As South Africans growing up with Apartheid many of us missed so much in experiencing other cultures and places. I am one of them. My trip a couple of weeks ago to Khayelitsha township just outside Cape Town showed me just how much I had missed.
The first thing you should know is it’s probably wise to take someone with you who knows their way around. I had my colleague Thiofhi with me when we took five Yale MBA students around the Khanyisa Cape Route to experience some real African hospitality and to see how the other half live. First stop was Mzoli’s where locals were nursing hangovers with a little hair-of-the-dog at 9 am.
Next was the Khayelitsha Craft Market where a Dutch tour group was already bopping along to the local marimba band jamming under the hot African sun. Yes, the band was that good! One of our new American friends got down and played a little Celine Dion with them. Check out the video here.
I picked up some seriously funky earrings for an absolute bargain at the market, knocked over a display of wooden giraffes – twice (which fell like dominoes by the way) – and played ‘The lion sleeps tonight’ with the marimba guys before visiting Lookout Hill, the highest point in Khayelitsha. It’s always refreshing to see a view of Cape Town you haven’t seen before, especially one that isn’t plastered all over tourist trinkets and postcards. Cape Town looked surprisingly different to me that day… and surprisingly good!
After working up a serious appetite, we devoured a traditional Xhosa meal of lamb, chicken, pap, umgqusho (samp and beans) and chakalaka, all lovingly prepared by traditionally clad Lydia, our gracious host at Malebo’s B&B.
The thing that struck me the most was how connected I felt to the people we met along the way. I stood out from our Ivy-league visitors in that I am an African. That day I was proud of my country’s people. Their incredible optimism, generosity and hospitality to any visitors open-minded enough to venture off the well-trodden path got to the very core of me and filled me with what can only be described as ‘that warm, fuzzy feeling’.
I know I only saw a fraction of the sprawling shanti-metropolis that is Khayelitsha, but there’s something to be said for being a tourist in your own city and supporting local emerging businesses that need it most. Forget the topless red sightseeing buses that take you past the usual sights. Organise a township tour and experience a side of Cape Town you’ve never seen before. It’ll change your life.
For accommodation in Cape Town, explore Getaway Accommodation for some wonderful options!
