The Carlton Hotel at the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa back in 1975 was a happening place and the South Africans were justly proud of the place. The nightclub at the top was the highest in Africa, the name escapes me at the moment but during the day the yellow mine dumps could be seen and at night the club was a great place to be, although compared to so many places in Europe and the States is was no big deal… But… This was Africa and compared to Europe and the States there was nothing like The Carlton for thousands of miles. Pan Am wasn’t allowed to fly over black Africa so the 707’s landed at Isle de Sol in the Cape Verde Islands, took on more fuel than flew down the West coast of Aftica until the got to South Africa then flew inland to Johannesburg. There was a Holiday Inn at Jan Smuts airport and from there I saw the Concord SST land and take off before it went into commercial service. Johannesburg is one of the highest airport in the world so the aircraft manufacturer’s sent their aircraft there for testing. I was a pilot and the locals at Victor Kent knew it so they surprised me by taking me to the Holiday Inn at Jan Smuts, seating me with a view of the approaching aircraft and watching when I reacted to the sight of the Concord, nose moved down for visibility during landing. Forever imprinted in my memory.
Johannesburg still has a lot of charm. Charlize Theron, an Afrikaner moved back to permanently reside in Jo-burg. The night sky is a lot clearer there. The Southern Cross constellation is very visible and there are loads of stars to be seen. Nevertheless, Jozie is a dangerous place these days as is all of South Africa despite the false claims heard about the place being safe.
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