My final week I moved to Bo Kaap that has it’s own flavour and feel. It’s known for it’s brightly coloured houses situated at the foot of Signal Hill.
Many of the residents are descendants of slaves from Malaysia, Indonesia and other African country that were imported to the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch during the 16th and 17th centuries. The slaves were known as Cape Malays, and Bo Kaap is known as The Cape Malay Quarter. It’s the home of the Cape’s Muslim community and have several mosques here.
First I stayed with fashion designer Olivia with her own brand Lalesso and her husband Wesley, a confirmed surfer, production manager for photo shoots and film production, and now co-owner of the new barista company Frothing. They have a lovely house in Bo Kaap and I spent a coupe of days in their home, with them and their Rhodesian Ridgeback Chesa. Olivia is from Kenya and Wes is from Cape Town.
Here is Wes with his barista truck stationed at the corner of Buitensingle and Bree Streets. If you are around here try them out. Great coffee!
Just around the corner from them on Bree Street was Sababa, which became my favourite lunch spot when I stayed here. They served food with a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influence, and you could pick and choose from a big buffet of really tasty food.
One day Wes took me to one of his favourite beaches, Llandodno. It is a beautiful beach and since it was an exceptionally hot day, +38 degrees, I thought this is the day. This is the day I’m actually going to swim in the sea! Equipped with bikini and a towel I accompanied him there.
The beach is stunning! Beautiful! Waves pounding on to the beach. Brave surfers in the sea. We walked the length of the beach to the opposite side. Wonderful. Then I put my feet cautiously in the sea. PAIN! It hurt an hour after I had skipped out like I was burned! So cold! No not cold, icy! Glacial! I can’t get my head around it. So close and so far away at the same time.
Still enjoyed the company and good talks. And a beautiful beach is still a beautiful beach. My awe for the surfers here rose a couple of hundred percent…
The other side of Llandodno is wild and beautiful!
Then I moved to Francesca and Fabricio, who live in a lovely house. They are a very sympathetic Italian couple with a great love for South Africa. Their colourful terraced house is on one of the many steep, cobbled Bo Kaap streets. They rent out several rooms in their home and enjoy having like a little community in their home. Maybe it reminds them of their origin in Italy, where living in large families is not uncommon?
The first night there we all went out for dinner together at a nice Ethiopian restaurant on Long Street.
I shared a wonderful day with Francesca and we had many interesting talks. She took me to several amazing places, both in Bo Kaap and in town. We had a wonderful time!
The houses in Bo Kaap with it’s unique architecture and vivid colours it makes my heart sing. The story is that the residents of Bo Kaap began painting their houses, that were earlier plain white, in bright colours in preparation for the celebration of Eid. The result is lovely isn’t it. More places like this please!!
Here are some of the other places I visited in and around Bo Kaap
Los Muertos on Dorp Street. Love this combo! Coffee shop and motorcycle building!
Batavia on Rose Street. A sweet cafe. Had a nice lunch here.
Studio Dylan Thomas. Had a nice talk with independent curator, gallery owner and interior designer Dylan Thomaz on Buitengracht Street. He weaves together his passions, art and interior design, into one whole.
Haas on Buitenkant street. Haas is a creative hub, where advertising and design collaborates with each other over a cup of coffee. The coffee shop is the third leg in this collective. Liked it a lot!
Truth claims they have the best coffee in the world. Not a bad statement. Though I wouldn’t know as I had a nice glass of white here. Cool place nevertheless. I had the Truth experience. On Buitenkant street.
Greenmarket in town is a pretty square filled with market stalls selling all sorts of handcraft.
Tjing Tjing Torii, a cool restaurant with an equally cool roof bar on Longmarket Street.
Before I leave Bo Kaap I want to give a big thank you to Oliva & Wesley and to Francesca & Fabrizio for great company and for sharing your amazing part of Cape Town with me!!
Copyright and photo: Anita Martinez Beijer
There are also stalls here with delicious food and with freshly pressed juices to enjoy while you are here.
Tons of vegetables of every kind.
Straw on the floor. Inspiration!
Eggs from happy hens.
Organic produce of different kinds.
Beautiful flowers.
And really nice and friendly feel to the place. I wish I could spend every Saturday here!
I loved my new home, an L-shaped loft with magnificent views through the glassed facade towards the Table Mountain. It was not only the stylish design. Or the beautiful setting of this home. The attention to detail here was amazing.
A blackboard with a welcoming message. Handmade toiletries on the bathroom shelves in InAweStays own brand. Masses of thick and fluffy towels changed on a daily basis.
Wonderful treats in the shape of trays with all kinds of delicious nibbles and goodies, appeared like magic when I needed them the most. I always found friendly and smiling faces around me. I felt that I was taken care of in the most beautiful way.
