Zoo Lake: Row all the Boats!

I am ashamed to say that I have lived in Joburg all my life, and I have never rowed a boat on Zoo Lake. Now that I have, I cannot understand why it took me so long (okay, it may have been my crippling fear of water. Or ducks. Or - heaven forbid - ducks in water. But I'm bigger and braver now so it's okay). You guys, it was SO. MUCH. FUN!

First off, I have to point out how ridiculously cost-effective this activity is for an afternoon out - broke guys who want to woo the pants off a lady (wait...I may have phrased that wrong. Or not.) this is for you. For a mere R10 per person per hour, you get a boat, two oars, and decades worth of romance (not to mention the chance to show off those biceps as you row her around). Hey, if it worked for that guy in that movie, it will definitely work for you! (Probably.) But I digress.

See? Romantic! Told you.

I know that the boats at Zoo Lake have been around longer than I have, so I was half expecting a barely-floating piece of decaying wood with some oars thrown in for good measure, but I was pleasantly surprised. While the boats are by no means magnificent works of modern design, they were well maintained, fully functional, and, most importantly, spotlessly clean.

The latter was particularly important to me as I had decided it would be wickedly romantic to have a picnic lunch on the lake. Being the domestic goddess that I am, I whipped up a bunch of delightful picnic treats (and by whipped up, I mean Went To Woolworths). We had strawberries for starters, mains of low gi sandwiches with stripped chicken & avocado and egg mayonnaise & rocket, followed by a malt chocolate teddy bear. All this was accompanied by Still Lemonade Infused with Ginger (Oh my god. Go and buy yourself this, right now. It's heavenly) because, why not! It's summer.

Meet the chocolate malt bear. Almost too cute to eat. Almost.

An hour was just the right amount of time to row around the lake a few times, get up close and personal with the ducks (and their gorgeous, fluffy, yellow baby ducklings), admire the wide array of birdlife on the island (did you know that there are two blue cranes that live there?! They're magnificent!), and investigate the inscriptions on the big fountain in the centre.

Blue cranes! Actual, wild, blue cranes!

If you're looking for a fun, different, cost-effective afternoon out, I highly recommend this. Pack a picnic and a camera and plenty of sunblock, and lounge on the lake while soaking up the summer sun. And then, as always, tell me all about it!

Oh - one last thing. I have a challenge for you. We managed to get close enough to the fountain that i could touch it with my foot. True story. When you go, give it a bash (just make sure your cellphone is in your bag). And THEN tell me all about it!