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My husband and I took a 5-hour tour in Aug 2019 with Jo Buitendach which was arranged by Bert Duplessis of Fish Eagle Safaris in Houston, Texas. Jo planned our day based on our interests passed on from Bert. Art. history, culture. She and driver, Tumelo, picked us up at our hotel, Fairlawns Boutique Hotel. Our first stop was the downtown area to view the remarkable street art. From there we drove to the Maboneng Precinct and since it was Sunday the area was lively with food markets, people out and about and an upbeat vibe. We felt very much at home wandering around with Jo, looking at art, getting snacks and so on. We later went out to Soweto where we toured around in the car, and visited the Mandela House and other sites. What made this day great was the ease with which Jo explained things to us, her incredible knowledge of everything about the city and her way of interacting with the people we came across. I really felt like I had know her for years. If you are thinking about taking a tour of Johannesburg, I highly recommend taking a tour with Jo Buitendach.…
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Date of experience: August 2019
Helpful
My wife and I were traveling with two other couples and only had one full day in Johannesburg. This company was recommended by the Four Seasons where one couple was staying. We wanted to make the most of our one day in town, so we signed up for a full day tour that was tailored to our needs. In fact they picked us up from our two different hotels making it very easy to coordinate. We requested an overview of the city, a visit to the Apartheid museum, Mandela house and Soweto. Right from the start this tour exceeded our expectations. Jo, the owner of the company was our guide. She is a very passionate guide with a sincere love of Johannesburg, its art and its people. Her academic background gives her a deep knowledge of the city’s history and its place in the world. We asked many questions, and she always provided detailed and thoughtful answers. It seems that she has a special passion for street art, and it was an emphasis as we went through the city. Evidently she does dedicated street art and graffiti tours as well. The street art in Johannesburg is large in scale, spectacular, and really helped bring the city to life. We visited areas of the city that are undergoing the process of re-vitalization including Maboneng and Stanley 44. Jo did a great job of walking us through the history of apartheid and the continued struggles to overcome that unpleasant past. I can and will recommend this tour to anybody spending time in Johannesburg. It’s a sprawling city that would be difficult and dangerous to explore on your own. If you have a short time and want to maximize your experience in Johannesburg, you will not find anything better than Jo and one of her past experience tours. We learned so much. It was a great way to kick off our time in Africa.…
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Date of experience: August 2019
2 Helpful votes
Helpful
Response from PastExperiences, Owner at Past Experiences
Responded 31 Oct 2019
This is such a lovely review! Thank you so much. I likewise had such a fun day out with your group. I hope the rest of your holiday was awesome.
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Joined owner Jo with two friends for a 2-hour walking tour of the Maboneng area. We especially wanted to learn about graffiti and life in Joberg and Jo shared and shared. We had first hand experiences with artists on the street, and were also able to soak up a working knowledge about past and recent graffiti artists, movements in the area. Also walked into some interesting public and private spaces. Jo kindly arranged for driver to pick us up and return us back to our hotel.…
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Date of experience: June 2019
Helpful
Response from PastExperiences, Owner at Past Experiences
Responded 13 Jul 2019
Thank you so much! I am so glad you enjoyed the tour. This is really really appreciated. I hope the rest of your trip was awesome and you got some great shots!
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We hired Jo for my husband and I. She designed a day with us in mind which included learning about Johannesburg in the Macro sense and then see specifics related to Art and Apartheid. We went to some great galleries and then seeing wonderful graffiti art in Braamfontain and Maboneng. We went to places that we would never know about including Victoria Yards. We loved Jo's energy, passion and care for others including the vendors. They all knew Jo. She was respected by them and we can see that she respects them. I highly recommend her.…
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Date of experience: June 2019
Helpful
Response from PastExperiences, Owner at Past Experiences
Responded 12 Jul 2019
Thank you so so so much for taking the time to wright such a caring and thoughtful review. You have no idea how much I really appreciate this. I had so much fun with you on the tour and I hope that if you ever get back to JHB we can meet up for a drink or dinner. xx
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I booked a tour with Jo for Maboneng with my group of volunteers and really enjoyed it. Jo knew a lot about the history and current situation of Johannesburg, she's very passionate about graffiti and street art and paints a very balanced view of the good and bad of Joburg. Would highly recommend the tour to everyone. …
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Date of experience: March 2019
Helpful
Response from PastExperiences, Owner at Past Experiences
Responded 07 Mar 2019
Thanks for such a kind review! I had such a great morning with you and your team. Thanks so much for doing good work in our city!!! Xx Jo
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