Blogs from Franschhoek, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 3

Geo: -33.906, 19.1148South African wines - though quite renowned, our experiences with them prior to arriving in South Africa have been less than stellar, even when sampling their pinotage, the country's signature grape. Thankfully, things have been different since arriving, when we started to find some truly excellent wines available here, perhaps because intelligent South Africans keep most of the good stuff here for themselves? Over eight hours after bidding adieu to Mai and Prince Albert, we finally rolled into Franschhoek, in the heart of the Winelands near Cape Town, after a long and slow drive on gravel roads through the Karoo's famous Swartberg Pass, followed by hour after hour along Route 62, a drive known for being one of the most beautiful in all of South Africa. It's a good thing we weren't late, as ... read more

Geo: -33.906, 19.1148This morning we got up early and had our breakfast in the hotel's restaurant. I was really looking forward to today as we were doing a tour of the winelands. I remember the beautiful scenery and historic towns from my last visit a few years ago. At about 8am we were picked up by our tour guide and drove out of the city. We were really lucky to have a young chick as our tour guide and we were the only two people on the tour today. She was interesting to listen to and had a passion for her job. We got off the freeway and then the beautiful scenery was visible - Paarl Mountain nearby and hills covered in vines. The first winery of the day was Fairview. It was very pretty here ... read more

For our last day in Cape Town we were again with Karl for the day. After a quick breakfast in the hotel, we were off in the comfortable van. Our main agenda item for the day was Cheetah Outreach, which is located out in the wine country east of Cape Town. However, since they don’t open until 11AM, we took the opportunity to have an early morning stroll in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Karl dropped us at the upper entrance, making it convenient for us to meander through the gardens and then meet him at the lower entrance. The lush gardens show off some of the incredible botanical diversity of South Africa and the Cape Peninsula in particular. Sonia, being the plant lover in the family, enjoyed the exotic species throughout our walk through the meticulously ... read more

Der Morgen fing nicht gerade gut an... Regen und grauer Himmel. Trotzdem beschlossen wir heute den kleinen Umweg auf der Route 62 nach Franschhoek zu nehmen, die besonders schön sein soll. Und dies bewahrheitete sich auch. Die Route 62 ist eine traumhafte Strasse durch Gebirge, karge Lanschaften, Steppen und ab und zu wieder ein paar grünen Oasen. Relativ zu beginn jedoch standen wir gerade an einer Baustelle als wir bemerkten, dass wir einen Platten hatten... na super dachten wir. Ich holte erstmal die Kamera raus um das Schlamassel für die Nachwelt festzuhalten. Als ich die Kamera wegpacken wollten, standen auch schon 4 junge Burschen zur Stelle und ohne etwas zu sagen, regelten sie alles binnen wenigen Minuten und schwups war unser Ersatzreifen montiert. Auf so eine Hilfsbereitschaft kann man wohl lange in Deutschland warten... Ohne große ... read more

We have been incredibly fortunate with this Cape Town winter we’ve found ourselves in. It’s gorgeous! This weekend probably hit the peak of my incredulity at this winter weather- I spent all day Saturday in shorts and a t-shirt. Winter wear, indeed. So, Saturday brought a relaxed morning, where I enjoyed some quality quiet time with the couch while Noble and Sarah went to run their errands. Around noon, we hopped in the car and drove out to Cape Point, which we can see from our balcony, but is about an hour+ drive away. It is the southwestern-most tip of Africa, and affords some really nice views of the ocean, beaches, and the lighthouses. Yes, there are two lighthouses, because the first one was built too low and couldn’t actually be seen by the approaching ships! ... read more