The printed textile serviettes have the same motif as the large piece of artwork on the wall. This artwork, made by Michael Chandler, is the result of an artist residency project in collaboration with 
Another example of this is Doreen and Meyers absolutely delightful daughter Jade. She runs her successful Food Jams from her parents kitchen. Jade is not only a jazz musician but also an accomplished chef, with a background as a Master Chef SA finalist. Her love for food comes from home of course. From the family kitchen and her parents obvious love for food and for cooking have rubbed of well.
One of the most wonderful evenings I had here in Cape Town was when I experienced one of Jades Food Jams together with my new friends and also people I hadn’t met before this evening. This is the beauty of cooking together, and Jades idea with these Food Jams. It really unites people. Bringing people together regardless of background or situation. Before the evening was over I felt like a had made lifelong friends!
We were divided into small groups of two and three and each group was given a recipe each and placed into cooking stations around the big kitchen. We could either follow the recipe or go wild and improvise.
What fun it is to cook without knowing how the end result is going to either look like or taste like! There was such a buzz when everyone got down to work with salsa music, which I love, accompanying us in the background.
Aided enthusiastically by Jade, the music, a glass wine or two and chats about food and life, we all created magic of sorts. And when we were ready we shared the delicious 7-course meal, sitting at a huge wooden table in the pergola in the garden.
What a memorable night! Feeling so grateful. So privileged. Read more about this exiting home in my upcoming book about unique homes around the world.
Lim, Cape Towns leading interior shop. Contemporary African design at it’s best. Love the clean but warm minimalist style. Beautifully presented. And have that tactile want to touch and feel everything. Not to mention buy everything.
Ashanti have great contemporary African design. Their products are part of the new up-cycled movement, reducing the amount of castoffs that would otherwise go to a landfill. Fun, vibrant and stylish.
Their beanbags are made of up-cycled t-shirt material.
Manna Epicure is a really good eatery with stylish decor. Their cuisine is a twist of France meeting South Africa. Love this ceiling lamp!
Went here with my friend Mia Strandell who is here in South Africa doing some awesome work for SOS Children’s Villages, filming in Rustenburg for an up and coming Swedish television series called ”En resa för livet” (A trip of a lifetime).
The Fox & Vixen – Hair Tamers Extraordinaire. Brilliant hair salon with an intact 60s decor! You don’t see these anymore.
Antiques On Kloof, is a lovely antique and bric-à-brac shop on Kloof Street. This has to be a must-go-on-a-regular-basis kind of place if one lives here to snap up a bargain before someone else takes it.
Saigon. The best ever meal I think I had here was here. Coming straight from Asia I didn’t hold very high hopes of a culinary high when I went there but wow, this one is up there at the top! Their crispy ginger prawns! Mmmmm! Delicious! This restaurant has been going strong since 1997 and the quality of their cuisine seems to be rock solid.
We arrived at lunchtime and after a substantial buffet we got our rooms. I got a little cottage with a thatched roof and with a lovely round outside shower as well as a large bathroom. In the afternoon our safari began.
“Aquila is a private Game Reserve spread over 10, 000 hectares. The owner is a lover of wildlife and searching for the perfect location to re-introduce the big 5 to Western Cape, came upon this piece of land. Searching for the closest species for the Cape Lion to inhibit it, he came across an industry that shocked him; the canned hunting industry. This industry includes the practise to breed animals specifically to be hunted. It also means hunting animals in small enclosures, tame animals and drugged animals.”
All the lions here at Aquila have been rescued from this detestable industry. How can anyone want to shoot this beautiful animal?
The lioness is so cleverly camouflaged in her colouring, it’s hard to discover her. I got the impression that it’s the lionesses that were always on the ball and looking for game to hunt. While the male lions chilled back home…
Well ok some times they made their voice heard too.
Buffalo is one of the most dangerous of the big 5 because they don’t give any signs before they attack.
Aquila was devastated in 2011 when poachers attacked their Rhinos. Two were killed and one was injured. The one that survived is the one with the shorter horn.
Since then they have had a beautiful baby Rhino born on the estate, the first rhino born in Western Cape in over 250 years. It’s just like any kid, full of life and jumping joy. So sweet.
Me afraid?? Er no way…
Happy elephants playing by the water. ♥
These Cheetahs were kept as pets (!) before they were saved. Wildlife like these that have been in contact and thus “contaminated” with people can never be released into the wild again. So sad…
Evenings falls and it’s time to go back to camp.
During the years of apartheid this was one of the few ”grey” suburbs where all races lived together. It still is a very multicultural area today, with a lively, quirky and bohemian feel to it.
Homes in general here in Cape Town are protected with bars in front of windows and doors, reinforced fences, electrical fences, locks, bolts and alarms.
