Destination South Africa

After our 19-night Indian Ocean cruise on Silversea's "Silver Spirit", we decided to spend 4 extra nights in South Africa; one night in Cape Town and three nights in Franschoek, in the wine region.

Our Cape Town experience was fantastic and traveled all around the area learning about the history and culture of South Africa.  We got to see everything from the southwestern most tip of Africa, Cape Point to a colony of South African penguins that are found only in that area of the world and are facing diminishing populations.  We explored the downtown harbor area, took in some shopping at the Victoria and Alfred Wharf and enjoyed an amazing dinner with the largest oysters I've ever had!

Then we headed off to Franschoek, one of South Africa's beautiful wine regions for a three night stay.  Our accommodations at La Providence Farm were spectacular and the food scene is world class.  I talk about each of the restaurants we visited and share with you how I go about choosing a restaurant from all the great options.

Of course the primary purpose of our visit was to check out some of the wineries.  We visited four and I'll tell you about the difference between a wine tasting in the U.S. and elsewhere versus a wine tasting in South Africa; they do it right!

So if you've ever thought about exploring this part of the world, join me as I tell you about our unforgettable journey and what makes South Africa a destination you must have on your bucket list.

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro and "What makes a destination a destination?"
• 6:51 Don't overlook train travel
• 8:38 Planning our Cape Town/Franschoek adventure
• 12:48 Our Day in and around Cape Town
• 18:14 Shopping and Dining in Cape Town
• 23:24 Arriving in Franschoek and first impressions
• 28:11 Heaven and the outdoor shower
• 29:32 Tips on finding the perfect dining spot
• 37:54 A little SNAFU then on to the wineries
• 43:34 How South Africans do tastings - SO much better!
• 51:25 So what IS a destination?

Transcript

Destination South Africa

Hello again, I’m Russ.  Welcome to Explorations All Over!

Thanks for checking out the podcast.  I really appreciate it.

Before I get into today’s episode I want to say that I would to hear love your feedback.  What do you think of the podcast so far?  What do you think of the content and presentation?  Is there a topic you’d like me to cover?

You can share your thoughts with me by emailing me at russg4willard at mac.com, which I’ve included in the show notes.  You can also leave your comments and suggestions on the Explorations All Over Facebook page.  I’ll be featuring listeners’ thoughts in upcoming episodes.  I’d love to hear how I can make Explorations All Over more relevant and interesting to you.

Okay, so let’s get to it.

You hear me us the word destination a lot and most people know the general definition.  Merriam Webster’s definition for destination includes the following: “a place to which one is journeying; a place worthy of travel or an extended visit”.

I like that.  But what KIND of place?  Sometimes it’s a great restaurant or attraction.  In terms of social media, a destination might also be described as Instagram-worthy.

But what makes a destination a destination?  What qualities and characteristic make a place “worthy of travel to”?  And how do you find destinations that deserve “an extended visit”?

Let’s start at the “big picture” level with what we all know as a “bucket list”.  Those are the, “oh, I’d love to go there some day” places.  Maybe you’ve seen them on television or in a movie.  Like the Downton Abbey mansion in England, if you are a fan, commonly known as Highclere Castle.  Maybe you read a book like the DaVinci Code that piqued your interest in visiting where it all took place.  Did you know that you can take a DaVinci Code tour in Paris that takes you to all the sites mentioned in the book?  Or most likely it was a place you saw on the glossy pages of a popular travel magazine like Conde Nast Traveler or Travel and Leisure.  Wherever the idea came from, the destination was added to your bucket list.

Years ago Duncan and I talked about taking a safari and that trip was added to our bucket list.  Like the majority of Americans, to us Africa was truly another world; unknown and mysterious with just a hint of danger.  We knew it was there but knew so little about it.  The only thing we knew was that going to Africa required a lot of time and a lot of money, which at that stage in our lives we didn’t have either.

But a destination doesn’t have to be as exotic as a safari.  There are places on our bucket list that are much closer to home: Bourbon Street in New Orleans, the beautiful antebellum mansions in Charleston, Yellowstone in Wyoming and the majestic redwoods in California and the picturesque grace of Savannah come to mind.

