Jozi Walking - Part 1

The other day someone asked me about walking tours in Jozi. Since I have attended a few and plan on taking more, and they are such a thing here, I thought I would write a series of posts about the different kind of walks you can take part in when you are in Jozi.

Discovering Melville's back alleys

I have to explain first to those non-Jozi people why visitors and locals don't just go for a walk, why they congregate in groups to explore a part of town. Most obvious there is the perceived danger of visiting some of the suburbs with less than salubrious reputations, like Hillbrow and Yeoville. With South Africa's turbulent history, it is not surprising that some areas of the city have at one point or another been no-go zones.

Then there is the strange suburban separation that means people are unfamiliar with other parts of town. Massive changes have taken place in this city since the end of Apartheid, making locals unfamiliar with their own home city. A hip neighbourhood might have become run-down, and businesses have fled parts of the city wholesale, and are just recently returning. It is disorienting and creates uncertainty.

And there is the usual reason for going on a walking tour: to get a knowledgable local guide who will illuminate a neighbourhood beyond the obvious.

Hillbrow Introduction

My friend Heather on her blog frequently writes about Jozi tours. It's a good place to start. My previous posts about walks are here and here. And as a first introduction, here are a few tour guides and organisations offering walking tours of one kind or another. Get walking!

• Gerald Garner's Joburg Places: walking and driving tours in the CBD
• Cultural walker and chef Ishvara Dhyan
• Main Street Walks
• Nel's Melville and Pretoria tours (email contact only)
• Parktown Heritage
• Alex cycling tour (Jeffrey Malaudzi)
• Yeoville and Hillbrow tours
• Melville Koppies Sunday hike
• Jozi Photowalkers
• Soweto cycling tours

More walking posts in the next few weeks.