South Africa and Namibia

Spring 2010

Article and photos by Alan & Cynthia Nichols

(Click on the thumbnails to view a larger image.)

Monday April 12

Under any set of circumstances the notion of travelling from Kelowna to South Africa is rather daunting but when the routing is scheduled to take you via Calgary, Toronto, Sao Paulo, Johannesburg and finally Cape Town it is positively too exhausting to even contemplate. (You may wonder, "Why that awful routing?" Well, any other would take us through Europe. Alan's investigation found that Air Canada and South African Airlines had better ratings and connections than Lufthansa and Swiss Air, which was the alternative.) In his typical trip planning fashion, Alan had spent many hours on the telephone and internet making sure that all aspects of the trip were well planned. In my typical fashion, I made sure that I had as little as possible to do with the actual planning:

Alan: On the flight from Toronto to Sao Paulo would you rather sit in row 2 or row 4?

Cynthia: Whatever. Either row would be fine with me.

Alan: Would you rather spend 2 days in Cape Town and then one day in Paarl before we go to Stellenbosch, or one day in Cape Town and 2 days in Paarl?

Cynthia: Whatever. Either way is fine with me.

Cynthia: When do we leave for our holiday?

... and so it went.

April 12 finally arrived; we packed our bags and were ready to go- the first leg, a 45 minute flight requiring an overnight stay in Calgary. Although it was rather a pain to have to spend a whole day only getting that far, the benefit for us was the fact we would get a chance to meet and visit with Sean for a few hours. The offer of going out for dinner was rejected by Sean, in exchange for a dinner cooked and provided by him. He met us at the airport with a suitcase in tow that later revealed a full 'banquet' complete with main course, side, salad, dessert and wine! What a feast. In fact, it was more than that. Anyone who comes to visit us in the near future is bound to get a taste of the fabulous Mexican Chicken Mole that I begged the recipe for. After gorging out on the meal, I must admit that I did not sleep well, waking frequently during the night to chastise myself and promise my poor conscience that I would never eat that much again. (It is much easier to make beat-yourself-up promises at 3 am than at 7pm.)

The 'real' trip began in earnest the next day. Three hours to Toronto, 2 hours in the lounge, 9 hours to Sao Paulo, 8 hours in the lounge, 9 hours to Johannesburg, 2 hours in the lounge and finally 2 hours to Cape Town. This all meant that approximately 35 hours after leaving Calgary we finally arrived at our intended destination. Luckily for me, I managed to get a reasonable 6-8 hours sleep on the almost comfortable flat-beds on both the long flights. Unfortunately, I do not believe Alan fared quite so well. (He did see more movies than I did though.) Nevertheless, we were both looking forward to meeting up with our pre-arranged driver who would take us to the hotel. Ah well, it WOULD have been nice. No one appeared with our names on a card. Craig was nowhere in sight. No information kiosk and no telephones in the airport were not especially good news. Humdulallah, a helpful Avis agent managed to make contact with the hotel and track down the transport. Craig, we were told got his schedule mixed up and would be there in 10-15 minutes....HAH. An hour and a half later we were loading our bags into the minivan and making our way to the Holiday Inn.

It has been 6 years since we were last in Cape Town. Craig proudly pointed out some of the changes that have been made since then. The airport has been expanded, many of the roads are in the final changes of upgrades and the all-important football stadium in downtown Cape Town is complete. The initial impression of South Africa and the Cape area is that it is incredibly clean and modern. Unfortunately, though, just beyond the airport the sprawling shanty town still thrives. A sea of shacks with corrugated metal and random bits of wood forming the walls; bits of plastic and cardboard held in place with rocks and other paraphernalia make up the roofs. "It is unfortunate that some things have not changed", I comment to Craig. "No", he responded, "but the shacks that used to be next to it have been replaced with new 'homes'." The area he pointed to did, indeed, have colourful box-like one and two room homes. On closer inspection we noticed that shanty dwellings were being constructed in the 'back yards' of many of these- to accommodate extended family, we were told.

As we drove on toward the city, conversation turned to the upcoming World Cup games being hosted by South Africa at the beginning of June. Craig's wife had apparently taken the day off work and was, at that precise moment standing in line with her boss, trying to purchase tickets. The selling and distribution of tickets had turned into a complete fiasco. The attempt to sell all tickets on-line was not successful, as it turned out that many people do not have access to computers. In addition, the system was unable to handle the volume, resulting in long delays and problems with sales. The inevitable problems associated with hosting a world event are evident - shades of the 2010 Olympics.

Finally, a real room to relax in. All that was possible to manage was a nap, a quick meal at the cafe across the street and an attempt to get a complete full night's sleep. Overseas travel has taught us that the faster you to adopt to the time schedule of a place, the easier it is to overcome jet lag.