There are also what I like to call undiscovered destinations, but not undiscovered by others; undiscovered by you.  What do I mean by that?  Well, let me give you a personal example.  I mentioned that we live in upstate New York, about a 3-hour car drive from Montreal, Canada.  We decided to journey up there in 2012 and found a slice of Europe right on our back doorstep that gave me the chance to dust off my French.  We had such a great time and knew we wanted to return, which we did a few more times, primarily to see Cirque du Soleil, of which we are huge fans.  But Montreal wasn’t our undiscovered destination in Canada, that came in January 2018 when we decided to venture farther north to Quebec City.  It was freezing cold, and the snow was so deep that we couldn’t open the balcony door of our hotel room, but we had an unforgettable time; the restaurants, the Carnaval du Quebec and the warmth and friendliness of the people.  We would visit again several times more, bringing friends with us to share with them this new-to-us destination.

These places can pop-up when you least expect them; when you are attending a friend’s wedding, at a business conference or as part of another vacation, which is one of the benefits of cruising; you get to see so many different places and have the chance to go somewhere you decide you want to visit again.

I ended the last episode at the end of our cruise in the Indian Ocean from the Seychelles and ending in Cape Town, South Africa.  I decided to leave the Cape Town portion of the trip for this episode to help demonstrate what I mean by an undiscovered destination.  Let me set the stage:

We had booked the cruise and decided to stay an extra night in Cape Town, having read and heard great things about it.  Rovos Rail, a hotel train company based in Pretoria, South Africa, operates luxury trains throughout the country and we had one of their journeys on our bucket list saved for when we were planning on a return visit to Africa.  We thought it would be a great idea to use the Cape Town experience to determine if, in fact, we even wanted to make a return visit.

I want to take a quick sidetrack to talk for a second about the very often overlooked method of leisure travel: trains.  In the United States most train travel is scene as simply a means to get from point A to point B.  Rail travel in the rest of the world is seen as part of the journey, if not the journey itself.  Lots of people know about trains like the Orient Express, made famous in several films, and the elegance and sophistication of that train is equally famous and, for many, quite intimidating.  We have taken several transcontinental train trips, our first being VIA Rail Canada’s route from Vancouver to Toronto, which took three nights and, last September, we boarded “The Ghan” which traveled from Darwin to Adelaide through the Australian outback, another three night journey.  There are amazing trains all over the world including Asia, the Middle East and South America from single overnight trips to multi-night, multi-country excursions.

Here’s a tip: next time you’re traveling somewhere, find out if there are any trains going to or from the place you are visiting to/from another place you are visiting.  Seeing a country at ground level gives you a much different perspective than you get at 35,000 feet.

Duncan and I discussed that, having traveled far to get to South Africa, it didn’t make a lot of sense to just fly right back home, so we decided to stay a few extra nights.  But where?  Remember in the last episode I talked about how we select a vacation and the three criteria we use when doing so?  If not, make sure to have a listen and don’t forget to follow and subscribe to the podcast as well.  We applied the same method here, starting with Cape Town itself.  We both felt that one night would be enough, based on the research we had done of what there was to do and see in Cape Town.  We knew we wanted to be in the heart of it all, which meant down by the waterfront, which helped us in selecting and booking the Victoria and Alfred Hotel for our stay.  The hotel was near lots of great restaurants and overlooked the Cape Town harbor.

In determining what there was to do and see, Duncan looked into private tour operators who offered visits to the top attractions in the area and found a highly rated tour company and booked a full-day excursion with private driver.  The driver would meet us at the cruise terminal and we would begin our outing from there, ending in the late afternoon in time for check in at the Victoria and Alfred.

Our next focus was finding a place we wanted to visit near Cape Town.  Years ago I worked in a local wine shop.  The owner taught me so much about wine; things that I never knew, and I learned to appreciate wines from all over the world, and I’m always interested in exploring new ones.   South Africa has a few of the most amazing and not-very-well-known wines regions in the world, one of which is Franschoek, which I knew little about and I was eager to check it out.

