Students will be students!

I am ashamed to admit that our nights out are few and far between here in Jo’burg. Our school days are exhausting and the weekends are filled with Safaris, Theme parks, markets and museums. Despite this we do somehow find the time to get a few cocktails down us at various bars and clubs in the area.

And why wouldn't we? The alcohol is ridiculously cheap. Cocktails average at around R40 (which translates into sterling at about £2.20). Savana dry can be bought at R18 which is £1, and I managed to buy a bottle of Merlot for R36 (just £2!). So clearly we want to make the most of it – we are students after all!

After our first day of teaching we found ourselves in a pub just by the mall. We were all tired, having never been given the chance to recover from the flight before our 5.30 start the next day. We were all a bit subdued that day, buzzing for the 6 weeks ahead, but also a bit shocked, having discovered what our schools had in store for us.

Margaret, Luke, Ali, Tim and me with our post-work drinks 

When Friday came (our first day eating away from the guesthouse) we discovered Catz Pyjamas, a restaurant and bar only a five minute walk away from the guesthouse. They serve some the best burgers I have ever seen, and their cocktails are amazing – particularly the Mermaid’s Orgasm and A Muthaphukkin Gud Drink. We have made the trip down there several times now, and I am sure we will pay them several more visits before we leave (in fact we are going there again tonight!).

Danielle, Hope, me and Margaret, enjoying our Strawberry Daquiris at Catz

For Joe’s birthday we decided to venture a little further afield, to 7th street, where we found ourselves in a place called Ratz. Really all I can say about this bar is that they had imaginative names for all their cocktails, and it was good fun ordering the “Comfortable Screw”.

I can’t go much further without writing about Saturday night. It was probably one of the best nights of my life. We went out clubbing in Alex with Lewis. I can’t even describe where this place was. It was bizarre. He drove us for a good 20 minutes from the guesthouse along a motorway, which passed through an industrial estate, and then he abruptly pulled up just off the road. Then we noticed that hidden between warehouses stood a bar/club. We clearly stood out as being the minority, but apart from a few funny looks, we felt very much welcome and soon settled into drinks and dancing. It was an experience, and just like any night out in England, it was filled with drunkenness, embarrassing photos and a peculiar (yet hilarious) drive home.

Me and Margaret in the club in Alex

Tonight we are off for a night out in Soweto after Catz. I feel it will be one level up from our Alex experience, but we shall have to wait and see!