Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa. It is the point of entry for most international flights and the scheduled safaris to Kruger National Park start here.

It is easy to travel to Kruger National Park (about a one hour flight or 4 - 5 hours drive), Madikwe Game Reserve (3 - 4 hours drive or charter flight), Sun City/Palace of the Lost City or Pilanesberg National Park (both about a 2 hour drive) from Johannesburg plus with connecting flights to all the South African cities and connections to most African countries, most tourists will pass through (or stay) in Johannesburg for some reason.

Johannesburg is affectionately called ‘Egoli’ which means ‘Place of Gold’ (or 'Jozi') as it was built around a mining ridge, which was discovered by an Australian gold prospector and began as a huddle of tents pitched on this ridge. Johannesburg was a political hotspot in the former apartheid days with the most well known township, Soweto (see Soweto day tour), lying south of it. Townships were designated residential areas for blacks as they were not allowed to live in the so-called 'white areas'.

The Cradle of Humankind, is in close proximity to Johannesburg and is where the oldest hominoid skeletons were found.

Johannesburg is the economic capital of the Gauteng Province. This bustling city offers tourists a real taste of South Africa.

Johannesburg experiences mostly warm winter days but the evenings can be very chilly and we recommend bringing warm clothes for the evenings (can drop just below 0 degrees Celsius!).