On Saturday morning, I hosted a jacaranda walk through Rosebank with Johannesburg In your Pocket and the Radisson RED Johannesburg.

The jacaranda blossoms aren’t peaking yet in most of Joburg’s inner suburbs. There’s some speculation this could be an off-year or, more worryingly, that Joburg’s jacarandas might finally be reaching the end of their life spans. But my unfounded panic last year — which turned out to be a great jacaranda year despite a late-ish start — taught me not to count the jacarandas out too soon.

But luckily the Rosebank jacarandas are slightly ahead of the surrounding neighborhoods. There were plenty of purple flowers to admire on Saturday, and I think the trees will continue to fill out for the next week or two.

Saturday’s walk had a 20-person limit and it filled up quickly; there were a lot of people who weren’t able to sign up in time. But if you want to plan your own jacaranda walk in Rosebank, these pictures might help. I’ll describe the route we walked as I share them.

Our walk took place from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m., but for best results I recommend walking in the late afternoon between about 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. Morning walks are tricky because the sun rises very early at this time of year, and the light quickly becomes harsh.

We turned left on Keyes Avenue, past the Keyes Art Mile on the right, then hung another left on Tyrwhitt Avenue. We walked two blocks up Tyrwhitt to Bath Avenue, turned left again, and headed back toward Jellicoe.

Back on Jellicoe, we turned right and walked one block up to Craddock Avenue, where we turned left. There’s a construction site on Craddock with an unexpectedly nice view of a row of jacarandas in front of the Radisson.

We finished our walk with coffee on the Radisson rooftop.

And that was our walk. You can easily do this walk on your own, but just be aware of your surroundings and mindful of valuables. I scouted the route alone the day before the walk and had no issues, but it’s best to go with one or two other people, just to be safe.

One more important note: Johannesburg In Your Pocket is hosting a jacaranda photography contest, as they do every year, and they are giving away some really great hotel stays as prizes. You can find all the details of the contest here — I highly recommend entering.

Thanks to all my jacaranda walkers for the fun morning on Saturday. And keep an eye out for blooming jacarandas all over Joburg (and Pretoria) this coming weekend. I think they’re going to look spectacular after the week’s impending rain.

My Saturday morning walk was a partnership with Johannesburg In Your Pocket. Opinions expressed are mine.