We flew back to Johannesburg on August 24th after spending just under two weeks of driving in Malawi covering 1,720 km through many beautiful landscapes and several driving challenges thrown in along the way.
Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo Airport was starting to feel like arriving home. This was our 4th entry into the airport and the third from another country in the past 7 weeks.
We stayed at the Premier Hotel again and booked two nights so we could get some laundry done and reorganize and regroup.
The first time we had ever been to Johannesburg was in June 2017.
We stayed a couple of times at a nice B & B in the neighbourhood of Benoni which is located 26 km from Joburg proper but fairly close to O.R. Tambo Airport and also close to a great pub I discovered, Dingo’s Pub & Restaurant.
I would grab an Uber mid/later afternoon and head down for very affordable pints of Castle Lager, good snacks, a good atmosphere and great entertainment including the pub owner’s Border Collie that loved chasing and returning bottle caps.
In 2019 we returned to Johannesburg and we again patronized Dingo’s and it was exactly the same as the 2017 visit, dog and all. I love consistency.
Fast forward to August this year when we visited again and Dingo’s is still alive and well and exactly how it was back in 2017.
And the dog is just as intense. He/she is a new dog and has followed in the footsteps of its predecessors.
Joyce and I grabbed an Uber from our hotel, which was farther from Dingo’s than where we originally stayed, making it a 15 km trip.
When we arrived we decided to sit outside but it was quite chilly so we hummed and hawed and then finally moved from outside to inside and eventually made ourselves comfortable on a couple of hard wooden chairs along a sticky wooden bar.
You can still smoke in the bars in South Africa. It is a challenge for us exers. Sometimes we cheat.
We survived and had a bunch of drinks and snacks and the cost was extremely affordable.
We met the owners of the pub, Mike and Lizaan and told them of our history with the pub which they really appreciated. Mike has eye issues and they are considering selling the pub. We wish them well and hope the pub is still there the next time we’re in the neighbourhood.
After several bevies, stuffed jalapeño poppers and pizza we made our way back to our hotel to prepare for our next leg. Mauritius.