http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , South Africa , Western Cape , Stellenbosch en-us Sun, 19 May 2013 03:23:21 +0000 Sun, 19 May 2013 03:23:21 +0000 Well Good EveningI39m here in the sitting room of the Bonne Esperance where books crowd the shelves there is a chess table and piano to my left a furnace on the wall in front of me and complimentary vino atop the piano. Need I say I feel classy and extremely relaxed at the moment I think Josh is still enjoying his late afternoon nap in the room so I know he is at least feeling relaxed http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-786360.html March 16 2013 Stellenbosch RSA After the OSSA meeting we took some time to tour the country side around Cape Town and visit the town of Stellenbosch. It is an old Dutch town founded in 1679 where the University of Stellenbosch is located in the foothills of the very beautiful mountain foothills with vineyards and olive groves lining the highways. We stopped for a meal at one of the larger w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-776261.html spier wine tasting is a beautiful place if you want to relax and spend some times with you family or lover so next time if you come in south africa cape town you know where to go to enjoy yourself..... angel...... http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-751206.html besides from the food and wine there are a lot of activities for te whole family for the lover of birds there is the eagle encounters where you can find and see beautiful and differents birds. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-751205.html known for it wine tasting it39s also a place where you can enjoy nice food. there are two restaurants at spier wine estate the famous moyo and the spier deli. moyo restaurant is a nice place where you can eat african food if you want too the buffet present a feast of choice and style table are found in bedouin tentstree houses and even in the bushes. There is a 25 metres of buffet tabl http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-751203.html If you love fine food and wine spier wine tasting in stellenbosch is the place to bespier stand son the banks of the Eerste river in the heart of the steenbosch wine region. it39s a haven for tourists and is also has a deep set cultural and historical background and it39s also the oldest wine cellar in south africa. this splendide wine estates steal the show around stellenbosch. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-751201.html When I woke up on my first morning in South Africa I stretched and took a closer look around my surroundings. My first reaction the night before was very positive. Both Keenan the man who picked me up from the airport and the other residents of the AVIVA house were very very nice and friendly. The house seemed clean and spacious. However I was very sleepy and so my first priority was getting http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-739139.html WELKOM IN AFRIKALieve lezersAfgelopen tijd is er weer onnoemelijk veel gebeurd hier in het wonderbaarlijk witte Stellenbosch. Vanuit een goed beveiligd kamertje op de campus met kaarsjes aan en een gezellig Afrikaans muziekje op de achtergrond zal ik jullie kort vertellen over een paar avonturen en bezigheden.Toen de weersvoorspellingen een paar weekenden terug veel goeds beloofden had ik bedacht http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-736202.html August 8th08h00 start I have a train to catch. Say goodbye to Steve Anya and Larrs. Collect my deposit back for my key and head to the train station. A oneway ticket to Stellenbosch is R17 and takes about an hour. I sit near a young black woman on the train or whatever the PC term is. She starts a conversation with me because she is afraid of being on the train alone. When she talks about ot http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-735880.html MolweniNa een lange nacht in het vliegtuig was het eindelijk zo ver mijn eerste stappen op Afrikaanse bodem Er stonden meteen al 2 aardige jongens klaar om mij en een aantal andere internationale studenten op te halen van het vliegveld. Naast het feit dat ze hier links rijden keek ik ook mijn ogen uit over de mensen die op hun dooie gemakje langs de weg lopen terwijl het verkeer met 120 kmu http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-732338.html Day two in Cape Town Woke early for our first Ambassadors meeting and laid the ground work for the rest of the week. I am on the Corporate Social Responsibility project and am tasked with defining the social outreach side of our new company. Super excitedEnough about work Awesome day outside of the Waterfront area and out into the country itself. Started with a bus trip up to Signal Mountai http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-680617.html You see lady I dont have much money and sometimes I dont even know how to pay my bills. But I get up every morning and I decide I am going to be happy. Because lady I believe that happiness doesnt just happen we choose to be happy. These wise words concluded the conversation I had with the taxi driver who took me from Cape Town Airport to Stellenbosch. It had been interestin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-656445.html 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 Africas 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. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-633782.html WoofI was so glad to see my humans on Sunday night instead of Monday morning as promised. They staggered in at about 20h00 still in their cycling gear with medals around their necks bikes absolutely filthy. I can't believe Gogo allowed her precious Juliet to get so dirty in the first place. Judging by the excited telephone calls this won't be the first they will be rolling in the hay read http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-592679.html A verrrry merry Christmas from StellenboschWe 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 t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-557695.html Hmmmm meeting at the BP garage at Cape Town Airport sounded too deceptively simple for my liking and I was right. We could see the sodding garage as we went round and round in circles around it but could we get to the bleeding entrance Could we chuff. During one of our rotations Id say it was sheer coincidence but really it was only a matter of time we got beeped at by the guy we were meant http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-528484.html But still some time for more wine tastingFranschoek our original plan is off the menu as its too far and there are road works so instead we go to Boschendal which Id heard good things about not the wine necessarily but the setting perhaps Ive not really understood the point of this wine tasting lark. Its a sprawling estate including a cafe and restaurant as well as vineyards and http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-528483.html Cars us curse. Leaving Rustenberg along the motorway we hear a thunk as the other one overtakes and a big dumper lorry passes us going in the other direction. Peering at the windscreen we see nothing and figure it whatever it was must have landed on the roof. Parking at the hotel we look again and right behind the rear view mirror is a crack the size of a two pence piece or one rupee. Great http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-528482.html no the glasses hadn't been full...After the bracing dip there was just about enough left of the afternoon for a little wine tasting. With the clock against us I put aside Rustenberg winery for the next day and we randomly chose a place signposted on the motorway. With my usual customary notice of quick turn right no left here followed by bluster and grumble from the other one we turned in http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-528481.html the indian ocean it was notStellenbosch in the heart of the wine lands was our next stop and the site of our most fancy accommodation De Kraal Lodge see reviews also. Set among botanical gardens our room was massive with bijou living area and a welcome bottle of wine and the place had a pool too. Hot from our non air con car I was well up for a dip until I wagered a toe in the water and shr http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-528479.html