Narava v Johannesburgu / Nature in Johannesburg

Johannesburg spada med mesta z največ zelenimi površinami na svetu. Kakšna škoda, da iz varnostnih razlogov večina teh zelenih površin sameva. Mesto je prepredeno z drevoredi, parki, botaničnimi vrtovi in naravnimi rezervati. Razen nekaterih zelo frekventnih lokacij, kamor hodijo domačini na družinske piknike in so posebej varovane, so na večini naravnih rezervatov obvestila, naj bodo obiskovalci pozorni na osebno varnost in naj se ne gibljejo posamično, ampak v skupinah najmanj 3 ljudi.

Johannesburg is one of the cities with the largest green areas. What a shame that most of these green areas are deserted for safety reasons. The city is filled with trees, parks, botanical gardens and nature reserves. Except for a few highly frequented locations where local families go for picnics that have security guards, most of the nature reserves carry warning signs that visitors should take care of their personal safety and go in groups of at least three people.

Tu zelo pogrešam hojo po hribih, vendarle se da z malce iznajdljivosti izvesti tudi to. Kar se tiče hribov, v Johannesburgu ni praktično nobene ravnine, vse gre nekako gor in dol, tako da hoja po ravnem sploh ni mogoča. Nekateri naravni rezervati imajo objavljene termine, običajno enkrat ali dvakrat mesečno, za organizirane skupinske pohode. Na en tak organiziran pohod sem šla v Melville Koppies. Zbralo se nas je kakih 30 ljudi, nekateri so pripeljali tudi pse. Šli smo na pohod z vodnico, ki nam je spotoma povedala marsikaj zanimivega. Na primer, da se v tem rezervatu srečujejo tradicionalne afriške verske skupine, kjer imajo nočne obrede. Kaj natanko počnejo, ni znano, vendar oskrbniki rezervata občasno najdejo kokoši s prerezanimi vratovi, kar daje slutiti, da se verjetno gredo obrede žrtvovanja, ki so sicer načeloma prepovedani.

Living here, I miss hiking. But with a little planning it can be done. As far as hills are concerned, Johannesburg is not flat at all, it just goes up and down so that walking on flat terrain is not possible. A few of the nature reserves have guided walks, usually once or twice a month, where individuals can attend as part of a larger group. I joined a guided walk in Melville Koppies. There were about 30 of us and some brought their dogs along. The guide led us on our walk and told us interesting facts along the way. For example, tribal local people gather in the nature reserve for their night rituals. No one knows what exactly they do, but the guards sometimes find chickens with their heads cut off which indicates that they do sacrifice rituals that are generally not allowed.

Še en izmed naravnih rezervatov je Klipriviersberg, oddaljen le 11 km od strogega centra mesta, a je tako velik, da se v njem počutiš kakor v divjini. Ta rezervat je dokaj varen za hodit, saj je povsem ograjen, na vhodu pa je varnostnik. Vendar ograja ni zaradi varovanja pohodnikov, ampak zato, da ne bi ušle živali, ki živijo v njem. Od večjih živali so to zebre in antilope. Bilo pa je tudi mnogo ptičev in številne avtohtone rastline. Zelo mi je všeč sukulentna rastlina, neke vrste aloe, ki raste vsepovsod, je zelena z belimi pikami in rdečo obrobo. Šla sem v vrtni center, da bi jo kupila za domov, a je tam ne prodajajo, seveda, saj tu raste kot plevel.

Another nature reserve is Klipriviersberg, about 11 km away from the city center, but is large enough to give visitors a sense of being in the wilderness. This reserve is generally safe to walk around in because it is completely fenced and a guard sits at the entrance. The fence is not there for guarding hikers but to keep the wild animals from escaping. Among larger animals there are zebras and antelopes. I also saw many birds and local plants. I love a succulent plant, some kind of aloe, that grows all over, it's green with white spots and a red border. I looked for it in a garden center to buy it as a houseplant, but they don't have it as it's considered a weed.