After a couple of days and nights of heavy rains and stormy weather the sun has come out and our winter flowing plants are out in all their brightest glory. One of these is the Cotyledon arbiculata, commonly known as 'Pig's Ears'. 

Native to South Africa, this plant with its attractive orange-red bell-shaped flowers, has a number of medicinal uses. The fleshy part of the leaf is applied to warts and corns. Heated leaves are used as poultices for boils and other inflammations. 

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​Browse my online gallery for more  images of African animals and birds, botanical studies and
detailed images of iconic buildings and places in and around Cape Town in both monochrome and colour.
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All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.
Click here for prices.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to gutmansolly@gmail.com
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1) Known by many names
The earliest development in the Bo Kaap area was undertaken in the 1760s by a chap called Jan de Waal. Subsequently, the area became known as Waalendorp. It has also been known as the Malay Quarter, the Slamse Buurt, and Scotcheskloof. Translated from Afrikaans, Bo Kaap means ‘Above the Cape’.

2) One of the oldest residential areas in Cape Town
Part of the Bo Kaap’s charm is the mix of Cape Dutch and Cape Georgian architectural styles. One of the oldest buildings in the Bo Kaap has been turned into a museum. The Bo Kaap Museum showcases local Islamic culture and heritage was built by Jan de Waal in 1768, and is the oldest house in the area still in its original form.

3) Subject to the Group Areas Act under Apartheid
In the 1700s, political exiles, slaves and convicts were sent to the Cape by the Dutch from India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the Indonesian Archipelago. Although not technically correct, these individuals and their descendants became known as Cape Malays. Many of them eventually settled in the Bo Kaap. In the mid-twentieth century, the Apartheid government, under the Group Areas Act of 1950, declared the Bo Kaap a Muslims-only area and forced people of other religions and ethnicity to leave the area. This case was unique because, during this time, most working class (and non-white) people in South Africa were being moved away from the cities.

4) Home to the country’s oldest mosque
Construction on the Auwal Mosque in Dorp Street began in 1794, making it the oldest mosque in South Africa. However, Muslims were only allowed to practice their religion in public from 1804. The mosque was built on land belonging to a freed slave called Coridon van Ceylon, whose daughter, Saartjie van den Caap, inherited and donated the land. Abdullah Kadi Abdus Salaam, also known as Tuan Guru, was the mosque’s first imam. Tuan Guru was imprisoned on Robben Island for political reasons. While he was there, he wrote an entire Quran from memory. This Quran is available for viewing at the Auwal Mosque.

5) The resting place of holy scholars
The Tana Baru Cemetery – which means ‘New Ground’ — was the first piece of land assigned by the government for use as a Muslim cemetery after religious freedom was granted in 1804. Regarded as one of the most hallowed cemeteries in Cape Town, Tana Baru, which is situated at the top of Longmarket Street on the slopes of Signal Hill, is home to three important kramats. These holy shrines were erected to honour the imams Tuan Nuruman, Tuan Sayeed Alawse, and Tuan Guru.

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​Visit my online gallery for more images of iconic buildings and places in and around Cape Town, botanical works and images of African animals and birds in both monochrome and colour.

All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.
Click here for prices.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to gutmansolly@gmail.com

The Bo-Kaap is one of Cape Town’s most distinct neighbourhoods. Situated at the foot of Signal Hill, on the fringe of the city centre, and formerly known as the Malay Quarter, the Bo-Kaap’s origins date back to the 1760s when numerous “huurhuisjes” (rental houses) were built and leased to slaves. These people were known as Cape Malays, and were brought from Malaysia, Indonesia and the rest of Africa to work in the Cape.

To this day, the houses are a mix of Cape Dutch and Georgian architecture, in distinctive multi-coloured rows on steeply cobbled roads. The choice of colour is said to be attributed to the fact that while on lease, all the houses had to be white. When this rule was eventually lifted, and the slaves were allowed to buy the properties, all the houses were painted bright colours by their owners as an expression of their freedom.

This image of a couple of colourful contrasting houses on Wale Street, Bo-Kaap is currently on exhibition as part of the Art SA Exhibition in Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town. It's so nice to be part of a real life exhibition again!
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​Visit my online gallery for more images of iconic buildings and places in and around Cape Town, botanical works and images of African animals and birds in both monochrome and colour.

All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.
Click here for prices.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to gutmansolly@gmail.com

The quiet town of Oudtshoorn lies between the majestic mountains of the Klein Karoo. In winter, snow covers the nearby mountain peaks and in summer temperatures sizzle. Its dry, extreme climate has much to do with the town’s success, where once ostrich farmers bathed in brandy and papered their walls in pound notes, when Oudtshoorn became known as the ostrich capital of the world.

It began when ostrich feathers became a major European and British fashion accessory in the mid-1800s. Oudtshoorn farmers were quick to realise that the Karoo environment was ideal to raise ostriches and began ripping up their agricultural fields and domesticating wild birds. Breeding pairs of birds thrived and farmers pocketed up to R200 per kilogram for their feathers, an astonishing amount in 1884.
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Although the demand for ostrich feathers has drastically decreased, their skins are now used to produce high-end fashion accessories. Ostrich meat has become a popular alternative to beef or lamb. As a result, Oudtshoorn continues as an active ostrich farming town, boasting the largest number of ostriches in the world.

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​Visit my online gallery for more images of iconic buildings and places in and around Cape Town, botanical works and images of African animals and birds in both monochrome and colour.

All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.
Click here for prices.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to gutmansolly@gmail.com