15 Years of 2Summers in Joburg
This post first appeared in Johannesburg In Your Pocket. I published my first blog post on 6 June 2010, making this month the 15th anniversary of the 2Summers blog. (I didn’t actually move to [...]
Exploring Eswatini and the Barberton Geotrail
I’ve been to Swaziland many times. During my early years in South Africa, Swaziland felt almost like a second home to me. But I hadn’t been to Swaziland since it was renamed Eswatini in [...]
Soweto Night Out: A Walk Through South Africa’s History
Last Thursday evening I went to Soweto with a group of journalists, tourists, and locals, and we did a simple yet revolutionary thing: We walked around at night. The walk was part of a [...]
St. Mary’s Cathedral: A Secret Church in Downtown Joburg
Every time I think I've visited all the historic churches in downtown Joburg, another one pops out of the woodwork. My latest "discovery" is the spectacular Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin, or St. [...]
Hunting for Fossils in the Cradle of Humankind
I recently learned a bonkers statistic: Around 40% of all of the hominid fossils ever discovered were unearthed in the Cradle of Humankind. In other words, close to half of all the known fossils [...]
My Joburg Jumpsuit: A Love Story
This jumpsuit love story began eight months ago, when I booked a Caraci experience on Airbnb to celebrate my birthday. Thorsten and I spent a glorious day in the Joburg CBD, shopping for African [...]
A Special Tour in Bulte (Noordgesig): Sign Up Now
Regular readers will know that I've written a couple of posts about Noordgesig -- affectionately called Bulte, which means "Hills" in Afrikaans -- lately (see here and here). Last year I befriended Lavinia and [...]
A Belated Kensington Jacaranda Walk Post
I'm suffering from a creative block this week and couldn't think of anything to blog about. Then I remembered I have a set of pictures and sketches from my jacaranda walk in Kensington, which [...]
Visiting Dolobran, Joburg’s Quirkiest Mansion
Last weekend Thorsten and I visited Dolobran, one of Joburg's oldest, quirkiest, and most mysterious mansions, on a tour with the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation (JHF). Dolobran is unique among Joburg's "Randlord" mansions (other examples [...]
Pretoria Jacarandas: A Photo Bonanza
This week, the last week of October, is peak jacaranda week in Joburg. The trees are laden with flowers and each breeze brings a shower of purple blossoms raining down onto the street. But [...]
Joburg Heritage: Churches of Coronationville and Bosmont
Apologies to everyone who received this post in their inbox last week and has now received (and opened) it again. My site experienced a problem this week and the original version of the post [...]
Jozi Fashion Designer for a Day
Last Saturday, to celebrate 49 years on earth, I gave myself a gift: I booked an Airbnb experience with Caraci Clothing and pretended to be a fashion designer for the day. Okay, "fashion designer [...]