“Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There’s a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.”

This old neighbourhood on the eastern slopes of Cape Town is now called the Bo Kaap (upper Cape). It homed the descendants of the slaves that where brought over to South Africa by the Dutch in the 17 and 1800’s. This wonderfully lively suburb was allocated to the ‘Cape Malay’, a mix of cultures from Southeast Asia, Malaysia, India and Africa.
The Malay Quarter which it was called then, had a strong Muslim influence from the religious leaders craftsmen and scholars who were brought in and the other ethnic groups were forced out. Today, many ethnic groups live in unity here and enjoy a colourful life in this area.

The Dutch and British style influences are depicted in these character-filled houses. Painted in purple, pink, orange, turquoise, lime-green, some of which are museums today, remind me so much of the song “Little Boxes” sung by Malvina Reynolds.

Another view of Bo Kaap.