops, are an iconic part of South African history and culture. 166...
by 2summers | Sep 22, 2020 | Arts and Culture, Ekurhuleni (East Rand), Johannesburg, Tours, Townships/Informal Settlements
Many of you may remember my post about the African Accent Spaza Shop in Katlehong, which I visited for the first time in June. My first time at the African Accent Spaza Shop. (Photo: Nkosikhona Kumalo) I’ve kept going back, for various reasons. Every time I go I...
by 2summers | Sep 14, 2020 | Arts and Culture, Johannesburg, Soweto, Tours, Townships/Informal Settlements
As everyone in South Africa knows, we’re still in the midst of a pandemic and our national borders are still closed. This means no international tourism. While this extended travel ban is detrimental to the South African tourism sector, the ban has created new...
by 2summers | Aug 6, 2020 | Arts and Culture, Food and Drink, Johannesburg, Johannesburg City Centre
Other than a brief visit to Hillbrow, I hadn’t gone to downtown Joburg city since before the pandemic started. Also today is the ten-year anniversary of my arrival in Joburg and I wanted to do something special. So I decided to devote the whole day yesterday to...
by 2summers | Jul 27, 2020 | Arts and Culture, Johannesburg, Parks/Nature Reserves
Last week I participated in a behind-the-scenes tour of historic Paterson Park, on the border of Norwood and Orange Grove, to check out the public art projects in progress there. The park is undergoing a huge renovation, expected to finish in the next few months. The...
by 2summers | Jan 29, 2020 | #10SouthAfricanTowns, Arts and Culture, Food and Drink, Johannesburg Day Trips, Lodging, Mpumalanga
Val is the first stop in my #10SouthAfricanTowns campaign, for which I’m visiting ten small towns across South Africa in 2020. After months of talking about it, my #10SouthAfricanTowns campaign has finally begun. I visited Val, a tiny hamlet in Mpumalanga...