One of the best ways to explore any city is to put on comfortable shoes and walk it.

You can do it on your own with a map or you can enlist an experienced guide such as Ursula Stevens, who conducts daily walking tours of the centre of Cape Town and the Bo-Kaap.

With a background in teaching history and languages, Ursula is a mine of information with a particular interest in architecture. She has also written several books on travel and history, in English and German, and is an excellent companion on your journey of discovery.

The walk begins at 11am on weekdays (10am on Saturdays) at the Cape Town Tourism headquarters in Burg Street and lasts about two and a half hours, depending on your fitness levels, how long you stop at each place and how many questions you have.

The city centre portion includes a look at the old postal stone and remnants of a 17th-century water reservoir in the Golden Acre, and continues to the Grand Parade and City Hall.

Nearby is what once used to be the post office, now a hive of stalls selling all sorts of cheap clothing and imported Chinese things, but its beautiful murals remain intact.

The route includes Church Square, the Groote Kerk, the original slave lodge and a stroll up Government Avenue as far as Tuynhuys. You'll exit the Company's Garden in Queen Victoria Street to see the "apartheid benches" with their "Whites Only" and "Non-Whites Only" signs.

The Bo-Kaap was once home to the slaves brought to the Cape by the Dutch
The next stop is St George's Cathedral, before moving up the lower slopes of Signal Hill into the Bo-Kaap, which is where we caught up with Ursula this week.

Although it's now a mixed area where the average price of properties is over R1 million, the area was once home to the slaves brought to the Cape by the Dutch in the 17th century and was known as the Malay quarter.

This was a misnomer since only a small percentage were from Malaysia; most came from Madagascar, India and Indonesia.

Ursula points out that her tour does not focus specifically on religion but she knows a great deal about Islam and the different ways of practising it.

It is fitting that she should, considering the strong Muslim influence in the Bo-Kaap, which has at least 10 mosques including the third-oldest in Cape Town, Nurul Islam, which was built in 1834. The second-oldest, the Palm Tree Mosque, is in nearby Long Street.

The tour will also take you past the first mosque in the Bo-Kaap which was established in a residential house in 1798.

This probably sounds like a lot of information and dates but luckily there is no test at the end of the walk and Ursula keeps the tone light and easy.

The Bo-Kaap walk takes you up Dorp Street before turning right into Chiappini, which you access through an archway decorated with murals.

Tuan Guru wrote out the Qur'an from memory several times
The flat-roofed houses which are a feature of the area were constructed that way because the Dutch East India Company quickly noted the strength of the south-easter and decided it would be a waste of money to put up roofs that would just be blown away.

Also noteworthy are the colourful paint jobs on the buildings, which started appearing about 20 years ago. There is no particular reason for this other than to make them look bright and cheerful, although apparently there are some unscrupulous guides who make up insulting stories about the origin.

From there, Ursula took us up to the top of Longmarket Street to Tanu Baru, or new land, which is a burial ground and the resting place of Imam Abdullah ibn Kadi abdus Salaam, better known as Tuan Guru, a prince from Tidore in the Ternate Islands who was brought to the Cape in 1780.

While incarcerated on Robben Island, Tuan Guru wrote out the Qur'an from memory several times and later penned a definitive guide which became the main reference work of the Cape Muslims in the 19th century.

This detour is not an official part of the tour but it can be included on request. Be warned though - it is quite a steep walk up the cobbled streets.

The reward is worth it, however, and there's a spectacular view of the mountain, city and Table Bay. You can look down into the old stone quarry where Tuan Guru once led prayers until Muslims were granted their religious freedom in July 1804.

From this point you can also see the biggest mosque in the Bo-Kaap, the Queen Victoria mosque, and a small pocket of shacks which visitors are wisely advised to avoid.

Lots of loud noises

If you gaze across the bay you will see the place where 7 000 British soldiers landed 203 years ago this very week.

The Battle of Blaauwberg will be commemorated until the weekend by the Chavonnes Cannon Battery Museum on Clock Tower Square at V&A Waterfront and the Cannon Association of South Africa, who will give us more than our daily dose of cannon-fire.

Two muzzle-loading cannons will be fired outside the Chavonnes Cannon Battery Museum, one just after the Noon Gun, and the other at 2pm, until Friday.

On Saturday there will be a six-gun salute at 11am, a six-shot "ripple" at noon, a three-gun salute at 1pm and a full-on broadside at 2pm.

On Sunday there will again be one-gun salutes at noon and 2pm.

The Chavonnes Battery site guide and members of the Cannon Association will be on hand to tell visitors about the museum, the battle and the exhibits. A guided tour of the museum will be available just after every firing.

Our famous noon gun resides at the top of Signal Hill, where it has been scaring pigeons and tourists since 1904. In the days before telephones and telegraphs, the guns were in the city itself and used to announce to the interior the arrival of a ship since the sound of the guns travelled much faster than a dispatch rider on a horse.

Visitors are welcome to witness the firing of the noon gun (not part of the tour), and afterwards can partake of a traditional meal of breyani or bobotie at the Noon Gun Cafe or Biesmiellah, but you'll have to come back for that.
 

Source: News24.com - www.news24.com

Browse Travelfinda.com News By Category