Franschoek means “French Corner” in Dutch and was founded in the 1700’s by Huguenots, who brought their wine making expertise to the region.  Today, along with Stellenbosch, Franschoek produces some of South Africas best wines.  I knew a little about it but wanted to learn more.  So we had our destination”.  Next we had to decide how long we wanted to stay and agreed 3 nights would be a good amount of time to explore the region and visit some wineries.  Next, we researched places to stay and, as with - honestly, everywhere - there was a wide range of properties to choose from with equally wide ranging amenities and nightly rates.  Having visited several review sites and researching some magazine articles, we selected La Providence Farm, a combination boutique hotel and bed and breakfast which was within walking distance of town in a beautiful farm setting with a mountain backdrop.  It was the perfect base from which to launch our South African wine region explorations.

Franschhoek is not a large area, so I felt like we could just show up at the wineries for tastings, much like they do in other wine areas of the world.  I did, however, book our dinners for each night, and came to find that, not unsurprisingly, most of the menus favored French cuisine.  I did some research, looked over reviews and other sites, and selected three places I thought were different enough from each other to be not terribly repetitive from night to night.  I booked each one for 7:00, which would give us enough time to get back to the hotel from the winery tours, rest and get ready for dinner with enough time to walk into town.

With the planning done, we were ready to embark on this portion of the trip.

The Silver Spirit arrived in Cape Town on a gloomy, rainy morning.   We disembarked a little later than we had told the tour company, who had informed us the night before that our driver and guide, Ray, would be meeting us at the terminal.  No worries.  We collected our bags and made our way out of the terminal and immediately found Ray - or he found us!  He was super friendly and helped us get our bags situated in the trunk of the car and a very short while later we were headed out of the port to begin our full day excursion in and around Cape Town.  As we were driving Ray told us that he made the decision to alter the agenda for the day slightly due to the bad weather.  We were supposed to start at Table Mountain, Cape Town’s top tourist attraction, but because of the weather Ray said we wouldn’t be able to see anything, so he was leaving that until the end when, he hoped, things would clear up.

When you hire a private guide, that’s the kind of service you expect to receive, someone who will adjust the itinerary in order to provide you with the best experience, not someone who simply follows the schedule without paying attention to changes such as weather, traffic or other conditions.  You may pay more, but the difference between a good tour operator and an excellent one can be significant.  Do your research.

We drove along the coast past charming waterfront towns like Camps Bay and Hout Bay on our way to Cape Point, stopping frequently for photo ops.  During the ride, Ray would talk about the communities and how they had developed and continue to grow over the years.  At Cape Point we took the funicular up to the top of the lookout for an amazing 360 degree view of the tip of South Africa.  By this point the sun was shining and it was pretty hot.  On the way back to Cape Town we stopped to see the South African penguin colony and have lunch in Simon’s Town.  It was a great chance to get out of the sun for a bit and grab a bite to eat.  Not too long after we were back on the road headed to Table Mountain, appropriately named as the top of the mountain is completely flat and provides a panoramic view of Cape Town harbor and the ocean beyond.  The cable car went up at a nearly vertical angle and, when you arrive at the top and look down you realize every one of the 3,000 feet you just ascended.  Once there the vistas were unreal and at one point we could actually watch clouds below us cascading over an adjacent mountain; it was an unforgettable experience.

We took the cable car back down, hopped in the car and, at this point, headed for the hotel.  Ray told us a version of the tribal marriage tradition that is followed by many in South Africa that we had heard from our guide in East London during the cruise.  Essentially it involves the parents of the groom approaching the parents of the bride to ask for the two to be married.  The bride’s parents then tell the groom’s parents how much they would have to pay for their daughter….in cows.  I kid you not.  Cows.  I won’t go into the details but it is a centuries old tradition that continues to this day and, while it wouldn’t be very PC in the US to follow such a practice, we had to admire the South African culture for keeping the old ways alive.

We arrived at the hotel which, as we expected, was right on the water.  What we didn’t expect was that it was right across the street from an entire complex of shops and restaurants that make up the majority of Cape Town’s waterfront.  As it was such a beautiful, albeit hot, day there were people everywhere with live musicians playing on the sidewalks and an almost festival like feeling.  We checked in and got to our room, which had a lovely view of the harbor, including a seal who was having a great time swimming around and entertaining everyone.  I realized that I hadn’t made a dinner reservation and we selected Balthazar, a steak house that was nearby.  When we called they said they could take us without a problem.

