South Africa Guide
Gauteng
Eastern Suburbs
Among the oldest of the city's suburbs, and for years home to Johannesburg's Jewish and Portuguese communities, the eastern suburb of Bezuidenhout Valley (better known as Bez Valley) has also changed dramatically in recent years, with whites moving out of much of the old housing to make way for township and immigrant blacks. Southeast of Bez Valley is Kensington, a relaxed, multiracial suburb boasting a range of decent restaurants on Queen Street. Cyrildene, to the east of Observatory, has become the city's new Chinatown, with a fascinating collection of Chinese supermarkets, businesses and authentic restaurants along Derrick Avenue near its junction with Marcia Street.
Most visitors to this area, however, come to Bruma Lake, an artificial stretch of water which has proved a disappointing attraction save for its popular and lively flea market (Tues– Sun 9am–5pm), one of the best places in Johannesburg to find inexpensive curios – as long as you don't mind pseudo-traditional dance troupes entertaining you while you browse. Nearby, and safe for walkers, joggers and picnickers, is one of central Johannesburg's more accessible green spaces, Gillooly's Farm, a park set around a dam. The park is overlooked by a dramatic koppie which can be climbed in twenty minutes.
East of the M2 freeway is a vast expanse of featureless, soporific suburbs: Edenvale, Kempton Park, Germiston and Benoni (whose chief claim to fame is that it gave the world actress Charlize Theron).