Stayed in two lovely homes here, both in small Victorian houses. These Victorian houses keep surprising me. They look tiny from the outside but are surprisingly spacious inside. They have the traditional high ceilings and often have period details such as bay windows, sash timber frames and ornate open fireplaces. Often they are semidetached and form half of an entire house like this one.
First I stayed with Thekla and Adam. They have a lovely house with high ceilings. This is only the back end of their home with the kitchen. Behind me is an equal amount of space that is a small living room and two bedrooms. Behind the rounded wall that juts into the open plan living room…
…is this quirky bathroom with a round sunken bathtub and shower. The ceiling is made of glass so it’s a pretty special feeling to lie in the bath and gaze up at the stars a clear night.
Thekla is super sweet and works as a private cook as well as holding cooking classes. She runs her own business Domestic Goddesses from home and is always very busy, luckily having several employees to help her. Here she is cooking one of her vegetarian specialities.
Next I moved in with lovely Natalie and her cat called Mouse. She also lives in a small Victorian house in Obs with nice period details.
Here I discovered that getting a feeling of home, is being in a place where one is able to cook ones food. I liked spending time in her kitchen. I also liked that every single thing she has in her home means something to her and has a story to tell…
How lucky for me that just a few steps from her home is the cafe Queen of Tarts on Lower Main Road. Such a lovely place!
Loved the propping here.
Hello Sailor became my favourite spot to have dinner. It has a relaxed ambience and simple but good food.
The Old Biscuit Mill on Albert Road is the no 1 place to be. Filled with designers, photographers, artists, restaurants, cafes & delis, workshops and designer shops. People flock here in the hundreds for the Saturday market held here.
The Pot Luck Club in on the top floor of The Old Biscuit Mill. I had a absolutely delicious lunch here.
Their menu is based on tastes; sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Love this concept!
Karoo Moon in The Old Biscuit Mill is the kind of shop one can get lost in only to emerge hours later. So much to look at!
Ending with this imaginative room divider I found in one store.
Carin’s home is itself wildly and wonderfully creative. It’s a veritable cascade of colours and made me feel that yes, I’m in Africa now. A small Victorian house, it has been opened up and felt spacious with it’s high ceiling, loft and large glass doors leading out to a very private courtyard, where the sound of water pouring in a small wall fountain was relaxing to listen to. Lots of interesting small details and knick-knacks that interior designers like me love. More about Carin’s and all the other homes I visited in my upcoming book about homes around the world.
We had lunch one day at the Gardens Tea Garden in Company’s Garden in the middle of town. They grow vegetables here that they later use in their dishes. This is by the way what started Cape Town in the first place. Members of the Dutch East India Company were sent here to found a halfway station, the first European outpost, for passing ships traveling to and from Asia and provide them with fresh water, vegetables and meat. And it’s in this very place at Company’s Garden that it all started, where they laid out their vegetable gardens and orchards.
One gem Carin took me to was Montebello. I love this place!
They have a really nice shop with contemporary African handicraft, called Montebello Design Centre.
Beside that is a little restaurant called Gardeners Cottage in Newlands, that was so sweet and hade great food.
Carin
And there was a pretty little garden centre as well as artists workshops spread out in and around in the former stables.
De Waterkant was another area she took me to. She introduced me there to Gavin Terblanche who owns the lovely shop Baraka, on Dixon Street, together with his partner Belteshazzar Raubenheimer. We got talking and ended up becoming friends. They are the sweetest couple I think I have ever met. Unthinkable that their love would have been banned by the apartheid laws only twenty years ago…
One day we went to a really hidden gem. A small but super exclusive hotel up in the hills at Camps Bay called Camps Bay Retreat. Way way out of my league to stay there, but it was nice to nose around and dream for a short while. We had a glass of wine and watched the sunset from the terrace.
This place was full of old world opulence and felt more like a private home. Interesting things in every nook and cranny. I could have snooped around there forever. Liked the fact that even though it cost an arm and a leg to stay there, there was a friendly and relaxed ambience to the place.
Here is the Mediterranean style rock pool at the bottom of the steep garden. I seems that it has seen better days. But as pools go and a private pool as that…wow, I would like to have seen it in action in it’s heyday. It wouldn’t have been out of place to see Anita Ekberg walk down the steps into the pool in a stunning long dress.
We also went to an old industrial building that houses the interior store, Weylandts, in the corner of Alfred & Hospital Streets in Green Point. They have really a nice collection of furniture. Unfortunately my camera died on me there…
One day Carin took me to Groot Constantia. It’s the oldest wine estate in South Africa. Root by the way means great, as in large, in Dutch and Afrikaans.
A beautiful place with houses built in the traditional Cape Dutch style, mostly found here in the Western Cape of South Africa. A typical feature is the rounded gables.