So we got showered and dressed for dinner.  Funny story: I love a good shower. Great water pressure is key for me.  Well the shower at the Victoria and Alfred could take the paint off the side of a battleship.  I kid you not, it almost blew me out of the stall.  I think this was the first time ever I had to turn the pressure down.

We were early so we decided to walk around what was essentially a mall.  Like many waterfront cities, Cape Town converted old warehouses into a shopping center and each area was connected to the next.  This was a shopper’s paradise and had every major designer name you can think of Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and all the rest.  We had to wonder, however, who could afford to shop here.  From what Ray told us a great many of the population make a decent living, but with the prices at these shops you didn’t see a lot of people carrying bags.  The shopping center was very well organized: clothing stores in one area, shoe stores in another, jewelry in another and so on.  Almost all of the restaurants were located toward the waterfront all in a row, one after the other.  We found Balthazar and, even though we were early, were able to sit down.

The food was fantastic and our server was equally so.   They had oysters on the menu; I’m a huge fan, but opted for something else to start with.  Let me say that the prices restaurants charge in South Africa are very reasonable.  Duncan encouraged me to order some oysters, which I did.  I posted a picture of them on the Explorations All Over Facebook page.  You have to check it out - these oysters were huge!  Sometimes when they are as big as these oysters were they can be tough.  Not so in this case, they were incredible.  Seriously, pause here and check out the pic. Of course you know I’m going to tell you to like and follow the page when you are there.  We had a wonderful South African Pinotage to go along with dinner that gave me hope for our upcoming visit to the wine region the following day.

So, amazing meal and great service.  It was back to the hotel to crash after a long but unforgettable visit.

We were up the following morning, showered and had breakfast by the waterfront.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and hot and we had some time to do some further explorations around the harbor before we were to be picked up to drive out to Franschoek, which would take about an hour and fifteen minutes.   The transformation of the Cape Town waterfront is the model by which other waterfronts should be based it is well laid out with a nice mix of locally themed shops, cafes and various activities to do on the water including visiting penguin colonies and seeing other marine life.  We ventured back in to what I can best describe as the mall.  The previous night I had seen a shop selling biltong, an african speciality that I hadn’t had since we were last in Africa.  Biltong is essentially african jerky made with beef but also a whole range of other meats including kudu, impala, ostrich and more.  Besides the exotic meats, I don’t know why but Biltong is so much better than the majority of american jerkys.  So I bought 3 packages, 2 already cut up slabs and one whole slab.  If you don’t already know, I love anything local that I can’t get at home.  Mind you, you can find Biltong at home but it is wildly expensive.

That was really all the shopping we were interested in doing, so we went back to the hotel and waited for James, our driver, who arrived shortly to take us to the wine region.  James was an exceptionally friendly man with a happy, carefree attitude who made it clear that he loved his job and loved meeting people even more.  On the ride to Franschoek James told us a lot about the South African culture and explained some of the nuance of race relations in the country.  I was very curious about this because, up to that point, we had heard only slight mention of apartheid, Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress which represented a large portion of what we knew of the political and societal history of South Africa.  James explained how the societal hierarchy was set up and how it was still followed to the present day.  It was an educational and enlightening drive and a reminder that when you return home from a journey you should be better off for having been away.

We drove the not-so-scenic route to Franschoek and arrived shortly before 3:00.  As we pulled in to the small village we were immediately taken with its charm; small shops, cute cafes and ice cream stalls, art galleries and more.  People were walking about and there was a happy and festive mood in the air.  It was the perfect place for us to leisurely explore for the following three days and made us all the more excited to see where we would be staying.

Now we had no idea where we were going.  James didn’t either.  In his defense he knew a lot about the wineries and gave us a few that he recommended we visit and told us about the Wine Tram that ran from various wineries so that guests didn’t feel the need to drink and drive.  Any way, we drove up to what looked like a private residence; James got out and pressed the buzzer.  The gate swung open and a very friendly looking woman came out with three very friendly - and LARGE - dogs.  James apologized and told her our situation, but unfortunately she didn’t know of the La Providence Farm and recommended where we might look.  As it turns out, we drove right past it.  You know, the big sign that says Le Providence Farm, that place.  James pressed the buzzer and the double gates swung open to reveal a long tree lined driveway with a beautiful Cape Dutch style home at the end set right in the middle of a vineyard.  It was picturesque beyond words.  We were warmly greeted, checked in and, before we went to our room, met Ellen, the woman who manages the property with her husband Gary.  We were shown around the common areas of the property including the lounge, breakfast area and kitchen and the beautiful pool, which we would make quick use of a short time later.