It wasn't until Friday (April 15) morning that we found out about the volcanoes in Iceland and all the disruptions with air travel in Europe. We congratulated ourselves on not having made the trip through Germany. We might still be there waiting to get a flight out otherwise.

We were somewhat apprehensive about what would await us once we got into Cape Town. Before we left, we listened to an item on the radio stating that South Africa was the most unsafe country in the world with a reported 18 000 murders a year. Our doctor in Kelowna, who is from SA, claimed that Cape Town has changed drastically since we were last here and had become much more unsafe. Once we arrived, we asked around and were given the impression that, in truth, little has changed since our last visit. However, we were also cautioned to not go out into the city at night in certain areas.

Friday, we cautiously set out to walk from our hotel, to the main tourist area - the Victoria and Albert Complex down on the waterfront. It was a glorious day, not too hot and not too cool. There were a few clouds, but no rain. It was the perfect day for a walk. Alan and I meandered through the streets, poking into the various craft markets and shops. The goods sold in the shops are, unexpectedly, interesting and of high quality (hand painted ostrich eggs or carved exotic wood bowls anyone?) Alan hates the way I shop- slowly browsing without ever buying anything, so he spent a significant amount of time just sitting on a bench, people-watching, while I 'did my thing'.

We were unable to get to Robben Island, a major tourist attraction that is the site of the prison Nelson Mandela was interned in. Tickets were sold out and we decided not to wait the 3 hours in the hopes of obtaining 'unclaimed' tickets.

To our rather touristy untrained eyes, we noticed few changes from the previous times we have spent in Cape Town. It still appeared to be a clean, affluent and modern city with much charm built into a stunningly beautiful setting with the impressive Table Mountain visible from virtually all vantage points. The city itself consists of Old Dutch and colonial buildings that have been restored, lending an old world charm to most of the downtown area.

Saturday, April 16

We picked up our little Volkswagen Polo, loaded the golf clubs and bags and made the less than one hour drive to the wine district of the Southern Cape. We stayed at a wonderful small hotel/ bed & breakfast when we first came to SA in 1995 and again the last time we were here. Now the trip would not be complete without at least one night's stay at the Goodemoed Country Inn in Paarl. It is a lovely, old, sparkling white Dutch architecture building set amidst a lush vineyard. We have fond memories of walking through the property while picking and eating the delicious warm and juicy premium table grapes directly off the vines. New owners have taken over, but the place has lost none of its serene and calming ambience. Sitting outside, by the pool admiring the stunningly beautiful view is a treat one never forgets. In the distance the low mountains edge the lush green valley and take on the kind of softness reminiscent of the hills in Italy. Even though it is mid-fall, the colours of summer still linger, with the exception of the grape vines which have begun to turn colour and show up as a patchwork of yellows, golds and ambers on the surrounding hillsides. Although the grape harvest took place in February, a walk through the vineyard yielded up wonderful small clusters of sun-dried, sweet, softly-chewy raisins that were incredibly delicious. At the same time, Guinea fowl roam the property and squawk at passersby. On Saturday afternoon we went for a walk and ended up in Laborie Vineyards where we enjoyed our first wine tasting in South Africa. Cynthia is shown enjoying some of the wines of the tasting.

We had to leave the next day as Alan had arranged for our 2 week stay at the de Zalze Wine and Golf Estate for the next 2 weeks. However, we have made a booking to return for one more night in a few weeks time, before we leave the area. For now, our intention is to relax and golf as much as possible.

Sunday, April 17

We arrived in the early afternoon at the de Zalze Estate and were shown to our one bedroom 'lodge'. It is quite new and very comfortable. The spacious one bedroom apartment is in a fourplex (2 up, 2 down in the same, semi-detached unit) has a full kitchen/dining area, front room, bedroom, large bathroom and outdoor patio right on the golf course. The highlight of the accommodation, as far as Alan is concerned, is the high definition flat screen TV in the front room. The only apparent 'downside' is that it seems they have not quite thought through the ‘self catering’ aspect. One of the primary reasons we opted for this place (aside from price and proximity to the golf course) is the fact that we prefer to eat in most of the time. On that front, there will clearly be a few challenges, since, although we have a complete kitchen as far as appliances and dishes go, there is little in the way of food preparation ware- no bowls, frying pan, can opener, cutting board....etc. Hmmm, innovation and creativity will clearly be a necessity. Either that, or seeing if the management will provide some of the items.

