CPT: The Bo-Kaap

Once we were back down at the bottom station at Table Mountain, Mui pulled out his phone to get an Uber to pick us up. No cell signal! Whaaaat? We’d had a data signal at the top! We asked one of the guards if there was wi-fi for visitors. He told us which one to use. But the speed was so slow that we couldn’t complete the transaction. What to do?

We talked to a couple of taxi drivers. They wanted an outrageous double fare to take us down. No can do. Walking down wasn’t an option on this hot day. Since the Uber app was showing vehicles near us, Mui walked around, talked to a few drivers, and found one willing to drive us down the mountain. We paid him cash … the same amount we’d paid from the cruise terminal up to the cable car station. A good deal for the driver. He was a happy camper. And we were where we wanted to be. Win-Win!

Where were we? In the Bo-Kaap … a colorful Muslim neighborhood-turned-tourist-attraction where the residents still go about their daily lives regardless of the camera-toting visitors. This historic area, which dates back to the 18th century, became home to Muslims and freed slaves after slavery was abolished.

An article on the Iziko Museums of South Africa website describes the history of Bo-Kaap as follows: “The history of the Bo-Kaap reflects the political processes in South Africa during the Apartheid years. The area was declared an exclusively residential area for Cape Muslims under the Group Areas Act of 1950 and people of other religions and ethnicity were forced to leave. At the same time, the neighbourhood is atypical. It is one of the few neighbourhoods with a predominantly working-class population that continued to exist near a city centre. In the mid-twentieth century, most working-class people in South Africa were moved to the periphery of the cities under the Slum Clearance Act and neighbourhood improvement programmes.”

The houses, painted in bright colors, gleamed under the sun and invited us to wander around. The narrow cobble-stone streets took us up and down the neighborhood … to places that oozed charm and serenity. I later learned that using color to paint the houses was an expression of freedom. Apparently, while on lease, all of the houses had to be painted white. That changed when the slaves were allowed to buy the leased properties.

A short but delightful stop on our day of sightseeing.

We left the Bo-Kaap on foot, following a meandering route with no particular destination in mind. When we came to St George’s Cathedral, we went inside for a quick look-see before finding our next sightseeing stop.もっと詳しく