Two days in the Cape Winelands

Denny, Ters, Charlotte and Carlene in the rose garden.
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Today we left the Sunset Beach area of western Cape Town, stopping briefly at Table Mountain AGAIN only to find that we were among hundreds who have been waiting all week to get up the mountain -- the que was enormous and we sadly elected to move on into the Cape Winelands, heading toward Carlene's home in Mossel Bay along the "wine route".

Not too far out of town as we started into the mountains we went through the long Huguenot Tunnel, the DuToits Kloof Pass, and into the high mountain Berg River Valley.  There were baboons along the roadway.  :(  However, no dead ones like we see deer all through Wyoming.  Shortly we started stopping at the wineries, doing some tasting, and even some buying!  The Rooiberg Merlot is a favorite of both Carlene and mine.  Denny likes the sweeter ports (thanks to Bob).  All along the road we saw ostriches, both wild and in huge farms (feeding pens like cattle there in the US).  There also were a lot of sheep and cattle.

The Drotsdy Museum
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Arriving in Swellendam around 4:30 PM we started roaming the streets looking at all the B&Bs and Guest Houses.  We went to one that was drop dead gorgeous with two bedrooms, a sitting room and a "splash pool" but thought it was too much $$ plus more than we needed for just overnight.  So we went on -- and found the Rose Garden with Ters and Charlotte, two Afrikaaners who were a delight!  We selected two rooms that shared a side porch and settled in for 170R/person ($24).  Please see the B&B's revue if you want to know more about all that.  It was a wonderful stay!

The kitchen of the main house.
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After a great breakfast we set out for the Drotsdy Museum, a complex of historic buildings built by the Dutch East India Company in 1747.  It was a "state of the art" landholding of the Resident Magistrate, home of early Afrikaans, their domestic servants, child apprentices, and slaves.  The story is of how things changed over time is unbelievable.  They tried to set an example for other colonists by setting slaves free at age 25 after "years of faithful service."  The "goal" (jail) was pretty primitive - far worse than the physical conditions even on Robben Island.

Beautiful furniture, amazing child's bed.
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Moving on toward Mossel Bay, we took a short diversion to Barrydale, another small Afrikaaner town in the mountains, known for its wonderful arts festivals.  It is a spectcular drive through a stunning pass and into a beautiful valley.  We are amazed at the economic differences in this and most South African towns -- the very, very wealthy white Afrikaaners living in homes like we are used to in the US -- big, luxurious homes -- always gated and fenced with barbed wires.  The "coloreds" seem to be a lower class, working in menial jobs and living in small, rectangle cement blocked homes, in often attractive "townships."  The "blacks" are the least educated, poorest peoples -- they are often illegal immigrants to South Africa, tribe members fleeing the wars of neighboring countries, or indigenous South Africans coming into the cities out of the bushveld.  They "squat" on open lands building shacks out of anything and everything they can find.

Carriages in the barn, even a hearse.
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Once these areas are established with several families, the government will come in and build them cement blocked garage sized homes with a bathroom, running water and electricity.  This is part of the official land redistribution plan.  They mostly have dirt floors with rugs.  Some have an appliance or two -- whatever they can find.  Very few have cars -- they band together to form groups who hire or purchase a van to get to their jobs.  The Afrikaaners call these areas "Squatter Camps" but the Africans themselves give them town names.  Today we stopped in the one here in Mossel Bay to give Carlene's cleaning lady, Sylvia, a day off -- still paying her (130R or $18) for the missed day of work.  It was a sad sight, driving through that place, I don't know what to think really -- am still forming an opinion.  The people seem happy -- the children smile and wave -- but the conditions seem so much worse than our poor -- there is supposedly 80% unemployment.

Our shared porch
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Conversely Carlene has a beautiful home here, on the hill overlooking "the Point" where Mossel Bay opens into the Indian Ocean.  I feel very privileged to be enjoying it with her for the next few weeks.  Tomorrow we are going to a cocktail party and then dinner at the Yacht Club, the typical Afrikaaner TGIF.  Does that sound as weird to you as it does to me?  Carlene warns me that the talk there may upset me...more soon.  I will probably be thinking over and re-writing this entry -- trying to describe it all in a better way.  Thank you for your patience, my friends.