Avoid this city at all costs!!! Unfortunately that is quite difficult to do considering all onward connections to Africa originate from here. I'm not sure how true its reputation as the most dangerous city in the world is. We didn't really venture into the city, scared by the rumors and the taxi fares. We spent most of our time in 'The Backpackers' Ritz,' a convenient place and probably the only place worth staying at in Jo'burg. The staff try to lighten the morbid atmosphere of the place but still there is nothing to do in the area apart from walk around extremely snobbish and expensive shopping malls. Johannesburg's speciality is its security systems. People seem scared even to leave their cars. They just stay in their barbed wire 'boxes' too scared to go any where near the city centre. The shopping malls don't even have pedestrian entrances! So not the best of first impressions on Africa and quite a negative start to this travelogue but it really gets much much much much much much better.