Since we liked the first Free Walking Tour so much, we decided to go on another one through the Muslim district of Bo-Kaap. We even got the same guide, Ken! 😃
The homes in his district are very colorful, giving it a cheerful atmosphere. Ken told us how the colorful homes began. The first home to bring color to the otherwise gray-housed district was the pink and white home shown below. There was a doctor and his wife living there. The doctor gave. his wife money to go to the store to buy paint to pain the house with, but he didn't tell her what color(s) to buy, so she took the liberty of buying the colors she liked: pink and white. The doctor didn't complain and they painted their home in those colors. Since he practiced his career out of his home, it quickly became known throughout the neighborhood that the pink and white house was the doctor's house. So it became a source of good advertisement for the doctor's business. Well, his neighbor, the local tailor, realized how popular the doctor and his business was due to his pink and white house, so he decided to paint his home bright yellow. Sure enough, his business grew also because everyone knew that the tailor was I. the bright yellow house. Soon after, others painted heir homes bright colors as well...not necessarily for business purposes, but it became more of a competition in the neighborhood for who had the most colorful pretty homes. And it remains to this day. 😍
A view of Table Mountain for the colorful neighborhood.
The first mosque in Bo-Kaap.
Nice! Thanks so much for posting your photos.
ReplyDelete