Matt's Blog Day 14: Lion Spotting in JoBurg

Having come to Johannesburg with a degree of trepidation, having continually been warned that the city isn't safe, I have to say I am very pleasantly surprised. Whilst we are being very careful as to the areas we go to, I've found Johannesburg to be the most cosmopolitan and comfortable city we've been to.

Last night we headed to a local mall to grab a bite to eat and found a vibrant square with bars and cafes all playing football's Confederations Cup Final. With South Africa's affectionately named Bafana Bafana team having earlier played in the 3rd place play-off, there was something of a carnival atmosphere.

With a group of golfers heading off for a final golf day, the rest of us went to the nationally renowned Sand ton Shopping Mall for a bit of retail therapy. The mall was absolutely enormous and, having mooched around for most of the afternoon, but still only seen half of the mall, we headed back to the hotel.

The trip became something of a rugby celebrity spotting day, with many of the Lions squad and management, Willie-John McBride and numerous ex Premiership players all being spotted. This rugby-fest actually did us a favour in one sports shop. One of our group was wearing one of our Lions Legends official T-shirts. As we walked through the shop, we heard one member of staff tell his colleagues that we were Lions players. Whilst we didn't actually lie, we didn't let the staff know they were misinformed and tentatively asked if there could be any discount. The manager was more than happy to give us 20% off - Bonus!

View links to all Matt's blogs here, and see the picture gallery of his tour here.