It`s a fast-paced city where people work hard and play hard. So, amidthecorporatehigh rises, office parks and shopping malls, countlessmusic venues, theatres,restaurants, pubs, clubs and coffee shopspropagate and prosper.

In surprisinglyexpansive tracts of open space around Johannesburg --- its suburbia is said to boast the world`s largest man-made forest ---many residential estates on the outskirts of the city are built around golf courses or equestrian centres. Severalsmall game reserves flank the city`s outskirts, and the watersport attractions of Vaal River and its Dam are short drives away.

South west of the city, the sprawling `South Western Townships`created years ago to house labourers who worked in mines and other industries in the city, is today Soweto.Infused with the history of the struggle against apartheid and abuzz with the energy of the city of gold, it has its own heritage sites, restaurants, shebeens and budget accommodation options aplenty. On a day tour or longer, it offers a rare experience of friendship, vibrancy and contrasts.

Northwest of the city, the Cradle of Humankind, a 47,000ha World Heritage site, has yielded some of the oldest hominid fossils ever found, some dating back 3,5 million years.In its complex of limestonecaves, including the Sterkfontein Caves, the 2,3-million year-old fossil Australopithecus africanus (named `Mrs. Ples`) found in 1947 by Dr. Robert Broom and John T. Robinson helped corroborate the 1924 discovery of the juvenile Australopithecus africanusskull, `Taung Child`, by Raymond Dart, at Taung in the North West Province.

The smaller, less pacy city of Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa and seat of government for half the year, is rapidly spreading closer to Johannesburg into an ever-growing megalopolis that seems to encompass even most of the smaller towns around it.