Bo Kaap, Cape Town

Today our group went to Bo Kaap, the Muslim section of Cape Town, and it was an amazing experience! We left early in the morning, and although it was rainy, it is always interesting to watch the city waking up. Today was a particularly fascinating day to go because it was the funeral of a prominent former government official. We weren't quite sure why there were so many police barricades on the way to our first stop, The Slave Lodge Museum. It turns out President Zuma had just arrived, and although we didn't get to see him, seeing the stir he caused especially with the currents strikes was quite interesting.
Inside the slave lodge museum we learned about slavery in South Africa. It was very interesting for me because this story was about slaves being brought here rather than slaves being sent out like they were from Elmina Castle in Ghana.
After leaving the slave lodge, we went to Bo Kaap and learned about Muslim culture in South Africa. It is an especially vibrant time to do this because Ramadan is currently taking place. We were able to enter into the first mosque in South Africa, which had an incredible history and walk the streets of the neighborhood while the live call for prayer sounded from the neighborhood's 11 mosque's speakers. Following the exploring we went int a lady's home who cooked us a traditional "Cape Malay" meal which consisted of: samosas, oranges, mango juice, a chicken stew/curry, "milk tart" a bread pudding like dessert, and Muslim donuts. Although not everything struck my fancy I am proud to say I sampled everything!

This picture: It was hard to pick just one, but I thought this was a great one because it captured the architecture and vibrant colors of Bo Kaap as well as the men walking to mosque for the midday prayer.