There are some lovely suburbs in Cape Town that offer a range of affordable [and less affordable] accommodation options as well as some attractions that are worth visiting. Newlands is where you will find the cricket stadium. Claremont [where we stayed] was a great place to be based and I enjoyed the stroll to the wonderful [and large] Cavendish Square Shopping Mall although I kept on getting lost once there!
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
The Botanical Gardens are wonderful. Table Mountain looms magnificently to one side and the views are wonderful. We managed to catch a free guided tour which was very helpful – our guide really knew her stuff. I would recommend grabbing a map from the ticket office so you don’t get lost. There are two entrances, a couple of cafes and an excellent gift shop.
The Gardens are over 100 years old and have a humungous range of planty things [I know bugger all about anything planty] – some are truly unique and many are stunningly beautiful. Highlights were the Tree Canopy Walkway, the Sculpture Garden and the fascinating Useful Plants Garden, [some plants were more useful than others].
Bo-Kaap
Bo-Kaap, home to Cape Town’s Muslim Community was established in 1834. It’s not actually a suburb as it’s pretty central but it does have it’s own distinctly unique character. Often referred to as the Cape Malay community, the area is known for its colourful houses, spicy cuisine, small museum, mosques and artists houses. Much of the population are descended from skilled workers [slaves] and the district was fortunate that it did not suffer from the forced evictions that befel other communities in the 1960’s. The central part of Bo-Kaap is bustling with visitors but be careful if you wander away from the busy area.
Cape Flats
East of Cape Town is an area known as the Cape Flats. It is here that many townships were founded in response to the forced evictions of non-whites from central Cape Town. You will likely pass by some of them as many lie between the airport and the city. The oldest township is Langa which was established in 1927. Observing from the main road, the size and scale of them are shocking. There are more townships in the Cape Peninsular. The townships should not be visited on your own but you can book to visit them through a tour operator – we did not feel the urge to do this. We found out more about the townships and apartheid at the District Six Museum which I highly recommend.
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