We arrived to our Suite, Vineyard View #8.  It was light, bright and airy with plenty of seating, a spacious bathroom and a wonderful private outdoor shower; the perfect place to return to after a full day of roaming around the area.  We decided that since we had the time before dinner, we would go for a swim at the gorgeous pool.  Walking there was lovely with the vineyard on one side and the Middagkrans Mountains on the other.  We grabbed two loungers and I went to get something cold to drink from the honor bar, but the pool looked so inviting that I had to get in.  Have you ever had the experience like I have where a pool looks amazing? perfect? and then you go to get in and it’s freezing cold?!  Thankfully, this was NOT the case.  Like everything at La Providence Farm it was spot on and after paddling around for a bit I climbed onto the comfy chaise and checked my email for the first time that day, but the scenery was too stunning and drew my attention away.  We truly had found the ideal spot for the end of portion of this vacation, and I have to say that this was due in large part to the research we had done, which I cannot stress enough.

So was Franschoek the destination we thought it was going to be?  Start with the location.  Is this a place we wanted to see.  What we knew now?  A beyond enthusiastic yes!  Property type. Is this the type of hotel we would enjoy?  Well, in full disclosure I do have to mention that La Providence welcomes children 16 and older, so for us it is another enthusiastic yes!  Budget.  Does the rate this hotel charges fit into our budget?  A third HUGE thumbs up; you’ll find out why in a second.   If this wasn’t a place I wanted to be, or a place we would have a good time staying or so expensive (or, worse, cheap) we wouldn’t stay there.  Luckily we had hit all three bullseyes.  You might ask, “Hey Russ, have you ever stayed at a place you didn’t like?”  If I forget, remind me one day to tell you about a stay in Aix-en-Provence, France among others.  Yeah, it happens.

We head back to our room to get ready for dinner and let me tell you, if you’ve never taken an outdoor shower, you have to try it.  Shake off those inhibitions and go for it.  In 2014 we were on a Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity Cruises’ “Reflection” in one of their Signature Suites. One of the many highlights for me with this cabin is that it offers an outdoor tab and shower on the verandah, although trying to use it when the ship is moving can test your balance and agility skills.  We were docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico and not schedule to leave until 11:00 that night, but that wasn’t going to stop me from using the shower.  I walked out with my towel around my waist and looked down at the pier; the people looked like ants and no one was looking at the ship.  So I threw caution to the wind, got in the shower, lathered up and got neither a citation from the captain or arrested by the local authorities.  Outdoor showers are pure heaven.

What brought us to Franschoek?  Why was this a destination for us?  In a nutshell - food and wine.

I’m going to switch it up a little and first talk about the restaurants I chose for us and give you three tips to help you select the perfect dining spot.  If you are into wine, wine tastings, wineries and all things wine then stay with me because afterwards I’m going to share with you how South Africans take the art of the wine tasting to a whole new level.

I booked our first dinner at Epice, rated #19 of 75 restaurants in Franschoek (as of this writing) on Trip Advisor, a review site I believe most travelers use when making any type of travel decisions.  I’d like to quickly walk you through my thought process and why I picked this particular place to have our first dinner.  As I mentioned in the last episode, it’s very rare that I choose the a “top rated” restaurant but not because there’s something wrong with them, but I feel so many outstanding eateries are overlooked using that approach.  Like so many places, Franschoek has a great number of excellent dining venues highlighting the talents of chefs both local and international and it makes choosing a place a difficult one.  When I came upon Epice and read through the comments I was very impressed and looking at the photos (which you must do, by the way) showed me what people enjoyed and the comments they made for each course.  I took a risk with Epice because the evening was designed as a multi-course experience, and when I say experience I am completely serious, but Duncan isn’t one for long haul meals so I wasn’t sure he’d be into it.  The restaurant is located in a small hotel in the center of town.  We walked in and were happy to see that it was a nice space with the tables separated a good distance from each other.  From the greeting onward service was exceptional and the food beyond comparison; the dishes were truly the work of a person who is passionate about their craft and every course was different one from the next and each one equally outstanding in taste and presentation.  At the end we were satisfied without feeling bloated and, while this wasn’t an inexpensive evening, it exceeded our expectations in every way.