The temperature is a cool, but comfortable 18C (give or take) and although it is somewhat overcast, the weather, much like Kelowna, is quite changeable on an hourly basis. The golf course is at our doorstep and abounds with all sorts of birds - Egyptian geese (they don't look like Canadian geese but have the same hygiene problems), ibis , egrets, humungous pelicans and others that I am at a loss to identify but which, nevertheless, make for entertaining viewing, but rather noisy listening- squawks, honks, chirps and whistles fill the air. In addition, the landscaping is beautifully garden-like with ponds, trees and flower beds. A walk through the course takes you through lavender beds as well as olive and orange groves.

Once we got settled in the place, we headed off to the local grocery store to get enough provisions to set us for the next few weeks. The major markets are Woolworths, the most expensive option) and the Pay ' n' Pak. Both of these are at the local mall which is within walking distance. Alan has been blown away by how cheap it is for food here. Tomatoes are running at about (Cdn) $1.19/kg, whole wheat bread is a reasonable $.50 for a loaf while wine prices start at $2.50 and go up from there.

Wednesday April 20

Monday we decided it was time to check the weather forecast and make some decisions about fitting in some golf. Since we dragged our golf clubs all this distance, it would be a shame not to make use of them. However, make no mistake. With all the talk and foofaraw about golf, I do not actually play the game. My scores tend to resemble the year of my birth rather than my age since birth. I do, however, walk around the course with a set of clubs. I do make an attempt to whack at a ball, but am totally inept at the game and use it as an excuse for getting some exercise (sharing togetherness time?). Tuesday and Wednesday were booked for making our foray onto the course. We booked for a 7:30 start both days in an attempt to get out early enough that we would not hold anyone up and to be off the course before a scheduled tournament began in the afternoon.

It was 'fun'.....'nuf said.

When we came in 2004, Jonathan Moore, the wine importer in the UAE, provided us with 2 or 3 contacts. Before leaving Kelowna, Alan e-mailed them again and arranged for a few visits. Today was a trip out to Meerlust to sample a few of the premium red wines produced in the local area. No sooner did we get there when Eddie informed us that he had just heard of the major train accident involving Rovos Rail, the company we have booked with for our trip from Namibia to Johannesburg. Eighteen rail cars were destroyed or severely damaged, 4 people were killed and 20 or so were hospitalized. Naturally, we are very sorry to hear of the accident and quite concerned over what the implications are for our planned train trip.

Thursday April 21

An anxious day later, we have been informed that Rovos is able to continue its service with minimal disruption. An investigation is underway, but it appears, at present, there was a malfunction of the braking system but the safety of the rail line is not at issue. I expect we will find out more once we get on the train in a few weeks time.

We used the day to make another winery visit. We recalled that we had a particularly nice lunch at one of the places we visited previously and hoped to repeat that experience. Sadly it was not to be. We made an arrangement to sample the wines at Vergelegen and follow it up with lunch at their Lady Phillips Restaurant. The Estate is spectacular. It is a huge property planted with wonderful flower gardens and gigantic old cinnamon camphor trees planted in the late 1600s. The old manor house has been turned into a museum/art gallery. There is a small tasting-sales area where we met with the wine representative and sampled a selection of their wines (nice, but not impressive). Another of the buildings serves as the restaurant. Although the day was bright and clear, it was a little too cool to sit outside, so we opted to sit in the opulently appointed dining room with the real wood fireplace flickering with a small fire. It was very pleasant. Unfortunately, although I ordered the chicken salad, what was set in front of me was not quite what I had expected. It was chicken, but not a salad.....hmmm. (Yes, I should have questioned it, but I figured, it was, perhaps, supposed to be a 'hot' chicken salad...nope.) Anyway, to my mind, it was totally inedible. When I did not eat it, the waitress, noted it and inquired about the problem. She then admitted she brought me the wrong meal, but by that time it was too late. She still charged for the salad. Oh well, I guess there are worse things in life that can happen. Hopefully the lunch planned for tomorrow will be more successful.

Friday, April 22

Indeed, today proved to be more successful. After a short 9 holes in the morning, we headed out to the Fairview estate, another of the wineries we visited previously. Our recollection was that the wines, themselves, were OK but not great. They are the parent company of Goats do Roam wine. However, they also raise goats and produce some of the better goat cheese on the market. We also were more interested in spending some time over a leisurely lunch in their restaurant. As it turns out, Fairview has improved considerably since our last visit. We spend a truly enjoyable afternoon there. They have completely redone their wine tasting area, allowing two kinds of tastings- the regular tasting of 4 or 5 wines and the premium wine and cheese pairing tasting. For the latter, a special room has been set up where you sit at a table and are presented with a selection of 6 cheeses and 6 wines. The hostess, pours each wine in turn while discussing the wine and the qualities of the cheese that make these a particularly good match. The wines and cheeses on the tasting tray are the premium wines of their line which over the years have become quite wonderful. We spent a very pleasant hour or longer in the tasting room, talking to the hostess and the other couple, from Minnesota, who were there as well. Once we had the opportunity to savour the cheeses and wines, we were ready for a fine light lunch on the terrace. I can vouch for the tasty grilled vegetable tart which was just enough to nicely finish off the afternoon.

