Blogs from Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 4

M – The last few days have been real hard – NOT. Our friends truck that we are using for our overland trip through Namibia and Botswana has been delayed in the garage so we had a few days to kill. We decided to hit some of South Africa’s wineries. The main wine region is only about an hour from the center of Cape Town although there seem to be wineries scattered all over the Western Cape. We stayed in probably the largest wine town, Stellenbosch, but also visited probably the next largest towns Paarl and Franschhoek. Each about 30kms away from Stellenbosch. Franschhoek is the prettiest as it is surrounded on three sides by mountains. Paarl is know for being the birth place of the Afrikanas language and holds the jail that Nelson Mandela was ... read more

A verrrry merry Christmas from Stellenbosch!!! We packed up our tent ‘motel 6’ for the last time as we left bush camping behind and began our journey back to civilisation in South Africa. After three nights in Swakopmund I think we realised that we actually enjoy bush camping a lot more than the more westernised parts of Africa. When we are all in the wilderness sleeping in tents, cooking off the back of the truck and huddled around the camp fire - all completely in the middle of nowhere there is a sense of being in the ‘real Africa’. However there are of course upsides to heading back to some sort of normality – an actual toilet (rather than a hole in the ground) and a hot shower, bliss! The day we crossed the border from ... read more

Wine wine wine Wednesday (1/7/10) We rolled out of bed for our very early airport transfer, checked in and boarded our super cheap Mango flight to Capetown. At Capetown we got another transfer straight to Stellenborsh. It was a glorious sunny day and we didn’t want to waste it. We checked in to the Traveller’s lodge, showered and signed up for the Vine Hopper Wine Shuttle Bus. Today the Vine Hopper was taking the Southern Loop, and first stop was Vredenheim Winery. A quaint winery, with a front yard filled with game, a celler like tasting room, and a gorgeous back garden. We sampled a self picked selection of five wines, took a brief stroll around the garden before it was time to board the shuttle again. Next stop was Spier Winery, a huge complex including ... read more

SA doesn’t fail to surprise. Just as we were getting into going home mode we decided to do the Stellenbosch wine route. My Lord, what an experience. We started out by popping into a couple of wine estates, just to get an idea of the procedure etc. We thought it might be a case of hard sell, to buy wine, but I can assure you it wasn’t. The staff in the winery’s were really pleased to see their visitors and were very welcoming. They appreciated that as overseas visitors we are restricted to what we can take home. Our first real “taste” experience was with the House of J.C. Le Roux a champagne and sparkling wine house. They cannot call their product champagne although it is made under the same process. For £2.50 we had a ... read more

June 18th Woke up in the morning feelin’ like a drank a gallon of wine the night before..but that’s probably because I did. The first hour was a bit brutal but I think I found a new cure to a hangover, washing dishes! Only kidding but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds, I promise. After everyone had managed to get some food in their stomachs and pay off their bar tabs, we packed our things in the truck for what would be one of our last drives in the truck. The whole valley we drove through on our way to Stellenbosch was incredible, the landscape was like nothing I’ve ever seen. We passed vineyard after vineyard and lake after lake. At one point we drove through a pass and out of the valley. In the ... read more