Duncan actually wanted to change our reservation for the following night to return to Epice.  I told him no, that we had to explore other places, despite how incredible Epice had been.

So here’s the takeaway:  Do your research.  I mentioned one review site but there are many others including local newspapers, travel magazines and - well - podcasts.  While doing so, keep in mind what is important to you and compare it to the review.  For example, is the view or location important?  Is the menu large enough to appeal to you and your group?  What are some of the criticisms and are they significant enough, and mentioned by enough reviews, to merit a pass?  I’m going to talk in detail about making the most of reviews in an upcoming episode, so make sure to like and follow the podcast so you don’t miss it.

Of course is the restaurant in your budget?  Quick side note: pay attention to those little dollar sign price indicators, they’re pretty accurate in helping you understand how expensive the meal is going to be.  I’m going to give you one of my life’s rules that I want you to write down.  Seriously, pause here, get a pen and then restart.  Okay, pen in hand?  Here ‘ya go: More expensive doesn’t mean better.  Let me repeat that, just because something is more expensive doesn’t mean that it is qualitatively better.  There are several people I know in my personal life, and you may know some in yours, who always order the most expensive thing on the menu, to the point that I could place their order for them without them having to even be asked.  I can’t tell you the number of times they have been completely disappointed by the dish.  Bottom line: find a place with a menu that suits your tastes and your wallet.

Hopefully you’re sensing a theme.

The second restaurant I booked was called Allora, a mid-range Italian restaurant in the center of town.  My brother-in-law’s daughter had just come back from her honeymoon in South Africa, which included a few days in Franschoek.  I reached out to her to get any feedback on my restaurant choices, and Allora was the only one she had visited.  Her response?  “It’s okay, but there are so many other places in town that are that much better.”  WOW!  Great advice, which meant I had to find an alternative, so I reached out to Ellen, from La Providence, for suggestions - what better than a recommendation from a local?  She mentioned La Petite Colombe, the #3 rated restaurant.  Reviews and photos looked good so I gave them a call, realizing this was basically a last minute request, and was basically told, “we’ve been booked for months”.  It was all I could do to say, “Well good for you.”  Back to the drawing board and I landed on Le Coin Francais (the French corner); sounded charming loved the interior and reviews and was able to make a reservation online - easy peasy.

So how was it?  Another outstanding dinner with phenomenal service, and unparalleled food.  The prix fixe menu was perfectly paced.  Each course was freshly prepared and no dish outshone another.  As a matter of fact, Duncan asked me afterward which was my favorite and I could honestly say that I couldn’t honestly say.  Compared to Epice, how was it?  Ambience: the dining room at Epice is colored in all, understandable, spice tones; Le Coin was neutral, with predominantly white tones.  Service: both 5 star plus in every way from the moment we arrived until the moment we left.  Food: You couldn’t compare one against the other as the goal of the chefs at Epice was to bring out the versatility and undiscovered flavors of a wide range of spices, the chefs at Le Coin was to highlight both local ingredients and masterful technique.  Presentation for both was beyond artistic.

So we were 2 for 2!

For the final night I looked for someplace that was clearly mid-range and ended up booking Le Bon Vivant, which on paper looked mid range but on TA was Fine Dining.  The food was excellent with creative plating and large portion sizes.  Ambience was very lively, with a definite local feel to it, which is one of my personal favorites.  Service was good, but not great compared to the high bar set by the two previous evenings’ servers.  Of the three, Le Bon Vivant was the most affordable, and rounded out our dining explorations in Franschoek.

Of course our primary reason for visiting this part of South Africa was to visit some of the wineries, of which there are approximately 45 and see if we could find some hidden gems.  From what I understand and personal experience, not a lot of wine produced in South Africa makes it to the U.S., which in 2023 imported $2.6 Billion in wine from France compared to $51.9 Million from South Africa.   Imports of South African wine dropped a whopping 75% from 2021 to 2023.  So who’s drinking all the South African wine?  The countries top two importers are the U.K. and Germany, who on a combined basis import 9 times what is imported by the US.  By the way, I just looked up all these statistics.  Don’t be impressed.

