The Winelands Tour

Fine example of a Dutch Colonial heritage home in Franschhoek
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Winelands Tour of South Africa

January 4 – 10^th, 2007

we could just feel those waistbands starting to fit a little snugger again

The Winelands are an easy and scenic few hours drive away from Cape Town and were our first stop after leaving the Mother City. Small towns are scattered in the rolling hills and valleys between huge and awe-inspiring mountain ridges. The valleys are beautifully cultivated with endless vineyards. Stephanie said they reminded her of cornrows of braided hair and their neat and tidy appearance did have that affect. No where have we seen so many vineyards! Many are open to the public for wine tasting and gourmet dining. Not being great wine connoisseurs, we nevertheless enjoyed the beautiful gardens, great food and lovely buildings on these estates. Wine is obviously serious business in this part of South Africa!

A working winery near Franschhoek
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Franschhoek was our favorite little town – beautiful houses, lovely gardens, great arts and crafts, and gourmet food at prices we could afford. Dinner in one of the most recommended restaurants, The French Connection, was affordable even for us misers and budget travelers. The two guys enjoyed huge t-bone steaks (more meat than all four of us ate in 6 weeks in Kenya) for about $12.00 Canadian each in a gourmet restaurant where we had to reserve two nights in advance. A bottle of sparkling South African wine (one of only 2 bottles of wine we had in all our time in South Africa, I should add, to the relief of some and the horror of others) cost us only $10.00 Canadian. David and I had lost approximately 15 pounds each so far on this trip. Subsisting on one major meal per day with budget precautions all along (bottled water only, no expensive drinks, kids) and a diet of mostly fruits and vegetables in Kenya had resulted in most of our waistbands being several inches too big. We were wearing our pants way down on our hips as per the latest teen fashion. Now with the combination of good food at affordable prices, no missed meals (Mom was insisting on that, “we have to eat something” ), and all that delicious Christmas baking Mom brought along and that had to be eaten quickly because “it won’t keep in this heat” we could just feel those waistbands starting to fit a little snugger again. Oh well, we reason, Asia is coming in just a few weeks and who knows what we’ll be eating in those countries.

Scenic view of valley with vineyards
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Enough about food, Franschhoek also has an interesting history of the French Huguenots settling here in the 1600’s because of religious persecution back home in France – hence the name Franschhoek, or French Corner. Speaking of persecution and social issues, we were by now starting to sense some of the underlying tensions and emotions in this post-apartheid country. It would take a lot longer than 3 weeks here to understand the complexities of the issues, but we were now starting to hear the fears, uncertainties, and apprehensions as people shared about the crime, the poverty, unemployment and the huge AIDS problem facing South Africa. Such a beautiful country but such big problems! And yet others were proud to speak of the very forward-thinking constitution that this country now has. In our very humble and naïve opinion, it seems that South Africa has come a very long way in a very short time. Certainly having traveled here we will continue to watch with great interest how the social and political arena unfolds here. That is exactly why travel is so good for us; we no longer can watch in detachment what happens in a country. We have been there, we have met the people, we have enjoyed its beauty and we have left a part of our hearts there.

Wining and dining in Franschhoek
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