Bo-Kaap

Bo-Kaap is the most photogenic neighbourhood in Cape Town — a hillside of brightly painted houses on the slopes of Signal Hill that has been home to the Cape Malay community since the 18th century, when enslaved people from Indonesia, Malaysia, and other parts of Asia were brought to the Cape by the Dutch East India Company. The colourful facades — lime green, cobalt blue, bright pink, saffron yellow — are said to have originated when the formerly enslaved community celebrated their freedom after emancipation in 1834 by painting their previously uniform white houses in joyful colours.

The neighbourhood's cobblestone streets, minarets, and the spice-scented air from Cape Malay kitchens create an atmosphere unlike anywhere else in Cape Town. The Auwal Mosque on Dorp Street, built in 1794, is the oldest mosque in South Africa, and the Bo-Kaap Museum (in a house from the 1760s) traces the community's history from slavery through emancipation to the present. The neighbourhood is increasingly under threat from gentrification — property developers have been buying houses at prices that longtime residents can't match — and the tension between heritage preservation and market forces is Cape Town's most pressing urban debate.

The food is the neighbourhood's cultural gift to South Africa. Cape Malay cuisine — a fusion of Indonesian, Malaysian, Indian, and Dutch culinary traditions — includes bobotie (a spiced meat bake with egg custard topping), bredies (slow-cooked stews), samoosas, and koeksisters (a syrup-soaked braided doughnut). Several homes and restaurants in Bo-Kaap offer cooking classes that combine food preparation with the history of the Cape Malay community, making them one of the most culturally immersive experiences in the city.