Travels With Maria

Cape Town

Khayelitsha!

At 1:30, we were picked up by Juma and his driver Ismael who took us to Khayelitsha, the second largest township in South Africa after Soweto. Established in 1984 during apartheid as a place for black people to live, it has grown to 3 million people. We expected slum conditions, abject poverty, probably the same thing you'd expect visiting a South African township. We were pleasantly surprised by what we saw. https://youtu.be/-HhTlSRJpMo?cc_load_policy=1 Juma is a serial entrepreneur. In addition to his tour company, he has two bicycle shops, a sandwich shop and several other small businesses in Khayelitsha. He starts the business, gets it going, hires local people to run…
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Arrival in Cape Town

We are staying in Bo Kaap, the Malay section of Cape Town. In the 1600s, the Dutch brought slaves from the Malay peninsula and Indonesia to Cape Town. Over the years the various racist regimes eventually classified the Malays as coloured. They did remain Muslim and after slavery was abolished in the 1830s, many ended up in this neighborhood. The little houses are all painted in bright colors, there are many mosques (one right across the street from us - first call to prayer is around 5am), and a unique culture. The woman who manages our Airbnb wears the hijab. After a good night's sleep, we got up, had breakfast…
More

Khayelitsha!

At 1:30, we were picked up by Juma and his driver Ismael who took us to Khayelitsha, the second largest township in South Africa after Soweto. Established in 1984 during apartheid as a place for black people to live, it has grown to 3 million people. We expected slum conditions, abject poverty, probably the same thing you'd expect visiting a South African township. We were pleasantly surprised by what we saw. https://youtu.be/-HhTlSRJpMo?cc_load_policy=1 Juma is a serial entrepreneur. In addition to his tour company, he has two bicycle shops, a sandwich shop and several other small businesses in Khayelitsha. He starts the business, gets it going, hires local people to run…
More

Arrival in Cape Town

We are staying in Bo Kaap, the Malay section of Cape Town. In the 1600s, the Dutch brought slaves from the Malay peninsula and Indonesia to Cape Town. Over the years the various racist regimes eventually classified the Malays as coloured. They did remain Muslim and after slavery was abolished in the 1830s, many ended up in this neighborhood. The little houses are all painted in bright colors, there are many mosques (one right across the street from us - first call to prayer is around 5am), and a unique culture. The woman who manages our Airbnb wears the hijab. After a good night's sleep, we got up, had breakfast…
More