A unique African food and storytelling tour of the Cape Town Central City not only offers mouth-watering dishes but transcends cultural barriers to showcase Africa’s rich heritage.
When a honeymoon trip to Cape Town in 2007 left German-born foodie and digital marketing consultant Dennis Molewa less than impressed, he left town thinking he could never make the Mother City his home.
“I couldn’t help noticing how divided Cape Town was, and I didn’t like that. It also seemed materialistic and plastic,” Molewa recalls.
Years later he found himself single and back in the city, determined to find its authenticity, which soon presented itself through the myriad African restaurants with their cultural diversity and rich traditions. “I felt most comfortable here, exploring these eateries in the city centre.”
Molewa started blogging about these hidden gems and the entrepreneurs behind them. He took it a step further in 2017 by creating an official African food and storytelling tour on Airbnb experiences to give African cuisine a platform.
HOME FROM HOME
To facilitate the tours, Molewa teamed up with Langa street musician Sindile Kamlana, who he met in the CBD. Kamlana, aka Khofhi the King, now co-hosts the tours with Molewa and performs, as a cherry on top, at the end of each experience.
Says Molewa: “The CBD is filled with restaurants that serve modern European cuisine, Asian and other foods.
“We decided to celebrate African cuisine and introduce people to a completely different side of Cape Town, one which made me feel at home far away from home, and a side that gives Cape Town so much meaning.”
A dish of Jollof rice with chicken and veggies at Fatima's West Africa Restaurant in Long St.
TAKING A TOUR
On a sunny Tuesday morning in Cape Town, I meet Kamlana on Church Square to go on a tour. After a few minutes, we are joined by a group of tourists – Raymond Fast, Sarah Petersen, Jamie Alden and Marijka Asbeek-Brusse from the United States and Canada, all digital nomads enjoying a Cape Town “workcation” – and Molewa himself.
For the next four hours we sample mouth-watering dishes and beverages. We start out with umngqusho (South African beans and samp) and meat on the Grand Parade, then walk to Shortmarket St, where are served Ethiopia’s staple spongy sour flatbread, injera, with our hands and cubed beef and veggies.
To quench our thirsts – it was a hot day – we are grateful to drink sweet, cooling bissap (a refreshing Senegalese drink made from hibiscus flower and ginger) when we arrive at Fatima’s West Africa Restaurant in Long St, where we are also sample Jollof rice, a popular West African dish.
Khadim Diagne prepares a Senegalese coffee drink called Café Touba.
MORE THAN JUST FOOD
As we explore the inner city, it’s clear this is more than a food tour. Interesting stories about Cape Town’S history and its iconic institutions like City Hall, the Grand Central Building and the Trafalgar Place Flower Market are weaved into the food narrative by our knowledgeable and friendly guide.
Kamlana also uses the tour to promote African retailers like IZAZA Eyewear, which makes bespoke shades, fragrance store Frank & Myrrh, and a spice shop at Grand Central.
Along the way, we also meet entrepreneurs, some from war-torn countries, who share stories about leaving their homes to make a life for themselves in South Africa.
One of the harrowing stories is told by Khadim Diagne of Khadim’s Coffee Shop, which closed down due to the pandemic. He invites us into his Greenmarket Square apartment and serves us Café Touba, a Senegalese coffee drink made with sugar, Senagalese Arabica beans and Guinea pepper from Gabon, where he shares his life’s journey.
Sindile Kamlana fits on IZAZA sunglasses.
LOCAL IS LEKKER
While all the food was a hit with all the tourists, “being welcomed into someone’s home, hearing such a personal story and listening to Khofhi’s original music” is what resonated with Sarah Petersen.
For Jamie Alden, it was lovely to visit small shops and restaurants to get “the local feel” of Cape Town.
Kamlana says visitors often have preconceived ideas when the tour begins, but by the time it’s over, they have a completely different idea of the city’s African food culture. “It’s when they experience its authenticity, that’s when they’re won over,” he concludes.
To book a tour, go to Airbnb experiences.
IMAGES: CCID