Wining & Dining

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After nearly three weeks in Cape Town, I was getting antsy to move on so I decided to rent a car for a few days. But before leaving Cape Town, there was one more thing I had to do—visit the world-famous Kirstenbosch Gardens. They are located on the other side of Table Mountain and are considered to be one of the finest botanical gardens in the world. Most of the Cape flora is represented here, including a huge variety of proteas, ericas and other indigenous flowers—all of which seem to be blooming now. The gardens sit under the rugged cliffs of the mountain and cover a huge area. Windy paths take you through a multitude of specialty gardens sloping down with great views to the sea. You won’t see flowers like this anywhere else on the planet.

I wanted to see the nearby wine region and, rather than do a one day tour, I opted to rent a car for three days and drive up to the area called the “Winelands”, South Africa’s equivalent to the Napa & Sonoma Valleys. The region’s largest town is Stellenbosch, the second oldest town in S. A., which is where the country’s main Afrikaner university is located. Originally a farming area, they began growing wines here over a hundred years ago. Today it’s considered to be one of the world’s premier wine growing regions.

Much of my time driving around was spent taking photos—each place more picturesque than the last. Rolling hills are covered with rows and rows of vineyards which go up to the base of nearby rugged mountains than dominate the landscape. It’s a combination of the pastoral and the dramatic that makes the scenery so remarkable. The spring flowers were also in bloom adding just another layer to the beauty of the place. At sunset, it is truly spectacular as the light plays on the rich green of the grape vines and the dark gray jagged peaks.

You see the country’s Dutch roots everywhere and many of the names are “Van der something”. Most people are bilingual but you are much more likely to hear Afrikaans spoken here. I’ve met quite a few Dutch (from the Netherlands) and they say the language sounds quite funny to their ears—kind of how old English might sound to us. The province also has its own style of architecture called the “Cape Dutch” with pretty houses with curvy façades. Some still have thatched roofs.

It takes a little over an hour to drive from Cape Town to the Winelands. You travel through gorgeous scenery which would have been even more enjoyable if I hadn’t been so nervous about driving on the left side of the road. Shifting gears with my left hand also took some getting used to and every time I signaled, the windshield wipers came on. To add to the aggravation, it is not possible to get full coverage on a rental car in S.A. If there is any damage to the mirror, hubcaps, bumper or the windshield is broken into, you are held responsible. They even instruct you on how to remove the radio so that it won’t be a temptation for a thief. Needless to say, all of this did not add to my comfort level of an otherwise lovely experience. Is this a sign of growing older?

After settling into my own private room at the new backpackers, I followed the advice of the woman at the desk and went out for a great meal in a cozy gourmet restaurant. All the restaurants here are gourmet because, besides wine, the area is also known for its good food. Now that my appetite was back and I was feeling good, my plan was to wine and dine myself through this region.

The meal was terrific—aside from being banished to a dark corner of the restaurant near the wine room. Why do they do this to single diners? Anyway, I asked for a candle and the hostess obliged and soon things were looking up. The restaurant had a wine sampling option whereby they fill six glasses with a small taste of various wines and present the whole thing on a wooden tray. I felt a bit like a lush with these six glasses of wine at my table! From the conversations I overheard, there were several winegrowers in the room and plenty of sniffing and swishing was going on. They do take their wines seriously here.

Another town about forty minutes from here was settled by the French Huguenots in the 1700’s. The town is called Franchoek and it had been hyped as being the best place to eat in all of South Africa, with several award-winning restaurants on its short one block. I was anxious to see for myself. The food standards are so high here that the locals say you can’t go wrong anywhere you eat. Again, I was not disappointed. This time I was seated at a nice table in the in the midst of charming French country décor and the service was wonderful.

You might be wondering what all this opulent living was costing? Well, not much. A great meal, including wine and often dessert, will run you about $20. The South African Rand is weak now and there is a glut on the world wine market—all of which makes this a very affordable place to splurge.

A college group from the country of Lesotho arrived on my second night at the hostel. They were a very friendly, but noisy group and the partying went on until the wee hours. No one from the backpackers was there to monitor. Lesotho is a small country surrounded by South Africa and everyone says it’s a very interesting place to visit. I just wish I had been able to experience the culture during the non-sleeping hours. Their language is also different from the other Africans in this region.

The backpackers had a packaged deal which included a wine tasting tour and a reduction in the room rate so I signed up to take the tour the following day. This is a great way to see various wineries, sample the product and enjoy more scenery without having to drive while under the influence. There was a nice group of people on my tour—mostly Dutch and Germans. One couple was on a 14 month RTW and had some good tips for me. One winery also made goat cheeses and we got to sample some. This was a good thing because, after a few glasses of wine, you need some food in your stomach and the cheeses were great. This same winery had a silly looking tower out front with a spiral staircase around it. It was kind of like a big kitty tower and the goats loved it! (see photo)

By the end of the day, I was feeling no pain and could sample no more. All in all it was a fun day and, when I got back to my room, I lay down on the bed and fell asleep for two hours. Luckily the Lesotho group was out for the evening and was much quieter later that night. The management had received an earful of complaints so I guess they spoke with them and I was grateful for the peace.

If there had been time, it would have been nice to see more of the region. There are even more beautiful passes beyond Franchoek but it was time to return the car. By now I was almost getting use to driving on the left—except for one incident when I turned right off a one-way street into the wrong lane. That could have happened to anyone—right? What a look on the face in the oncoming car as he flayed his arms at me! I quickly moved over to the left.

The drive back to Cape Town was without incident and my abode for the night was on Long Street—a lively place in the center of town. I would find out later how noisy it also was. The only reason to stay there was that the car return place was next door and I would be leaving on the Baz Bus the next morning.

That night was one of the rare times I’ve needed ear plugs to sleep. The music from the bar across the street went on until 4:00AM and it was deafening. Several of my roomies came in around 3:00 and, while they tried to be quiet, I woke up anyway and later got up to use the bathroom. It was a good thing too because one poor girl had been locked in the toilet for the last half hour. Her friends hadn’t missed her and had all gone to bed. She was so grateful to be rescued because she was resigned to spending the rest of the night in the john.

Tomorrow, I leave on the Baz Bus, which is a large van that picks you up at the backpacker’s doorstep and takes you on up or down the coast. You just pay the price to get from point A to point B and “hop on, hop off” off wherever and whenever you like. You can take as long as you want to complete your trip and luggage, surfboards and bikes are stowed behind in a trailer. My ticket goes to Durbin and I’m looking forward to traveling along this beautiful stretch of coastline called the Garden Route.

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