So our first morning we got up, showered (outside - loved it!), and headed to breakfast, served in the open kitchen, dining area and terrace, and were greeted with a friendly good morning, amazing smells coming from the kitchen including nice strong coffee.  Ellen was there with the staff as was Gary, the chef.  The breakfast buffet looked so inviting with fresh fruits, baked goods, yogurt and cereals and a lovely charcuterie board with various cheeses and meats.  That, combined with the fantastic egg dishes prepared by Gary, made for the perfect start to the day.  As we were finishing breakfast Ellen asked what we had planned for the day.  I mentioned that we were going to walk into town and grab tickets for the Wine Tram.  “It’s sold out,” she told us, “and has been for months.”

OK, this is one of “those moments”.  You know how we feel about researching and doing your planning, right?  At that moment I was like, “How could I have overlooked that?”  She could clearly see the look of disappointment in my face and offered, “You can certainly go to the kiosk in town and see if they had any cancellations, but it is a weekend in the high season, so it’s not likely.”  I couldn’t believe it.  We got up from breakfast and walked back to our room and, on the way, Duncan said, “There has to be an alternative.  We can’t be the only people who have never forgotten to make a reservation for the tram.”  So we grabbed our stuff and walked in to town.  James had given us some suggestions of wineries to visit, so at least we had that as a starting point.

We arrived at the kiosk and the woman there greeted us and asked for our name, before I gave it I told her that we didn’t have a reservation.  She checked her screen and after a few minutes looked up and said, “We’re fully booked.”  We asked for suggestions; “taxi, maybe?”  She shook her head, thought for a second and said, “Do you use Uber?”  The answer was yes, but not for a couple of years since we had been in Buenos Aires in 2023.  We stepped to the side, fired up the Uber app, plugged in the winery we wanted to visit, in this case it was Babylonstoren and a few minutes later we were picked up by a very friendly local and on our way.  Like the food in South Africa, the transportation was really inexpensive.  So what could have been a potential problem - actually getting to the wineries - turned in to an easy fix.  What was better was that we were able to control the times of when and where we wanted to go next without having to be dependent on the tram.  So, as almost all things do when traveling, everything worked out for the best.

Let’s talk about the tastings, but before I do, I want to ask you: have you ever done a tasting at a winery in the US or Canada?  If you have, you’ve probably had the same experience I have.  You arrive at a small to medium sized building and after you enter, although reservations are preferred, tell the staff person how many people will be tasting; it doesn’t have to be everyone if you have a designated driver.   They sit you at one of a dozen or so tables or hightops and get you set up with glasses and water.  Depending on the popularity of the winery, day of the week and time of day there may be other guests enjoying a tasting while you are there.  Tastings are usually pre-determined with various wines for various preferences at various price points.  After a brief history about the winery and the winemaking process, you taste the wines and decide if you like any, all or none of them then decide if you want to buy any to take with you or ship back home.  Having done all that, you move on to the next winery and repeat the process.  Pretty straightforward and some people can cover 3 or more wineries in a day, although hopefully they DO have a designated driver!

We had similar tasting experiences this past September in the Barossa Valley in Australia as well.

Not the case in South Africa.  Let me set the stage.

I’ve already told you that I admittedly did not do a lot of research on the wineries in the Franschoek Valley; figured it was better to go in with no preconceived ideas.  James, our driver from Cape Town, gave us some recommendations, but he admitted that he hadn’t visited all of the places he suggested.  So we picked this first place, Babylonstoren, from his list.  All I knew that it was a larger winery, and that was about it.

