IFLA WLIC Day 2 - Some sightseeing - guided wanderings

The other half of my day was spent literally wandering the city.  I rode around on the hop-on, hop-off bus for a bit, listening to the recording (more on that later), and I did a walking tour through the neighborhood of Bo-Kaap.  Bo-Kaap is one of the iconic sights of Cape Town, and you can see why in the pictures below.  All the pretty colors!  And if it's a clear day, you'll see Table Mountain overhead too.  Not our luck, but still a pretty walk.

 

Bo-Kaap was previously known as the Malay Quarter, and was an area of slaves and freed slaves.  Incidentally the Malaysians in the area were not the majority, but the name still stuck.  The Bo-Kaap name is geographic in origin - it is derived from the Dutch for 'above the cape' (the neighborhood is situated on the hillside).  Because of where the slaves were imported from, the area was (and is) predominantly Muslim, even though any religion other than Christianity was outlawed during that time period.  The first mosque was founded about 40 years before the repeal of slavery and the religious restrictions.  A man had been captured as a slave, and brought to Cape Town.  While on Robben Island, he wrote down everything he could remember of the Qur'an, and then brought that with him.  He used it to teach when he arrived in Cape Town, thus founding the first mosque.

       

The story behind the houses is a good one too.  Slaves couldn't wear colors, only black and white, and their houses could not be colored either.  Once a slave had earned enough to buy his freedom, he celebrated by painting his face in bright colors, dressing brightly, and celebrating with friends and family.  One freed slave painted his house bright red as well.  He found that it actually helped his business, because he became known as the 'tailor in the red house.'  For either reason, the tradition of painting the houses brightly caught on, and now these couple square blocks of brightly colored houses are a landmark in the city!

And of course a pic to prove I really was there :)

The first house in Bo-Kaap is now the Bo-Kaap Museum.  It's the tan one in the center there.  And it's right across the street from the oldest business in Bo-Kaap, a little corner shop and cafe, which smelled deliciously of spices as we walked past :)

The other part of my wandering wasn't so active, but still very informative.  The hop-on, hop-off bus has several routes very well planned to get you to a lot of the major sites.  I rode the long way back to the Convention Center after my tour, so I could see more of the town.  We passed several beaches to the south of the city, which were very pretty, but in the weather today, also reminded me that it was still winter here.  Those waves look very choppy and cold!

    

The bus route also drove up Table Mountain, but with all the clouds, it was absolutely 0 visibility.  I didn't even try for a picture.  It was quite a climb up the hill though, so I'm really hoping that it clears up this week and I can get up the cable car to the top to hike.  The view must be fantastic!!

The other big landmark I couldn't photograph today was the Stadium.  That thing is HUGE!  I know I've seen big football stadiums in the states, but this one seems really, really big.  Maybe it's the design, or maybe it's just that football really is that much more popular than foo'ball.  (Yeah, I said it).