Blogs from Franschhoek, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 8

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Franschhoek March 17th 2007

Today we went horse riding in a town about 45 minutes from Stellenbosch called Franschhoek. It's a lot smaller than Stellenbosch, but it has some amazing mountain views, wine farms and nice little restaurants. We went riding around several vineyards, up and down some hills, stopped at one farm for wine tasting, road for a while longer and ended at a wine farm close to our starting point. It was about three hours of riding and for my first time I think I did really well! It certainly makes me feel better about being on a pony for three days in Lesotho! hahaa Tomorrow we're going to see a South African band called The Rudimentals. They're described as a reggae/ska band and one of the best in South Africa. We have to take a picnic lunch, ... read more

Day 188 - Goodbye Carr-Jones family

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Franschhoek January 6th 2007

mrandmrssimmonds

A tearful farewell to Gemma's parents, as well as a big 'thank you' for the holiday, and we were soon driving back to Cape Town with Stuart and Nicola. They were flying back to London in the evening so we went to buy the sleeping mats we needed for our upcoming overland trip, had a fish and chips lunch and said 'goodbye'. We're actually strangely jealous of them returning to the UK. There's definitely a part of us that is ready to get back to our normal lifestyle back home, but we know this is a one-off trip and our only chance to experience the things we've got planned for the next 6 months. Having said that, we're pretty happy to be heading off on our travels again. When we got dropped off at the Big ... read more

Day 187 - Le Pique Nique

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Franschhoek January 5th 2007

mrandmrssimmonds

Our first stop on our last full day was the vineyard that makes the wine we'd enjoyed last night - the Rustenburg estate. We weren't up for actually tasting any wine at 10am but we wanted to buy a present for Ted for putting us up in Johannesburg, Gren wanted to get details on importing a few cases and we all just fancied a bit of a nose around another posh wine estate. They really are done out immaculately. Next was a visit to Stellenbosch, the main town in South Africa's wine industry and the name usually seen on most bottles in the UK. We left with a distinctly self-congratulatory feeling for having chosen to stay in Franschhoek rather than Stellenbosch. By far the best thing about Stellenbosch is Oom Samie se Winkel (Uncle Sam’s shop). ... read more

Day 186 - Wine tasting

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Franschhoek January 4th 2007

mrandmrssimmonds

Since we were in an area famous for its wine making we thought we'd better indulge in a bit of wine tasting. A few days ago at Bushmans Kloof we'd been recommended a wine called 'The Chocolate Block' as the perfect accompaniment to our springbok steaks. Subsequently we'd learnt that Gordon Ramsay has it on the wine list in his restaurants. So we went along to where it's made, the Boekenhoutskloof estate, for an afternoon appointment. The hostess was very good and gave us 8 different wines to sample. We had a diabolo-shaped spittoon on the table but since the fun of wine is in the drinking it wasn't really used. As a group we were actually quite harsh critics, and surprised ourselves with some adjectives to describe the smells (spark plugs!?), but we unanimously awarded ... read more

Day 185 - SIX MONTHS AWAY

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Franschhoek January 3rd 2007

mrandmrssimmonds

So we've made it to the 6 months away mark. By far the longest either of us have ever been away before, and you'll be pleased to hear that we're not regretting our decision to come travelling one jot. With another 6 months still to come we have an awful lot of the world still to look at, and the pace will probably pick up a bit over the coming months. Africa and Asia are the 2007 destinations, with the next flight on our agenda being from Nairobi to Sydney at the end of February. We've taken 5000 photos so far and Ed has ony just worked out how to use the camera so there should be a lot more by the time we return. Get your tickets to the slideshow weekend early. One recurring ... read more

Brief history of South Africa

After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjug...more history

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