Johannesburg has European style shopping centres like Sandton City with international fashion chains and shops geared up for Christmas. My own retail interest, however, was in the outdoor shops - because the South Africans have really good kit for sports, camping and four-wheel driving. One of the things that really struck me however was that all the outdoor shops had big collections of evil looking knives for sale - which is a thing you rarely see in the UK. So...

Big houses and gardens and domestic help are things that you get used to if, as I have, you have lived in Africa. You also get used to the need for the high walls and gates round the houses, security bars over windows and doors and guard dogs. What I find it harder to get used to is the internal security in people's houses, particularly the internal gates which secure the bedroom areas - and this is not just a Johannesburg syndrome. It is the same in many Afri...

Chris and Janet live in Sandton, which is a very smart suburb in northern Johannesburg. The house has a big garden to the rear which is on three levels, including a swimming pool and a tennis court, all of which d*** on the (Zimbabwean) gardener keeps very trim. Its particularly beautiful just now because the jacaranda tree is in bloom - although d*** on has a less appreciative view, because he has to keep fishing the purple blossom out of the pool. Oscar and Lu...

Bush cooking on the braai - we haven't taken to eating snakes (although I'm told snake is pretty good - just like chicken). It's boerewors, which simply means "farmer's sausage" in Afrikaans.

42C at 1600 today in the Kruger and most animals with any sense were sitting in the shade, or like these hippo sitting in the water. Most humans with any sense were sitting in air conditioned vehicles - searching for any animals with no sense - without much luck.