As soon as the plane door is flung open at the Johannesburg airport, you immediately know you're no longer in Kansas. A scent that says "Africa" practically colors the air, a distinctive mix of red dust, rich spices, and of a people struggling to overcome the legacy of South Africa's conflicted history.

Though only in the city for a couple of days on the front and back of a trip to the South African bush, Jo'burg left us with vivid impressions. From afar, South Africa's business capital with its soaring skyscrapers looks rich and powerful but up close, it's obvious most of its 3.2 million residents are poor and lack opportunity.

Women with babies in their laps beg on corners not far from exclusive, walled neighborhoods bristling with signs touting their security. "Bakkies" stuffed with working people on their way back home to one of the former townships where blacks were forced to live under apartheid hurtle past the luxurious Sandton mall.

At our hotel near the zoo, polite staff cautioned us not to walk around downtown because of crime. Decades of minority oppression followed by frustration with the slowness of change since apartheid ended in the early '90s have fed desperation and violence here.

However, thanks to new security measures, some say the problem is starting to level off. And there's much to see and experience here before taking off for Kruger or maybe South Africa's exotic Wild Coast.

If history is your thing, take a guided tour of nearby Soweto, once Jo'burg's largest black township. Here you can visit the modest former home of Nelson Mandela. Or stop by Gold Reef City outside Jozi, where the metal was discovered in 1886 and thousands of men have since died extracting it from the earth.

Back in the city itself, visit Mai Mai, its oldest market, where you'll see plenty of healers selling traditional herbs and remedies. Colorful, meticulously made bead and wirework is also sold on the roads and at intersections. For many crafters, their only income is from sales of this work.

At night, taxi to the Rivonia area for posh clubbing. We enjoyed sampling Cape Malay cuisine and a complex South African chardonnay in one of the city's many great restaurants. A city of contradictions, particularly between rich and poor, Jo'burg remains sharply etched in our minds. ${QuickSuggestions} Not to belabor the point but please don't wander the streets of downtown Johannesburg by yourself as this is unsafe. That said, a guided tour of the former all-black township of Soweto is well worth your time. Day long tours, including lunch of such "township fare" as dombolo (steamed bread) and Umqhusho (Khosa samp and beans-Nelson Mandela's favourite dish), cost approximately $75 person and include visits to Nelson Mandela's former home in Soweto along with that of Bishop Desmond Tutu.

Located six kilometers outside Johannesburg, Gold Reef City Theme Park is was created around an authentic 19th Century gold mine. Today, the park offers adventures rides, restaurants, history, site seeing and tours, including a chance to go down into an underground gold mine.

The park is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30am to 5pm, and admission starts at $10 per person. ${BestWay} Taxi and/or chauffeured car. Because of crime, walking is not recommended in much of the city nor are the public buses.
From journal An Africa Neophyte's Impressions of Johannesburg