Cape Town, South Africa: From A to Z, Part 2

JOY
The oldest residential neighborhood in Cape Town, Bo Kaap is known for its charming, joyfully colorful houses.

Formerly known as the Malay Quarter, Bo Kaap is the historical center of Cape Malay culture in Cape Town and the oldest surviving residential neighborhood in the city.

KHAYELITSHA
A shameful relic of apartheid, Cape Town's Khayelitsha district was formed in the early 1980s when Xhosa-speaking Blacks from the Eastern Cape moved westward to Cape Town in search of work. The apartheid regime sought to solve this "problem" by establishing new Black neighborhoods -- including Khayelitsha, which means "new home" in Xhosa -- on the outskirts of Cape Town, then forcefully relocating the Black population to these districts. In reality, the Xhosas' "new home" is the world's fifth-largest slum.

Heartbreakingly, cardboard boxes and corrugated-metal shipping containers, which stretch as far as the eye can see, still serve as home to almost 400,000 people.

Khayelitsha photos are not mine.

To help the residents of Khayelitsha or one of Cape Town's other districts, visit Arm in Arm in Africa.

LA PETITE TARTE
If Khayelitsha is the worst of Cape Town, then the city's trendy De Waterkant neighborhood -- an area once inhabited by slaves but now home to both Blacks and whites -- shows that cultural diversity makes an area more vibrant and interesting. Today De Waterkant features cobblestone streets, sidewalk cafés, a diverse popuation, and a great little bistro, La Petite Tarte.

It's like they knew I was coming.

La Petite looks like a shabby chic farmhouse, minus the stray cats and plus the extra charm.

La Petite's menu was so good that we couldn't just order just one entrée. Which is how we ended up having bobotie, a Croque Monsieur, and a chicken pot pie for lunch.

What is bobotie, you ask? Pronounced "ba-BOH-tee," it's a classic South African baked casserole of curried ground beef with a creamy, custard-like egg topping. So kind of like a spicy Shepherd's pie, if Shepherd's pie was one of the best things you'd ever tasted.

We even behaved ourselves.

Just kidding.

MOUETTE
La Mouette, which means "the seagull," is housed in an Tudor building in Sea Point that was once home to the town's mayor.

It was the perfect choice for Christmas dinner, suffused with soft amber light and warmed by cozy fireplaces.

The visually stunning five-course tasting menu didn't hurt, either. Who wouldn't want parmesan custard(!!!) with cauliflower and hazelnut crumble; braised short ribs with celery root tacos; burrata with honeycomb and arugula oil; and herbed gnocchi with edible twigs and and truffle snow, all topped off with a gorgeous passionfruit curd with coconut and mango sorbet for dessert?

Most charming of all? The chef had saved all of his original, handwritten recipes from his early days as a cook, then framed them for display when he finally got his own restaurant.

Now that's the kind of place I can (celery) root for.

OWL COTTAGE
We knew we'd be doing a lot of driving on this trip -- from Sea Point to Stellenbosch, Clifton to Constantia, and points in between -- and so we chose our home base carefully. That turned out to be the chic seaside suburb of Hout Bay.

We decided to stay at Owl Cottage, a charming bungalow in the Victorskloof area with a veranda overlooking the sea and Chapman's Peak, and a sweet, flower-filled patio out back.

Inside, the cottage was bright and spacious.

And my sister made sure it was decked out for Christmas, with a pair of homemade, safari-themed stockings.

They were perfect for smuggling home a couple of blocks of feta.

PENGUINS
After lunch on Christmas Day, I got the best Christmas present of all time: A trip to Boulders Beach in False Bay to the see the penguins.

African penguins are obviously adorable, but they are also hilarious, clumsily waddling about, falling asleep at inopportune times, and adopting a little spread-eagle stance when it's time for a rest.

ROUNDHOUSE
On our first night in Cape Town, we knew we'd be exhausted from the flight and ready for some pampering. And so we chose The Roundhouse, an upscale spot nestled under Table Mountain and overlooking Camps Bay.

Founded in 1786, the Roundhouse was originally built as a guardhouse for the Dutch East India Company, as the location was ideally situated to keep watch of enemy ships. Today it is ideally situated to have a great arrival-night meal, which on this night included cured trout with miso and tahini puree; steamed kingklip with burnt apple and fish-bone cream; beef in Rooikrans (an evergreen also known as acacia cyclops) coal oil; lamb belly with carrot and cashew puree; and Karoo Farm ostrich with caramelized milk, turnip, and sunchoke.

Dessert #1 featured buffalo yogurt with carrot and satsuma sorbets and white chocolate caramel, while Dessert #2, which was described only as "coconut, rose, lychee, green tea," featured ice cream "soil" and a swirl of dry ice.

STELLENBOSCH
Affectionately referred to as "Stellies," Stellenbosch is South Africa’s second oldest town and the epicenter of the Cape Winelands region.

It's also great place to wonder why you don't just move here already.

TOKARA
Tokara Estate is situated over 1,300 feet above sea level on top of the Helshoogte Pass outside Stellenbosch. I have no idea how to pronounce "Helshoogte," but after a wine tasting here, the variations are endless.

The drive alone to Tokara is worth the trip.

In addition to wine, Tokara offers tastings of its four different types of extra virgin olive oil.

V&A WATERFRONT
The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront is the oldest working harbor in the southern half of the world. It also offers one of the most stunning vistas in the city, which is saying a lot in a place like Cape Town.

No, we didn't ride the Ferris wheel. When I miraculously made it down from Lion's Head alive, I decided not to push my luck with any more high-risk activities.

WHISKEY
World-class whiskey in wine country? You bet your bitters there is.

Home to one of the largest whiskey collections in the Southern Hemisphere -- over 500 whiskies from nearly every producing region in the world -- Bascule Bar in the Cape Grace Hotel complements the hotel’s nautical vibe, located as it is down a narrow stairway leading to what might well be the hull of a ship.

You can even get your own whiskey locker.

X, Y, Z
Look, I got nothing for these letters. We played no xylophones, we ate no yams, and we covered the zebras in my safari posts. So how about some more penguins?

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You may have spent the pandemic baking bread, organizing your closets, and learning to play the ukulele, but I spent it not blogging. But now I'm back, baby, and there's at least a year's worth of trips to catch up on! Up next? Anguilla, Antigua, St. John, and any other island that will permit disease-ridden Americans to enter the country. Click here to subscribe and you'll be the first to know when there's a new post to get you through the continuing hellscape that is the year 2021!