Cape Town is a complex city and in which it’s easy to spend days without actually experiencing anything that has a real and intimate connection to its community. The beauty of the private tours we offer is that you can escape the just too perfect tourist playground and get a peek at what makes Cape Town tick. Two historical sites that will give you a scent of what belies the matronly, wholesale tourist experience, are The Treaty Tree in Woodstock and The Princess Vlei in Grassy Park.
The Khoi people were the earliest recorded inhabitants of the city and today many of their descendants still live on the Cape Flats. The Treaty Tree, a 500-year-old white milkwood tree on Treaty Road and south of the rail line in Woodstock, marks the location of South Africa’s first major war of resistance, where the Khoi defeated a feared European military commander. This is where the Khoi Portuguese soldier Francisco D’Almeida, met his demise with 64 of his men after a confrontation with the Khoi. According to legend, a confrontation arose after D’Almeida and his men stole cattle and abducted women and children at an ancient Gorinhaiqua kraal.
Another interesting historical site is Princess Vlei, a wetland in Grassy Park in the Southern Suburbs. The legend recounts how a young Khoi woman who was was apprehended and attacked by European sailors while bathing. Her tears created the smallest vlei in the string of wetlands, called Princess Vlei.
These are just two of many places in Cape Town that symbolise what is truly beautiful about the city – its people’s tenacity and courage in the face of adversity. We hope you will find the stories behind these places as moving and inspiring as we do. These are the stories that fortify us for many challenges still faced by the people of Cape Town.