Bo-Kaap Walking Tour

Islam first came to Cape Town along with the slaves brought by the Dutch from the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia.  Several of the slaves were quite educated.  In fact, the very first book known to have been written in Afrikaans is in arabic script(!), and is assumed to have been written by an Islamic slave or descendent.  Another slave - Tuan Guru - accurately copied the entire Koran from memory.  He later helped establish the Owal Mosque, the first mosque in Cape Town (built in 1794).  We quietly visited here, glancing in as people prayed.

Bo-Kaap homes

She was out
walking, too

Because so many of these Muslim slaves spoke the universal trading language at the time -- Malay, they were commonly referred to as Malay.   During the Group Areas Act,  people were classified by race (sometimes just on the basis of the width of their noses or the slope of their shoulders) and then were forcibly moved to locations of uniquely "their own kind."  Muslims were classified as  a separate sub-group under "Coloured" and were called Cape Malay.   The Bo-Kaap area was where they were allowed to live during Apartheid.  It is known for its colorful houses, although our tour guide said that's a fairly recent phenomenon.

We walked through the area and ate at a fantastic Cape Malay restaurant, the Bo Kaap Kombuis.   The proprietor gave us a small lecture on Cape Malays before letting us dish up.  He said he will give Part 2 of his lecture on our next visit.  I definitely want to go back!