Meruschka Govender

London is still an important tourism and business air route for South Africans  – British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and SAA all increased their offering on direct flights between London and SA this past year. In terms of domestic air travel, Cape Town, Johannesburg (OR Tambo) and Durban maintained their first, second and third place rankings respectively, which have been constant for the past 4 years. I find it convenient and cheaper to fly domestically from Lanseria and seem to be taking more and more flights from Joburg’s northern airport these days, as Mango, Kulula and FlySafair offer great domestic rates from Joburg’s northern airport. The TravelStart research shows that flights from Johannesburg to London increased by 88% between 2014 and 2017 and regional destinations such as Windhoek and Harare increased by 51% and 118% respectively.

I’ve attend five out of the past seven  Fête de La Musique (FDLM) festivals in Jozi from it The line up inlcudes: Femi Koya, Ibaaku (Mali) Jess & Crabbe / Bazzerk (France), Morena Leraba, EASY FREAK, G-Sand, Ikati Esengxoweni, Lerato Lichaba, MOONGA K., Motèl Mari, Radio123, Robin Thirdfloor, The Lectric Monks, The Sun Xa Experiment, Bambanani Brass Band, BuskAid, Rock Steady, Sutherland. Originally, the Fête de la Musique is a pfree music event taking place on the streets of  France on the 21st of June the day of northern hemisphere summer solstice each year. FDLM is brought to you by The Alliance Française of Johannesburg, the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS), and Bassline Live in partnership with the Market Theatre Foundation and sponsored by Total SA.

Cotlands is a multi-award winning, non-profit organisation with over 80 years of experience in serving young children. As a charity, they are focused on creating access to play-based early learning opportunities for young children. Their programmes are designed to ignite potential through play by enhancing children’s language and mathematics skills as well as ensuring physical and social-emotional development. You can download it for FREE on the App store or Google play store, sign in and scan your virtual card at till points to give back every time you shop.

Apart from the mayor’s car and the ambulance, there are no cars (or need for Car Insurance) on the island, so people move around and move goods with donkeys. If you’re looking for a bar filled with more local people, J’s Bar and Kitchen on Muthangari Drive will be a good spot. If you venture out of Westlands, one of the clubs that is very popular with Nairobi’s young people is Kiza on Galana Road in Kilimani. There is one song that is on high rotation at the moment: Sauti Sol’s ‘Live and Die in Afrika’ – the clubs go wild when this song plays!