The only thing I didn’t like so much about extended visit in Johannesburg, Africa is the fact we were nowhere near the sea. Where I was born, in Hong Kong, I was used to the sea; being Hong Kong is an island surrounded by the South China Sea. Plus, I lived in Guam for a few years and that too is an island in the Pacific and I lived for even a longer period of time on the Mauritius island, which is surrounded by the Indian Ocean. So, I hope you can understand just how much I miss seeing the ocean.
In Johannesburg, the closest I ever came to any body of water was the Zoo Lake . It’s not even a natural lake, but a man-made lake. Across the the lake is a Zoo, but that didn’t make me feel any less homesick. Beyond the trees of the Zoo is the famous Hillbrow Tower; towering over the hospital. What is nice about the Zoo Lake is that it is for everyone, not only for people, but for dogs, ducks and geese. I do like how hilly the city of Johannesburg it, though. It reminded me of Central Park in New York.
Sunday mornings, after I parked the car on an hilly incline, I went rollerblading all over Zoo Lake. It’s a long way down the incline, but I held onto as many trees and poles while rolling past the many Luxury Hotels Johannesburg has built around the lake, until I finally made it to the park itself. When I reached the bottom the trees were absolutely amazing. It was the middle of autumn. I felt like I was watching a display of fireworks they were so beautiful.
I past a hot-dog stand when the seller yelled ‘halal’ at me, which thank God I knew what that meant. ‘Halal’ means it’s okay for Muslims to eat. Which is important being there’s a significant Hindu and Muslim population in South Africa.
The lake is no ocean, but it is absolutely beautiful. But being fall, the lake must be absolutely freezing because not even the ducks were swimming in it. I roller-skated on and saw families having picnics. I stopped to watch rower on the lake pass by me, the cold not effecting them in the least. Nor did the cold stop people from fishing. I roller-skated around the park a few times and each time the Zoo Lake revealed a little bit more of itself to me and inviting me to come back promising to reveal more. So, okay, yes, Johannesburg has no ocean, but it does have a magical body of water.