When one is first introduced to the idea of a walking tour through down town Jozi, the knee-jerk reluctance is due to the predictable preconceptions regarding safety and the various other negative associations of the inner city that are always on the cards. The natural follow up then, is who are the tours aimed at and who could possibly be signing up. After all, the assumption is who apart from the small trickling of inquisitive foreign backpackers does the prospect of a city hike appeal to? Curiocity Backpackers, the clever new addition to the perpetually expanding Maboneng Precinct, is putting its best foot forward to answer the need for alternative perspectives of the inner city. Locals and foreigners to the inner city, domestic and international alike are given the opportunity to explore and discover what the eastern corner of the city has to offer. Maboneng, meaning ‘Place of Light’, is a work/play urban space on the east side of the Jo’burg CBD. It is home to several indie retailers, restaurants and other hangout venues. But the neighbourhood is possibly best known for Arts on Main, its pioneer development. And it’s here that our guide kicks off the tour after a brief verbal orientation of the area and a summary of expansions planned for the near future. We get a taste of the artistic and creative energy that keeps visitors coming back for more each Sunday, and Thursday evening.

A stone throw away from the complex is the diamond precinct, Jewel City. But one would be forgiven for being skeptical. The eastern wall keeps prying eyes out by focusing all attention on the beautifully executed graffiti mural. Around the corner from this masterpiece is another rare-find, The Collector’s Treasury. Housed in an unassuming building on Commissioner Street, this is a precious archive of great wonders and the largest second hand bookstore in the southern hemisphere. Every surface is covered by LP records, sheet music, maps, porcelain and postcards, and an estimated 2 million books and counting when its co-owners last checked.

Eventually our guide manages to drag us out of the Treasury. Outside we “komba” by pointing our index fingers skywards to hail a mini-bus taxi. Luck would have it no other way today - an empty Quantum pulls up and in a few quick minutes we’re at the Carlton Centre. From the fiftieth storey we survey and marvel at Johannesburg’s beauty while we receive an introduction of the city’s architecture and the history of its spatial planning.

To end with we head to Newtown through Gandhi Square and the banking quarter along Fox Street, where almost every corner demands our attention. We make a stop at Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo’s law firm, SAB, the Worker’s Museum, Shigisha Lounge and Museum Africa before heading to Bree, the biggest taxi rank in Johannesburg, to catch our ride back to Maboneng.

Time to hang out and finally admit how little of the city we actually know and that perhaps the best way to stop being tourists in our own city starts with a will to rediscover it.