Atlas Trading Company has anchored the Bo-Kaap neighbourhood since 1946, and it's one of Cape Town's most aromatic landmarks. Step inside and you'll find sacks of whole and ground spices: borrie (turmeric), jeera (cumin) and koljana (coriander), alongside lentils, butter beans, basmati rice and masalas. Brothers Wahab and Shouket Ahmed run it today, importing directly from across the world.

The shop carries an unlikely weight of history. It was the search for spices that brought the Dutch East India Company to Cape Town in the first place. The city began as a stopover for ships trading between Europe and the Far East, and the Cape was shaped by those routes for centuries.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours use Atlas Trading as the endpoint of their Bo-Kaap walks, connecting the spices on the shelves to Cape Town's founding history and the Muslim community that has called this neighbourhood home for generations.