Bo-Kaap: Walk with a local
Description
We are descendants from the slaves brought to the Cape by the early Dutch settlers to Bo-Kaap, & feel connected to the rich history of the area. It's this deep love that fuels our desire to share with you this beautiful and intricately woven culture that is unmatched anywhere in the world. As residents and qualified tour guides with many years' experience, we will show you Bo-Kaap beyond the postcard pictures.
Tour Options
Itinerary
We will meet at 71 Wale Street for an introduction to the area, providing an overview of the history of Cape Town and Bo-Kaap.
Bo-Kaap is a beautiful, quaint, and colourful suburb that nestles at the foot of Signal Hill in the City Bowl of Cape Town. Its history however is steeped in Slavery and it is also known as the ‘ Birthplace of Islam’ in the Cape. Enslaved people, artisans and political exiles were brought here from Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia amongst other places.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(169)
Ilayas Salie was amazing. He is the best tour guide!! He was so knowledgeable about everyone and everything and because he has lived his entire life in Capetown he shared so much history plus some special moments! Totally recommend this tour and booking with him. So worth it! Edlyn
One of the best experiences in Cape Town to gain a real appreciation for the BoKaap community. Our guide grew up in BoKaap and would share greetings with friends as he showed us around his neighborhood. The in-depth history was enlightening and the resilience and vibrancy of this community was inspiring. It was beautiful and delicious - our wonderful guide treated us to a warm koesister at the end of our tour.
What a nice guide we had! We were shown around by Ilyas, himself born and raised in Bo Kaap, very personal, showed us the neighborhood, told us a lot about the background, history, the faith. Would book with him again!
Shamelia was a good, informative guide with solid local knowledge of the area. She shared her passion and knowledge of Bo-Kaap with enthusiasm.
Our tour guide Ilyas is the perfect guide for this tour. He lives in Bo Kaap and knows everything and everybody. He is a likeable man with fascinating stories about the history of the neigbourhood and Cape Town. During the tour he brings you also in contact with some locals, like Gustav, who tell you about their life. We have very good memories!
This was our first time in Capetown. We used a tour operator from the states. However, our local guide works with Bo kaap Roots. Our guide was Shamiela. shamiela.soeker@gmail.com She was on time, spoke well and clearly amd paced the walk to us. She is from the area, has family in the area and grew up in the area. I don't think you get more local than that. She took the time to find out what our interests were and aligned the tour to that. She accompanied us for most of the midday period. The walking tour was interesting -make sure she introduces you to Fluffy! He has some stories to tell! We also had a cooking lesson with Auntie Galeija. She taught us a lot about the way she prepares food for her family, and her community- clearly with a lot of.love. I was interesting to learn About historical politics and economics that influenced the area, delivered in a very low-key and neutral manner. The cooking lesson was great fun Auntie G taught me the secret to fluffy Roti... ladies and gentlemen... it is butter. I suggest you book a walking tour to really get a feel for this neighborhood. Safe travels!
I had a lovely private tour of Bo Kaap with Azaad (Gustav) the local tour guide. He was so friendly and informative. I would definitely recommend him xx
Great quick tour of Bo-Kaap! Sedick was a very good guide, he has deep roots in the community and is very proud to share it with others. Highly recommended!
Had a wonderful, interesting, well informed walk around Bo-Kaap, our guide (Rafeeq) knew a great deal of history about the area and the characters that live there. And we ended with some very tasty Cape Malay nibbles - delicious
We had 90 minutes with the wonderful Shamiela in Bo Kaap. Her knowledge of the local area was incredible, as was her warmth and attentiveness. We went to areas we wouldn't have known about, or felt comfortable in, had we not been with Shamiela. Such a fascinating community. The treats at the end were very special too!
