JOHANNESBURG, South Africa

Trip to and from Johannesburg.
Our driver on the way to Madikwe dawdled along. He was 40 minutes late picking us up, didn't have money for the toll booth, and missed the turn to Madikwe and had to back track 10 miles. Now, on the other hand, our driver on the return trip thought he was an airplane pilot without a plane.
The speed limit was 120 km, and we averaged 160 km. So yes, we sort of flew. The two lane highways with shoulders are used as 4 lanes. Slower vehicles move to the shoulder when someone needs to pass.

The area we passed thru on our journey is where 70% of the worlds chrome reserves are. It runs abt 78 km long and 45 km wide with a number of companies mining.

Town of Zeerust was packed with people lined up for ATMs and trying to get into stores. It just happened to be the wellfare payday, and money was deposited to their bank accounts.

South Africa's power grid has issues. Power can be turned off at anytime, usually just for a few minutes. Where you really see the impact of the issue is at traffic lights. We saw very few that were in use. The corners became either a 4-way stop or directed by security personnel.

Flying to Amsterdam this evening.Read more