Get picked up in the morning from your Cape Town accommodations and transfer by vehicle to Langa, one of the city’s oldest townships, for your first visit of the day. Langa’s name comes from a local chief named Langalibalele who was jailed in the 19th century for resisting the local government.
Your driver will introduce you to a township tour guide, who will serve as your host during your visit at Langa. Learn some history about the creation of the townships, which resulted from the apartheid-era eviction of black South Africans from their homes in Cape Town’s District Six, as you undertake a short walking tour of the area.
Stop by Gugasthebe, a non-profit center where local youth receive skill training, and visit a former detention center used during the apartheid years. You’ll then stop by a “shebeen” (tavern) where you can raise a glass of “umqombothi” with some local residents. Make sure to stop by the municipal beer hall just nearby, constructed in 1945.
Continue the trip by paying a visit to the women who run small-businesses selling barbecued meat (“braai”) to residents, and tour several hostels that offer a glimpse of the development work initiated by the government to try and improve township living conditions. Then stop by the Langa market to meet a traditional doctor and get a look at the public library.
Leave Langa by vehicle and head to Gugulethu, a second township that’s known to locals as “Gugs.” This township was created in 1960 due to overcrowding in nearby Langa. You’ll get a look at local attractions and stop for lunch (own expense) at the township’s Mzoli meat place. After lunch, receive a transfer back to your accommodations in Cape Town.
