Day 46

Day forty six
Monday - 2nd March 2020

Current position
1322 Backpackers International 
1322 Arcadia Sreet 
Hatfield
Pretoria
0028
South Africa
S 25°44.80884'
E 28°14.74806'

The weather was not so kind to us this morning as it was pouring with rain. We had breakfast in the open sided verandah huddled together in our fleeces.

The attractions we were going to visit today were all outside which would not have been pleasant visiting in the rain. The only inside attraction was the Cullinan Diamond Mine but after a little research on TripAdvisor we found that it had mixed reviews stating that you were stuck underground traipsing for three or so kilometres in mud for up to four hours with little to see and not always a good commentary by the guide. As a result we decided to knock the mine on the head which meant that the we would not need to hire a car. Instead we decided to go to the pictures which is something we'd probably do at home when on holiday in the rain. 

We got an Uber to the Brooklyn Mall and found the cinema and bought our tickets to see '1917' a war film that we wanted to see anyway. The film didn't start until twelve so we had a coffee to fill the time. We got chatting to the waiter who said that he hoped there would be no power shedding during the film as he thought the cinema wouldn't make a refund if the power did go off. 

With this thought in mind we took our seats in the empty cinema. There was only one other couple in the cinema who were seated directly behind us. The film went without a hitch without the hint of a power cut. It was a good and exciting film which kept us on the edge of the comfortable seats. 

We left the cinema a couple of hours later and it was still raining so over a bite of lunch we decided to go to the Menlyn Mall the largest shopping mall in South Africa. An Uber took us door to door without us getting wet.

The shopping centre was indeed large with three floors and shops radiating from two or three central hubs. We walked slowly round with the occasional cup of tea to kill the time and at around 6.00pm we went to Moo Moo's for a meal and started with two glasses of African sparkling wine in celebration of Prosecco Sunday which we missed yesterday. Moo Moo's is a steakhouse and burger bar and we chose to share a burger. Whilst we were eating the young manager came over to check that everything was OK and we started chatting to him. We found out that he was half Swiss and half South African and both his parents were missionaries and that he'd travelled extensively in Africa. He told us stories of being shot at and being held at gunpoint. He was currently studying for his masters degree in politics with a view of becoming a diplomat. By the time we'd finished it had gone 9.15pm and the shopping mall was closing down and was all but deserted as we hurriedly walked to the exit to get an Uber home.