Nothing beats watching the sunset from a Joburg rooftop.

Looking down at the crazy evening traffic from the roof of 120 End Street.

On Sunday evening, Mark Straw from the Joburg Photowalkers organized a rooftop mission for all of the photographers who contributed their pictures to the recent #JoziWalks weekend. We drove together to 120 End Street, a 26-story residential building in the middle of the CBD, and spent the evening taking pictures there.

120 End Street (center) shot a few months ago from the roof of August House. I’ve always been curious about the view from the top of this building. 

On the roof at 120 End.

Another Take on the Joburg Skyline

I’ve said this a million times before, but Joburg’s skyline is its best asset and I never get sick of looking at it from various angles and heights. Every rooftop provides its own unique interpretation of the city.

120 End Street has a particularly interesting view of Hillbrow and the most chaotic section of the city centre, between Ellis Park and the Noord Street taxi rank.

Someone on Instagram asked me which street is in the middle of this frame. I’m pretty sure it’s De Villiers Street but I can’t tell for sure, even after several minutes staring at Google Maps. Regardless of which street it is, I cannot believe how busy it was on a Sunday evening. The traffic in this part of Joburg is ridiculous — it’s the only part of town where I’m seriously scared to drive.

Chaos.

View to the north toward Hillbrow and Berea.

View to the east toward Maboneng and Jeppestown.

Settling in for the evening photoshoot.

Me and a nice guy named Kevin. (Photo: Mark Straw)

We had delicious food on the roof, supplied by my old friend the Roving Bantu, and it was all pretty much perfect except for the frozen breeze that attacked us the moment the sun went down. (This might be Africa but don’t be deceived. It gets freaking cold here in June and July, especially 26 floors up.)

Me in my happy place. (Photo: Nice guy named Kevin)

Hillbrow and Braamfontein at sundown.

Sorry for the redundancy but I struggled to narrow down my photo choices.

Shooting the Sentech Tower.

Unfortunately 120 End Street is not open to the public so please don’t ask me how you can get up there. But here are some other suggestions for places to go with great views of the Joburg skyline: Ponte City with Dlala Nje, Randlords, the Melville Koppies, the Parktonian, and Elevate at the Reef Hotel.

One last shot for the road.

Thanks so much to the Joburg Photowalkers, #JoziWalks, and the Roving Bantu Kitchen for making this fun evening possible.