
The Gold In Our Stars - A Heritage Walking Tour Through Observatory
About the event
Obs is anything but obvs. Have these questions never crossed your mind whilst chilling at Ferdinando's? Why is Observatory?Who is Lower Main Road?How is Stones?When is Bourgeois-Bohemia?Where is dagga?What is love? We aspire to give you definitive answers to at least none of these questions this coming Sunday on our magical mystery ramble through the best suburb in the country. Observatory is, in short, the wedge of Cape Town - the district that's never officially been one in the first place. It started by sucking in the loafers and flaneurs of the Imperial age and thrived through catching the hearts of every prospector hopelessly lost on their way to Jo'burg. It defied the apartheid-era by comprising the fringes of segregated worlds and bouncing most of the Commerce bros at the door. Today, like a loveable cockroach, it's survived years of recession and the pandemic and come out fighting with more coffee-spots and daylight-robbery-based vintage stores than ever before. And we all have at least one favourite establishment where our lives were exemplified in a moment's notice. Think about yours, and I'll tell you its history. So join me at the Wild Fig Tree Restaurant just past the Two Rivers Urban Park and the Protea Hotel and I'll blast you through a living past of decolonial raiding, Victorian astrophilia, saloon-jazz derangement and diasporic immortality. RSVP for kicks, stack up your own half-true anecdotes and come wander along the first and oldest frontier of our nation opening your mind to the raw ore of creativity laid out under the Devil's peeking gaze. "We joined the Observatory walk last weekend and it was absolutely stunning. I was so impressed with Cameron’s delivery and his vast knowledge. I’m a former history lecturer and am now a book publisher, and I’ve been on city walks throughout the world and I’m not easily impressed. But Cameron ranks up there with the best. And yet he’s still so young!We’ll definitely be going on more of his many walks!"- Steve C. 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 Wild Fig Tree Restaurant at 14h00 then finishing by Wrensch House on Lower Wrensch Road, so I'd advise parking by Ossian Road or the entrance to Valkenberg.- We've just put up our ticket prices for the first time in two-and-a-half years, from R120pp to R150pp. Obviously this is just to keep with inflation and to allow the tours to remain a sustainable enterprise for the foreseeable future, but this is still about R50 less per person than our nearest competition. In other words, we are deliberately undercharging the tours so as to keep them affordable for locals and visitors alike and to encourage guests to come back weekend after weekend.- Book via Quicket, WhatsApp us on 076 033 8164, E-mail us on cameronlukepeters812@gmail.com or Message us via the buttons on our home page to secure your place.- We have also just introduced a broad scheme of discounts you can apply for on each tour, so please do consult the list below before contacting us!- And we've decided to partner with a different local NGO or charity for each and every one of our tour routes so that R10 of every ticket purchased goes directly to a good, sustainable, local cause. For the Obs tour, we've chosen to fund-raise for Obs Can Feed You, and you can inspect their brilliance here:https://obscanfeedyou.co.za- 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 3km 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…
