Doug and Kerry Hudson in Johannesburg, California

World Trip >> USA >> California >> Johannesburg

We left Cayucas on the coast and headed inland for Johannesburg. Yes, you read that right! But this is Johannesburg in California, right in the Mojave desert.

Johannesburg, California was the location of a gold rush about a hundred years ago, but the tiny place has long since seen better days. In fact, it was virtually a ghost town, with lots of derelict, empty buildings and a windswept feel. A really strong wind made the windows rattle and the doors creak in the hostel, the evening we spent there. To compound matters, we were all alone in the hostel because officially it was closed as they had no running water. So we spent a very spooky night there, wondering whether that noise was footsteps outside or just the wind, and imagining waking up to find masked, axe-wielding killers standing over our beds, etc... Our imaginations really got away with us.

We actually arrived at Johannesburg early enough to explore the local features of interest. We went to Red Rock Canyon, where we were treated to spectacular rock formations coloured red by iron oxide in the rock, and scuplted by ages of water and wind erosion. We also went to Fossil Falls, where long ago a waterfall carved the rock into strange shapes. The Falls are now dry, the water long dried up.

You would expect that in a desert there is not much to see, hence the word deserted. However, we saw a lot of interesting features while driving through the Mojave and Nevada deserts (of Knightrider fame - disappointingly we didn't see KITT though...). For example, we saw a solar power generator, with rows and rows of mirrors focussing the sun's energy. And we saw a wind power generator, the whole hillside covered with so many turbines that it looked like they had reproduced out of control. We also saw a prison, and wondered whether any inmates would consider escape - it would mean certain death in such a harsh place. We saw a very fascinating thing near the town Mojave, that looked like an international airport. There were so many planes, even 747s, just resting on the tarmac. It turned out that they were stored there because the dry desert air helps preserve them.

The other interesting thing you can find in the desert there is a place called ... Las Vegas! The gambling and gaming capital of the world, and mecca for sinners world-wide! And that's where we went next...

World Trip >> USA >> California >> Johannesburg

Last updated: Sunday August 27, 2006