Over the years, the tendency to charge for tastings has become universal in the wine district. On our first visit, virtually all tastings were free. The last time we were here, about half the tasting rooms charged and now all charge. In general, the fee is rather nominal. Typically 15 or 20 rand are common (converting into $2, $2.50 Cdn) for a tasting of 6 wines. (Most often the fee is waived if you purchase a bottle of any of their products). While I do not have a particular issue with this practice, a downside is that most wineries then pour a more generous amount of each wine than in previous years. Since you are paying for it, the tendency is to actually drink the wine rather than take a small sip and pour the remainder out. Additionally, after 'tasting' 6 wines, going to a second estate does not seem particularly advisable. For the most part, if we go for a tasting, Alan and I share 1 tasting between the two of us and still have not gone to more than 1 on any particular day. ...perhaps this is a good thing.

Saturday, April 23

When we arrived in Stellenbosch, we were informed about the annual wine and cheese festival that was taking place at nearby Franschhoek. The posters in the mall confirmed that the price would be a reasonable 70 rand each for seniors (about $10) for an all day entry pass (thank God Alan is now a senior). This seemed like a good way to take in the local culture as well as try some of the local products. We managed to purchase 2 tickets (they were sold out by the time the event arrived) and headed to the venue. The weekend turned particularly warm and sunny with temperatures in the high 20's, a perfect day for an outdoor event. The outdoor festival was set up in the field of one of the farms and covered an impressive area. There were 4 quadrangles each set up with tasting and food purchasing booths around the perimeter and tables in the middle. Live music was performed in various areas of the venue. A huge tent housed a significant number of additional tasting booths. Each of the booths offered an opportunity to taste as well as purchase products. The 'festival' was much more than wine and cheese, though. In addition to the advertised products, there were breads, olives, olive oil, all kinds of sauces, sausage... the list goes on. The event drew many thousands of people, but, thank goodness, as mentioned, the total number admitted was limited. The festival was conducted over 4 days, Saturday being the first. It was a great opportunity to people watch. For the most part, we estimated that this attracted a young crowd. The Southern Cape region is definitely a mostly white area. Although everyone speaks English, Afrikaans seems to be preferred, so everywhere you go, the locals greet each other and speak in their language of choice.

The atmosphere was definitely one of a gigantic outdoor family picnic. Even though tastings of all products was free, we noticed that most groups purchased bottles of wine, loaves of bread and wedges of various cheeses which they sat and ate while talking and enjoying the music and fine weather. A prodigious amount of wine consumed (most tables had 4-5 bottles of wine on them), but no sign of unruliness was evident. I have no idea, though, how most of these people got home when the doors closed at 6:00. I think we were wise to leave well before the end. We did, however have a good time and were glad that we went and had an opportunity to see such an event first hand.

Sunday, April 24

According to the brochures, the mountains surrounding the valley offer numerous opportunities for walking and hiking. We contacted the local reception office who put us in touch with someone who was able to advise us on a few of the most interesting walks. Not too far away is the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve. We chose the Eerste and Tweede waterfall hike as a manageable, not too strenuous option and opportunity to seek out the local countryside. The route to the park took us through the very pretty town of Stellenbosch. This university town is one of the oldest in the winelands with buildings dating back to the end of the 1600s when the area was first inhabited by Dutch farmers. The oak tree lined streets provide a gentrified, country feeling. Typical of many old towns, there is a charming central town square and many beautiful old estates surrounding the university buildings. The nature reserve lies a few kilometres beyond the town site. We bumped along a rocky dirt road for 5-6 km, managed to find a place to park and, after asking a few numerous people if we were in the right place found the trail to begin the walk. While not a particularly difficult path, it was rocky and narrow, but well marked. The day however, was very warm and for the most part, the trail was in the open. After about 40 minutes we sighted a verdant strip on the side of the cliff and a small trail leading toward it. Once there, we were rewarded with a cool oasis of greenery and small pool of water tucked in the rock crag. We sat and cooled off before continuing up the track toward the second waterfall. Another 30 minutes up a steep rocky trail ended at our final destination. This too, was lushly green, with a few pools that we were able access by scrambling over large rocks and manoeuvring over a few small cold water streams. It was a very welcome destination and well worth the hot walk to get to. As always, the walk back seemed much shorter than the way to the falls, but the 6-7km trek was just about the right length to make us feel that we had exercised ourselves sufficiently for the day.

To be continued ...