Nothing beats a Highveld thunderstorm

Summer is officially here and with it comes one of my all-time favourite things – a Highveld thunderstorm.

There’s a storm brewing as I type this and I can’t wait for the thunder to crescendo, the lightening to flash and the rain to come pelting down.

After school I spent a year aupairing in New York and a beautiful, fresh thunderstorm was one of the things I missed most. When it rained the Americans got all excited about the wind and I found myself looking at them with a little pity thinking, “Ag shame, you have no idea what you’re missing”.

Crime, politics, potholes and power outages aside, I am truly proudly South African. Where else in the world can you drive for a day or less to watch the sun go down at a waterhole in the bushveld as the big five come down to quench their thirst; survey the world from the top of the Drakensberg after an invigorating hike; or lie on the beach lazily watching whales between reading chapters of your favourite book?

But taking it even further I’m a Joburger first and foremost. We have a unique city which in summer comes to life with purple Jacarandas. Cape Town can keep their mountain – it’s pretty, and I’ll visit, but my heart is in Joburg. The culture, people and Highveld thunderstorms simply cannot be beaten.