Cape Town Heritage Tours

12/12/2024

T.R.A.S.H Observatory Community River Clean-up Fundraiser - in association with Friends of the Liesbeek. Nearly R20,000 worth of sponsored gifts! 

12/12/2024

Thank you CCID! x

11/12/2024

11/12/2024

11/12/2024

11/12/2024

Our next two months of posters are live! x

Have a peruse, make your bookings, mark your calendars and start building your hype! x

10/12/2024

The pool stuff is racing with time to fill up the pools and verify water quality.
The POOL WILL OFFICIALLY OPEN ON FRIDAY 7am.
Please spread the news. PLEASE bring some cash. The card machine can get flakey so just in case.

10/12/2024

10/12/2024

The Cape Town Heritage Christmas Bonanza!
Just as with the rest of South Africa, Dezemba is the time to show off our deals on unique and iconic books and merchandise to snap up and wrap up and give to yourself (or your friends and family) as unrepeatable presents x
This year, our smous cart is overloaded with:
- 25 x 'All Rise': Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa 1910-1948 by Richard Conyngham for R300 each (R180 less per copy than the in-store price).
- 50 x Cape Town Heritage Tours tote bags for R120 each (plus a complimentary tour voucher).
- 10 x New Contrast Literary Magazine Issue 205 for R100 each (R80 less than in-store).
- 11 x Secret Cape Town by Lesley Cox, Justin Fox and Alison Westwood for R360 each (R95 less than the in-store price).
- And R5000 worth of U-Turn MiChange vouchers for R50 each, which will collectively ensure that hundreds of Capetonians will have showers, shelter, clothing and food throughout this season.
Take your pick or take all of them!
DM or WhatsApp on 076 033 8164 to place your orders x
It's a particular joy for me to sell All Rise as I met Rich thanks to writing the most glowing review of it I possibly could for News24 two years back:

https://www.news24.com/life/books/review-once-upon-a-time-in-south-africa-all-rise-pictures-a-history-of-pre-apartheid-resistance-20220225

In which I said:
"Now here’s a slab of magic.

Seven years in the making, this lovely graphic anthology is a brisk masterpiece on every level of imagining. It should be prescribed reading in every high school in the country. Families should smash their swear jars to buy it for their kids. Libraries should allow copies to be borrowed for only three days or less so more people can absorb its tales. And yet it only feels like the first in a vast series."
Although he lives in Mexico City most of the year, we discovered we were kindred spirits and catching lunch with him in town last year and yesterday have been recent life highlights.
Likewise my love for Cape Town's forgotten niches and stories has connected me to Justin and Lesley, whose casual brilliance and enduring love for our peninsula have definitely changed my world at least x

09/12/2024

January 2025 will mark an extraordinary moment in our history, as we unveil our newest memorial to the missing in Cape Town’s Company’s Garden.

Discover more on our website: https://ow.ly/PqSy50UniHh

09/12/2024

09/12/2024

Thank you to all our followers who sent me birthday wishes yesterday x
I have nothing but ambition and excitement for the prospects of my 30th year, along with more gratitude than ever to live and love in Cape Town!

You can give the tours themselves a priceless gift by reviewing the tours on TripAdvisor if you've joined before:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1722390-d27161622-Reviews-Cape_Town_Heritage_Tours-Cape_Town_Western_Cape.html

Or come join our marquee tour up the Liesbeek River this Saturday or Sunday! It's a local adventure you'll cherish always x

As my write-up goes:
Do you want to explore more, learn more, exercise more, socialise more or feel more of a sense of belonging to your city and country this Summer?
And is there any activity that ticks off all such boxes (and more) as neatly as a weekend heritage walking tour?
We have 15 of these to march through over the next few weeks so best jump on the parade as soon as you can!
Fortunately this weekend we're promoting our most popular and rewarding instalment: a winding gallavant along the natural highway of the Southern Suburbs...

Is this a walk or a hike?
Let's say it's the best of both and not the worst of either...
But this Saturday and Sunday from 14h00, in a marvellous feat of suburban adventure, we're going to follow the incredibly extant line of Jan van Riebeeck's infamous bitter-almond hedge all the way from the gates of Rustenburg Girls' Junior School in Rondebosch to the Boschenheuwel Arboretum just short of Kirstenbosch Gardens.

This is South Africa's first frontier - the first border-wall that separated the founding Cape Dutch estates from the infinitely beautiful and inhospitable hinterland that we eventually deemed our shared homeland. Along the way, we'll sample the sights and stories of the half-ancient watering-holes that gradually became the independent constituencies of Rondebosch, Newlands, Claremont, Wynberg, Bishopscourt and Protea Village.

On this slim strip a hundred histories that still define our nation's character and fame were founded and pushed out across the Flats - from the most densely diverse botanical kingdom on earth to the biggest brewing industry this side of Sydney to the homestead style of architecture that would inspire revivals for hundreds of years to follow.
And on either end you've got a lovely cafe strip and the best free picnic site in the province to look forward to.

Bring your walking shoes, your cameras, your water bottles, your snack baskets and your curiosity, and come enjoy a 3D movie gliding through time and space to the heart of the peninsula.

As always, RSVP for places and pre-book to save R50 each! See you soon!

P.S. If you've read this far I'm guessing you'll want even more of the specs, so here goes:
- We'll be starting by the entrance to Rustenburg Girls’ Junior School in Main Road, Rondebosch at 14h00 on Saturday and Sunday and finishing about 4 to 5 km away in the middle of the Boschenheuwel Arboretum so happily park on either side and organise an Uber carpool if needs be. I’ll be providing lifts back to the starting point anyway.
- We used to be donation-based but to secure our future we're now doing a pre-booking system whereby you can guarantee your tickets beforehand at R120pp, or you can join the tour on the day for R150pp in cash or EFT et al. Simply WhatsApp us on 076 033 8164 or Message us via the buttons on our home page to secure your place.
- This is a consistently well-reviewed heritage-focused walking tour; which is to say that all you'll need to enjoy yourself is curiosity about Cape Town's past (and History in general) and enough stamina to walk just less than 5km in one afternoon (with stops and snacks).
- If you're rejoining us, please please please please please please consider dropping us a short (or extensive) review on our Facebook Reviews or Google Reviews section as it will help spread our gospel of curiosity and playful appreciation across the internet and across the spectrum of all potential visitors to the Cape. It helps us more than you can believe!
- We've also introduced an optional R10 donation on your ticket which will go directly to the NGO Streetscapes as part of our mission to spread love, enthusiasm, mutual support and respect for all of Cape Town's people and histories. Just think how many people we could help and the difference we could make with a few hundred tours!
- Feel absolutely free to spread the word, invite friends who've been looking for this kind of experience and badger us with every imaginable heritage query.

We live for it!

Can't wait to meet ya 🙂

Send a message to learn more

08/12/2024

Send a message to learn more