Cape Town, or Kaapstad in Afrikaans, Ikapa in Xhosa, is one of the most multicultural cities in the world they say, due to it’s role as a mayor destination for immigrants and expatriates. I won’t go into this or the fact that it has a complicated and troubled history of racial segregation problems, of corruption or dealing with how to make the justice system work well. What I realise is that even though the system of apartheid is banned since 1994, when people have been forced to live apart from each other for a long period of time, it takes a bit more than some 20 years to heal and to truly integrate again…
The Table Mountain is ever present and a stunning backdrop from nearly wherever you are. Some days are very dramatic when the clouds are pouring down from it like a waterfall. The Table Mountain is also crowned as one of the world’s new seven wonders of nature.
So time to go up and see this wonder with my own eyes. And camera.
They say that Cape town is the ultimate Feng Shui city as it’s configuration is that of an armchair. It’s protected from the back by Table Mountain, have armrests to the side; Lion’s Head and Devil’s Peak, and an earthen seat to the front, facing the sea. The sea is the “Ming tang” which means “space in front of site”. It is a place where ”chi”, energy, is received and retained. Robben Island, in the bay, ensures that the ”chi” slows down before it reaches the harbour. The high back rest and arm rests form a barrier so that the ”chi” that enters isn’t lost. Instead, a harmonious flow of energy is created in what is called the City Bowl today. You kind of feel this when you are up here…
They also say that the mountain represents yin and the ocean yang and that this is beautifully balanced here. I don’t know about that but I do know now that it’s stunningly beautiful.
Table Mountain has one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. As a protected area and as a World Heritage Site it’s estimated to have 2,200 species of plants here. Many of these species can be found nowhere else.
Evening is falling. Time to go down.
Icy water of course but the breezy was refreshing enough to spend a pleasant afternoon there.
Here we’re in a cute little cafe called Almendra having a lemonade after one of our excursions in town.
Beautiful, out of this world beautiful, sunsets! Every day different. Everybody gathers on the beach and watch the sun slip into the sea. What a wonderful way to end a day.
Here it’s Nico and Jessika are showing how a headstand with partner looks like. One of the many dogs on this beach is accompanying them. The dogs here have a wonderful life by the way. They are free to come down and hang out have fun with their canine friends on the beach all day long.
The waterfalls we found by second guessing the right path, climbing over boulders and jumping over stones in the river. Helpful signs are apparently not the Costa Rican’s strongest point. But it was a beautiful spot, and as Jessika says, waterfalls are magical.
After a swim in the pool below the waterfall we made out way up zillions of stairs, or so it seamed at the time, to the starting point of the zip line. Only to discover that we had arrived at the final platform instead! Gah! Down again and we found the right path only to have to start climbing up the mountain again. But it was worth it!
Zipping above the treetops in the jungle on a wire cable is just the right amount of scary and tremendous fun!
Emelie was the first one to start and she did it screaming her head of the whole way haha. Got my adrenalin rushing before I got started myself.
On Sunday’s there is always a great do at Rocamare beach, a bit further up our beach. We saw the sun set as we walked there and then it was wonderful to just let our hair down, dance and have fun!
After ten fantastic days it’s time to leave with so much gratefulness and love in my heart. I’m so happy that I followed my intuition (and a recommendation, thanks for that Malin B) and came here. Thank you everyone that participated, without you it wouldn’t have been the same! Namaste!
Early in the morning the beach is pristine and stunningly beautiful.
Then there is short break before we have more yoga up in the Shala before brunch.
Sometimes I stayed on at the beach and meditated. Connected. Pure magic.
When the delicious brunch is served at 9:30 we are more than ready to indulge. Smoothies, fruits, salad, rice and beans, bread, homemade peanut butter, banana cake and ginger tea is what I usually have. Yummy! Hope to keep up this healthy way to start a day. Here is Emelie. We became really good friends.
Meet our wonderful yoga teachers, Josefine and Jessika from Yogiakademien. Both of them gave me exactly what I needed at this moment. Love both of you! Namaste!
Then we are free a couple of hours to swim in the surprisingly warm sea and play in the waves.
Or relax by the hotel pool.
Have long walks on the beach.
Watching others having long walks.
Having a bit of me time.
Or lounging in the shade somewhere nice like here at Habanero.
Refresh ourselves with delicious lemonades.
Discover new cafes and shops in this small seaside town. The food here is surprisingly good. We were not disappointed once and we went to different restaurants every evening. The fresh fish is always a winner.
Zwart café have the best fishcakes in town! Love them!
Here is a serious young artist in the making assisting her artist mother at Zwart. You are never too young to start.
And maybe, just maybe, indulge in a delicious chocolate cake at the Bakery. Love the floor here!
Bohemialife 