Bilqees Baker’s walking tours are a hit. Her knowledge is coupled with fascinating stories, history and views about living in the Bo-Kaap, Cape Town’s oldest cluster of homes.

We’ll go inside a mosque and hopefully visit the Kramat of Tuan Guru, stopping and enjoying the colourful houses and views on the way, as well as places of significance.

We’ll understand how, where and why Islam developed here, as well as the history of enslaved people and Cape Town’s first political exiles. The history of the Cape and the Bo-Kaap are interwined.

Bilqees will touch on community issues – the hoards of tourists/Instagrammers, high rise property developers, gentrification and the cost of heritage upkeep.

For the first time, our walk ends at the top of the Bo-Kaap at the Onderdorp, off Longmarket Street, the lower part of the small and beautifully designed Dorp Hotel, high on the slopes of Signal Hill.  Here we’ll have samoosa folding demo and light lunch in their beautiful Games Room (see image below). Our teacher and cook is Fazlin Ferguson who lives nearby and regularly hosts tourists from around the world for Cape Malay food experiences.

Tour only:  R400 per head (children half price)

Samoosa folding and light lunch including wheat free chilli bites – R750

Both R950; R200 for paying pre August

We start outside the Bo-Kaap Museum,  71 Wale St, one of the earliest houses built in the Bo-Kaap.

To book and get payment details: kate@cultureconnectsa.com +27 72 377 8014

For your own experience, tailored to specific interests, including samoosa folding and cooking demo’s,  tea with second generation activists in their home; let me know.