So many people avoid Johannesburg because of clichés, yet this vibrant city is still the largest in South Africa. Johannesburg, also known as Egoli (the City of Gold), holds First World attractions for any traveler.
This tour includes highlights like the Stock Exchange, De Beers (famous for diamonds) George Harrison Park, where gold was first discovered in the late 1800’s. The prestigious Northern Suburbs of Sandton, Houghton, Rosebank, and then cosmopolitan Hillbrow, a colourful insight to South Africa’s "Manhattan", once the most densely populated spot in the Southern Hemisphere.

Settlement of Johannesburg began in 1886, when gold was discovered in the Witwatersrand by an Australian prospector named George Harrison. The discovery spurred a feverish gold rush as fortune hunters from all over the world descended on the area. Blacks from all parts of southern Africa came to work the gold fields either permanently or temporarily as contract laborers. The government of the Transvaal, then a Boer republic, established a city at the site, and in the space of three years it became the largest settlement in South Africa. By the 1890s, several large mining companies had taken control of the area's gold mines, creating huge fortunes for their owners. Tensions between the mine barons, the English-speaking newcomers to the area, and the Transvaal's Boer government—fed by British colonial aspirations in the region—led to the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1901. By its end, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State were under British control.

Hillbrow is the inner city residential neighbourhood of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is known for its high levels of population density, unemployment, poverty and crime. In the 1970s it was an Apartheid-designated 'whites only' area but soon became a 'grey area', where people of different ethnicities lived together. It acquired a cosmopolitan and politically progressive feel but due to poor planning its infrastructure could not cope with the rapid population growth. This, together with lack of investment led to an exodus of middle class residents in the 1980s and the decay of major buildings, leaving in its wake an urban slum by the 1990s. Today the majority of the residents are migrants from the townships, rural areas and the rest of Africa, many living in abject poverty. An urban regeneration programme is underway. There are street markets, mainly used by local residents, and the Johannesburg Art Gallery contains work by major local artists including William Kentridge.

Diamonds were formed at least 990 million years ago, although some are estimated to be as much as 4.25 billion years old. Diamonds are a unique and fascinating product. They cannot be compared to a ton of copper or an ounce of gold. They are mysterious and rare and mined under extreme conditions - from the icy Tundra of the north to the hot African deserts of the south. Created before life began on our planet, diamonds have always been associated with mystery, myth and magic.

As diamonds require specific geological conditions in order to form, they are only found in certain remote locations around the world.

Southern Africa produces the majority of the world’s diamonds, but there is also diamond production in Russia, Canada, Australia, India, China and South America. Based on 2006 Kimberley Process production statistics, Botswana is the world’s biggest producer of diamonds by value, followed by Russia, Canada, South Africa and Angola.

George Harrison and the history of Johannesburg are closely bound together: it was he who first found gold in 1886, a discovery that gave rise to the largest and most vibrant city in South Africa. The original 10-stamp battery mill that was used to crush the ore on site has been removed and is on display in the mining district in Main Street, in downtown Johannesburg. On view are two original shafts and sweeping views of the city.

The largest gold resources in the world were found in the area of the Witwatersrand and it is therefore not a surprise that South Africa is one of the world leaders in gold mining. Johannesburg's other name, "Egoli" means City of Gold. The gold-bearing stone is mined at considerable depth. The Western Deep Level Mine, with its shafts of depths to 3900 m, is one of the deepest in the world. Mining at such deep levels is usually highly problematic, because the temperature rises by 1 degree every 33 metres.

However, the geo-thermal conditions in South Africa are favourable. Nevertheless, immense machinery and air-conditioning are still required to make the working conditions underground tolerable. The air is cooled down to 32 degrees, but the workers have to cope with almost 100 percent humidity.

Sandton is a wealthy area in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, in the Gauteng Province. The name comes from the combination of two of its suburbs, Sandown and Bryanston, both of which were named after places in the United Kingdom.  In 1969 Sandton was promulgated as a municipality in its own right, but lost its status as an independent town after the re-organisation of South African local governments.

A new exclusive suburban centre was established, while at the same time maintaining the park-like residential areas of the two surrounding suburbs. The Sandton City shopping complex is supposedly the largest non-metropolitan shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere. Along with hundreds of smart formal shops you can find the work of local artists and craftswomen selling handicrafts of the highest quality on the Sandton square.