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Published: January 25th 2021
Only one more stop on our road to Cape Town, our final destination in South Africa. Dec 25 we are supposed to fly back to Switzerland. Do we really want???
This second last stop of ours is the famous South African wine district of Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. To get there we left Oudtshoorn after a nice morning breakfast on the estate and an elaborated chat with the owner. His son played with Nui until the last minute and we left him with tears in his eyes, so sad he was losing his new found playing companion. Following along the Route 62 through the Karoo desert, we passed nice little country towns and crossed fertile farmland and wide spaces. Route 62 is famous in South Africa, having an image a bit like the Route 66 in USA, although in Nenad's opinion this comparison is a bit far fetched. Especially three places along the way need mention. Our first stop was Ronnie's Sex Shop. In the bloody middle of nowhere Ronnie managed to make a name for himself and draw curious visitors due to the name of his pub and coffee shop. There is not more to see than a few bras
and panties hanging from the ceiling; but nevertheless he is a legend in the Karoo and everybody stops for a drink. Sex sells, everywhere!!! A longer stop we made in Barrydale. The town was founded by Dutch reformers in the early 18th century when farmers moved into the area looking for fertile arable land with water. The town still shows the legacy of the apartheid era when it was divided in two, to separate whites from non-whites, a large proportion of which are direct descendants of the indigenous Khoisan tribe. Barrydale is culturally diverse for a small village with English- and Afrikaans-speaking inhabitants as well as a substantial European expatriate community including French, German, Spanish and Italian residents. Unusual is that of the 5'000 inhabitant 80% are termed 'Colored (means a mix of Indigenous, African, White and Asian), 15% are declared as white and only 5% are Africans. The population increases dramatically in the tourist season, with visitors drawn by arts and crafts displays, including textiles, jewelry and African souvenirs. The village is set among beautiful jacaranda trees, giving it a special colorful appeal. Lastly Montagu the Mecca of dried fruit and nuts production was founded on the farm "Uitvlugt"
in 1851, and is also known for its hot mineral springs and scenic mountains. The surrounding farms produce first class orchards, grapes, local herbs, apples, pears, apricots and peaches. The author Francis Brett Young (English novelist, poet, playwright, composer, doctor and soldier; "Deep Sea", 1914 or "Portrait of Claire" 1927) spent his final years here. Nearby rock formations make it one of the country's major rock climbing venues. The 1266 m high Bloupunt peak overlooks the village and offers several hiking trails, as well as kloofing and mountain biking trails further afield. Kloofing is an adventure activity that typically involves the descent of a deep ravine or watercourse that may be dry or wet. The defining factor is usually that the ravine is several times deeper than it is wide. We did none of that. We were eager to reach Franschhoek the wine Mecca, where we had wine tastings lined up and where we stayed for the night.
Approaching our destination we had to cross a mountain range and the scenic Franschhoek Pass. A beautiful afternoon awaited us with two wine tastings. The first Wine Estate, Mont Rochelle, owned by Virgin brand owner Richard Branson. How can a Pommy
Ronnie's Sex Shop
in the middle of nowhere in Karoo do good wine Nenad asked ?!?!? And indeed, while the tasting is conducted in a beautiful setting, the wines were very average. The second winery had an even nicer location, but the wines were plain bad. Never buy a Dieu Donne Vinyard wine. With this disappointment we hoped the dinner will compensate. We chose 'Le Foilage', a French restaurant of course (we shall tell you in the next blog why everything must be French here) and were not disappointed. Usually this place is booked out weeks ahead on weekends and holidays. Tonight it was nearly empty and had to close 9PM, due to the 10PM Corona curfew in the Western Cape. By the way the wine we had did not come from neither Mont Rochelle, nor Dieu Donne !!!
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