#Johannesburg

My recent tour of Ponte City, hosted by Mainstreetwalks and Dlala Nje, included a Saturday-afternoon stroll in Hillbrow. I go to Hillbrow at least a couple of times a week for boxing training but I don’t walk around the neighborhood with my camera very often, especially not on weekends when the streets are most busy. So I was excited for this opportunity.

Ponte City is a mythical place.

Ponte City, the tallest residential building in Africa.

Ponte City is the most visually striking structure in Johannesburg, and its history is as fascinating as its appearance. Ponte has 54 floors and hundreds of flats. A few decades ago it was a trendy middle-class apartment building. Later it became the city’s largest brothel and dope den, ruled by gangs, thugs, pimps, and dealers.

At long last, I got into Ponte.

I’ll write a longer post about this epic visit, which happened courtesy of Mainstreetwalks, in the next few days. In the meantime, here are a few Instagrams.