During your visit to South Africa you should make some time to explore its economic powerhouse - Johannesburg! Known as Egoli - the "city of gold", Johannesburg is full of amazing things to do, exciting places to explore and wonderful sights to see and is rich in history as well as being a veritable cultural melting pot!

In the city itself you absolutely have to take in the vibrant, eclectic precinct of Maboneng! The name means "place of light" and this area of the city is full of fabulous restaurants, great entertainment venues and a variety of shops and art galleries. Maboneng is "Jozies" at its finest and is something of a phoenix, having been a run-down and rather dangerous area of Johannesburg that has been the subject of an ambitious and highly successful urban renewal programme.

Today, it's the city's most hip and happening destination and a drawcard for culture vultures of all ages, offering a fizzy, upbeat vibe that's steadily putting it on the global map, thanks to its creativity and unique brand of urban cool.

If Maboneng represents the Jozies of today, then Soweto is most definitely its yesterday. With more than a million residents and covering an area of around 200 square kilometres that's home to some 355,000 households, it's South Africa's most famous township and a tourism destination in its own right.

Its name is an acronym for South Western Townships, and it was home to some of South Africa's most celebrated struggle heroes from Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Walter and Albertina Sisulu and Oliver Tambo. It's a township full of contrasts, from glittering shopping malls and the breathtaking FNB Stadium where the 2010 Soccer World Cup final was played to the shacks on the edge of Orlando West and the history of Vilakazi Street where Nelson Mandela's former home is now a world-class museum and you can sample traditional South African food at a range of wonderful street restaurants.

A short drive from the city lies the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Cradle of Humankind. One of the most prominent pale-anthropological sites in the world, this is where remains of Australopithicus Africans - one of the earliest-known hominid ancestors was found,  dating back some 2-million years - and where remains that date back some 3,5-million years have been discovered. Discover all about our early beginnings at the Maropeng Visitors' Centre and explore the Sterkfontein Cave system where many of the remains were found, home of one of the longest-running archaeological digs in the world.

Of course, Johannesburg is also a major tourism hub for both South Africa and the Southern African region, so it's easy to add a few days to the beginning or end of your safari to give you time to explore this wonderful city. There's a host of fantastic hotels to choose from and we're on hand to recommend where to stay and what to see. So chat to us today.