On a stretch of beach in the small coastal town of Muizenberg, there are a couple of colourful houses that have attracted so many people and surfers. The whole town is actually one big surfer town with so many surf shops lining the streets. Driving into town, there is also a surfboard workshop where the owner makes custom wood surfboards in a small shop for everyone stuck in traffic to look at. Because the traffic is hectic.
So please come along with me on this colourful virtual journey as I show you these famous little beach houses and tell you a little bit more about their history and more importantly, their heritage!
Spring Flowers on the Coast
It is spring here in South Africa, so all the flowers are in full bloom. Normally, most people would drive up the West Coast to see the flowers, but people merely have to look down in the veld (and parks) to see copious amounts of Cape flowers, especially what we call the Cape dandelion (as seen below).
Along the colourful houses and benches, various flowers make their appearance. Whole areas are coated in these flowers, ranging from yellow to white, to vibrant and deep purple.
Between the sand, these flowers seem to be the happiest. Trampled and eaten by the local small rodents and animals, they seem to flourish in these harsh environments. Contrasted against the colourful houses and benches, they brighten the place even more. Spring in the (Western) Cape is never as nice as spring elsewhere. The weather is still cold and the wind is always blowing, but with these flowers close by, it surely makes one's day! Especially for those who take the time to look down and notice the flowers.
So many people never look down, and those who do, see them as weeds. It is called various things, cape dandelion, cape weed, cape marigold, the yellow flower always puts a smile on my face. I have picked countless flowers for my girlfriend, and I have some of them growing in my garden, alongside so many other cape daisies and gazanias.
Colorful Benches and Ice Cream
Besides the colourful houses, as I will show below, the benches are also painted. They are perfect for sitting whilst enjoying an ice cream! The weather was not perfect ice cream weather, but when you are at the ocean why not enjoy an ice cream?
Across the beach, where the brave go surfing in the cold weather, there is a quaint and beautiful ice cream shop. Tucked away, it is easily missed if you are not paying attention. Just like one will miss the beautiful flowers if you are not looking.
My girlfriend has it easy with me, I can never choose so I just tell her to get the two flavours she wants! I am easygoing and I love to have both options as well. The more the merrier!
Whilst enjoying our cold treats, we enjoyed the view and looked at the surfers daring to surf in the cold weather. There are many surf shops but also surf therapy worships going on, learning and teaching those who cannot afford it.
The Significance and Cultural Heritage of the Coloured Houses
Apparently, these houses are the remnants of a distant past we do not know any longer. They were used by people to change their clothes to swim at the beach, something we as modern people (especially in South Africa) no longer know about. "Indecency acts" of the past at beaches are no longer a thing; but if you think about it, it was not that long ago when swimsuits for women were banned on beaches or when women were arrested for "indecent exposure" by wearing what we today consider a normal bikini. But this history is long gone, a tale for the kids. Today, these houses mark the area for tourism and attract so many people.
People always stop at the houses to take photographs, including me. It has become a "thing" about the area, the coloured houses.
But some of the houses have seen better days. The weather in the area is bad in the sense that winds rip through the area. But mismanagement of money in South Africa is also a usual suspect. In either case, various boards and plaques are set up in the area for people to help with the maintenance of these little coloured houses.
It is funny how we always see monumental structures like cathedrals and feel the need to preserve them and their cultural heritage. But these small houses, coloured and fragile, also warrant our attention to maintain their beauty. It has been almost 20 years that I have been driving past them, and every time I see them, like the yellow flowers, I smile as I feel at home. It belongs to the area, it has become a feature of the landscape. The past is no longer applicable, but it remains a place where we can feel like we belong like something special has been here. Obviously, one cannot compare painted wood with the artistic masonry of monuments, but this does not warrant non-attention.
The modern mind is stuck on keeping things as they are, perfect images of the past. But these houses move along the beach, almost like they are walking with us forward into the future! Let us hope that they will have the stamina to keep up with us.
Postscriptum, or Climbing to Go Up
We enjoyed our ice creams, we looked at the ocean with the surfers enjoying their waves, and we listened to the excited laughter of those less privileged than us learning about surfing and cheering their friends onward. Life is good and we are seeing the upward climbing into a brighter future. With all the hate and divide between groups of people, the coloured houses at Muizenberg in South Africa might act as a metaphor for us to stand together in the many different opinions we have and cultures we still uphold. In a global era, were differences are smoothed over in the name of expansion and economic growth, being a house of a different colour might be seen as a resistance.
Our trip ended with our ice cream ending up in our tummies. With the ocean in our hair, salt on our lips, and the wind in our souls, we left with smiles on our faces and flowers in our eyes.
I hope that you visit this place if you come here, it is surely a sight to behold even if only in its utter simplicity.
For now, happy travels, and keep well!
The musings and writings in this post are my own, albeit inspired by some flavourful ice cream. The photographs are also my own, taken with either my Nikon D300 or my (or 