On Monday we visited the District 6 Museum, which is dedicated to the people who were forcibly removed from the neighborhood during apartheid. The neighborhood is situated in downtown Cape Town and residents were forced out to the Cape Flats, a notoriously inhospitable stretch of land outside of the downtown area, and their homes and neighborhoods were demolished to prevent them from moving back. The museum celebrates this close-knit community and tours are given by former residents of the neighborhood. The museum itself is housed in a church that was a part of the community, as religious sites were the only pieces of the community that weren’t bulldozed.

After the museum we visited the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which are considered by many to be the most beautiful botanical gardens in all of Africa. The park covers 700 acres, 100 of which are landscaped gardens dedicated to plants found throughout South Africa. The park stretches up the slopes of Table Mountain and trails from the gardens connect to Table Mountain National Park. The park also has a famous walkway called the “Boomslang,” which takes visitors into the treetops for sweeping views of Table Mountain and the city below. (A boomslang is a highly venomous garden snake found throughout South Africa that lives in trees.) We spent the late morning relaxing, playing cards in the grass, and taking in the views.

We then traveled out to Khayelitsha for an afternoon of “tutoring,” which turned into making friendship bracelets with the coaches and older girls on the team.

— Anna & Peter