Delicately spiced samoosas and deliciously sweet koeksisters top the menu in the Bo Kaap, with its psychedelic-coloured houses built into the hill. But venture two steps sideways into De Waterkant and you'll find Parisian Polaine bread is more the norm.

Colonial style mansions where Dobermans prowl behind wrought iron gates are an integral part of Cape Town life. But it is a city of contrasts, packed with noise, dust and colour. On one end of the scale there are miles of run down shacks made out of little more than cardboard and tin, where inhabitants sleep four to a bed. At the other extreme lies "doberman territory".  The third dimension to this kaleidescope of a city is a medley of cultures that sits somewhere in between. 

Waking one morning on a warm but overcast day I decided this was a sign not to head to one of the many fabulous beaches on the outskirts but to venture inwards instead. To one side of the small city centre, looking on to the imposing Signal Hill and with a spectacular view of Table Mountain, the Bo Kaap and De Waterkant districts form a warren of streets full of brightly coloured houses. Originally one neighbourhood, they are now two dramatically different areas when it comes to culture and residents.

I phoned ahead to arrange a guided walking tour of the Bo Kaap. On arrival, the streets were strewn with banners left from the New Year Cape Minstrel Carnival celebrations when the place is thronged with revellers. The Carnival has its roots in the 18th century, a time when slaves in the Cape were allowed their one and only day off on January 1st each year. These two districts hold the greatest number of buildings in South Africa pre-dating 1840; unlike other city areas such as District Six, much of the original architecture survived the apartheid era in tact. Most of the buildings were erected by slaves brought from Dutch colonies in the east in the 1700s and by people of the Cape who mainly practiced Islam. As a result the area became known as the Malay Quarter. When apartheid reared its ugly head, the Group Acts of 1962 forced those classed as so-called blacks and coloureds to move out of De Waterkant to the Cape Flats, a large stretch of land some distance outside the city. Those in what is today known as the Bo Kaap stayed and the original culture is very much in tact there, but De Waterkant is now a trendy chic cosmopolitan area of all nationalities.

The majority of the Bo Kaap residents are Muslim and the turrets of a number of mosques can be seen over the cacophony of colours of the houses. Our guide Shira was waiting for us at the small Bo Kaap Museum. Housed in one of the original buildings, it tells the complex story of the history of the Cape Malay community and displays insightful photographic portraits of some of its current residents.

Once out wandering the streets there was plenty to see by way of every day life. This is a tight knit community with doors open on to the roads and neighbours chatting on raised verandahs. Passing one of the houses, it was teeming with people - someone had just returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca and, as tradition dictates, family and friends were visiting to congratulate. Keen to sample the local food, we stopped at a corner shop squeezed between the many psychedelic-coloured cottages – one a florescent orange, the other a glaring green - where we bought the locally made samoosas, slightly spiced, and the deliciously sweet koeksisters, a Sunday morning tradition for Bo Kaap residents.

After a couple of hours trekking the steep streets in the heat (the overcast early-morning turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing) a long cool drink was beckoning and saying goodbye to our still-sprightly guide we made the short hop into De Waterkant area. Here the narrow streets are lined with small cafes - it’s a sudden plunge into a world that, apart from the coloured houses similar to those of its neighbour, could be a section of Greenwich Village or any cosmopolitan hide-away in the corner of a modern European city. Except that the ever-imposing table mountain lurks on the skyline, a reminder of the sheer scale that sets Africa apart from other continents.

Known for its flamboyance, De Waterkant is home to a number of celebrities and property prices have soared in this neighbourhood with its slightly quirky atmosphere.

We had heard stories of Parisian bread flown weekly to the Cape and went on the trail in search of Café Maxim, a restaurant slightly off the main drag with a narrow entrance opening into a lavender-lined inner courtyard. The building is converted from old stables and showcases the Maxim collection of upmarket costume-jewellery. The restaurant’s owner, a fan of the famous French bakery run by the Poilane family since 1932 and still operating from Rue de Cherche in Paris, took a chance in bringing its bread to the Cape. A weekly delivery from Paris of 100% stone ground handmade bread made from sourdough is served with a selection of lavish ingredients. Legend has it that Saks 5th avenue in New York offers the same Polaine. From NY to CT - this is a place full of surprises, and we savoured our Parisian sourdough watching sophisticated Capetonian women preen over earrings and bracelets through the glass doors flanking the courtyard.

Lunch was followed by a browse in the über-trendy interior design shops scattered along the sides of the hilly streets and a short wander to the Cape Quarter Centre, where stylish boutiques, art galleries and more trendy cafes lure the most resistant of passers-by for a look. It is a much-debated topic whether the Bo Kaap will be able to retain its individuality and keep its community in tact or whether it is destined to go the route of its neighbour, De Waterkant. I suspect it will remain for now. The Cape newspapers regularly run stories on community efforts to stop speculation in the area, and wandering the streets, it is hard to imagine being able to penetrate this tight knit community as an outsider. We were very welcome to explore the environs and talk about the history but left with the feeling that we would have had a different reception had we turned up with a chequebook to buy one of the front line properties. Having survived slavery, colonisation and the apartheid years, this just might be a community that will not conform to commercial pressure.

This article was published in Business and Finance Magazine in 2007