So we pull in to this large, beautifully landscaped parking area with enough for a couple hundred cars.  As we pulled in I noticed other cars arriving and departing and was surprised at the  - well -traffic.  We looked for and found a sign that not only included a tasting room, but a Farm Hotel and Spa, shop, gardens and restaurants.  Wait!  What?!  Hotel?  As we looked around we saw tons of people walking around, lots with strollers and little kids.  Little kids at a winery?!  We looked at each other like we had just stepped onto Mars, but followed the sign towards a building with a line 20 people deep: couples, groups, families and every combination thereof.  When it was our turn we told the person behind the counter that we were interested in a tasting.  She showed us the options and we picked the one we wanted.  Tickets in hand we headed out and toward what I can best describe as a very large glass solarium.  I think we both felt like we were in the wrong place, but a lovely young lady approached us, we showed her our tickets and she took us to a table.  The room was filled with light and yet was still cool and the tables were 75% occupied.  Everyone had a glass in front of them and many had some sort of food.

Food.  Food with wine.  Not a new concept but clearly one that had not reached our home shores.

We sat down and our server explained how the tasting worked.  Now this part we were familiar with.  After we placed our order, she placed a menu on the table and I picked it up to see various nibbles available from meats and cheeses with crackers, to olives and spreads, and more.  As I’m reading, the people at the next table received a gorgeous charcuterie board piled high with a mouthwatering assortment of deliciousness.  Remember I told you how inexpensive food is in South Africa?  Well that applied here.  For what these folks received, at home they would have paid 3 to times what they were asking on the menu.  Now mind you we were still full from the great breakfast at La Providence, but it was good to know this was an option.  The wine tasting was terrific and, as shocking as the food prices were, the bottle prices were incredibly inexpensive, $12 US on average.

I’m going to take a side road here for a minute to talk about this aspect of our South African wine experience because it applies to all 3 wineries we visited.  Each winery had wines we really enjoyed and asked at each winery if they shipped to the US, which they all did.  Here was the issue: yes, you could get a nice bottle of wine for $13-16, but to ship back home would cost around $20 PER BOTTLE.  We thought that was insane.  At the last winery we visited, Eikhof, we did buy 12 bottles and 2 carriers to bring the wine home because it is not available in the US whereas the other 2 are.  That shipping cost made me wonder if that is why US consumption of South African wines is so low: the final cost to the customer in the US would be so high that it would not merit the price being paid.  Personally, I think it’s a shame, because real oenophiles are missing out on some world class wines.

When we finished our tasting we decided to have a look around.  We walked into the museum which included the original owner’s house restored to the 1700’s, we walked into the shop that featured beautiful table linens, glassware and silverware, various kitchen goods, soaps and lotions and all manner of gift-y type merchandise.  “What does any of this have to do with a winery?” I thought.  There was a sign for the Farm Hotel, but it was off in the distance so we passed on checking that out.  Now to be honest you can often find lodging options located in wineries in the US an elsewhere, so that wasn’t unique, although I don’t know many that are $2,000 a night.  There were two restaurants that were full so we just walked past them, and headed to the garden.  It was beautiful with everything neatly organized including a kitchen garden with fresh herbs and edible flowers.  This place screamed wedding venue!

What surprised us the most was that the South Africans made a day at the winery.  This was a chance for friends and family to get together, spending time catching up, enjoying some wine and some good food and, in one case, some live music.  Looking back on it, I think “What a great way to spend a beautiful afternoon?”  Instead for us a winery visit is HI-TASTE-BYE-ON TO THE NEXT.  They make it an event in itself.

In all we visited 4 wineries: Bablyonstoren, which I just mentioned, La Motte, Boschendal and Eikhof.  The first three were very similar to each other: large operations, full of amenities, restaurants and more.  The last, Eikhof is clearly a family operation, which is what attracted us there in the first place.  Every member of the family works at the tasting room which, on the beautiful day we were there, was outside, and every member of the family made it a point to stop by every table to greet the guests and introduce themselves.  While the others were terrific, the folks at Eikhof just gave a personal touch that the others were lacking.  We brought wine home from Eikhof and will enjoy it with the wonderful memories of the sunny afternoon looking out over their vineyard.

So.  If you were us, would you want to go back?

A resounding yes!  At least I hope it was a resounding yes.

Why?  So many great restaurants we didn’t get to try and ones we would go back to with no hesitation.  Wineries we didn’t try and, now that we know what to expect, can plan our visit a little better.  The perfect hotel in every way where we would be happy to stay again and again.

A destination is someplace you want to visit, some place you’re curious about or have heard or read things about.  Some place where there are things to do and see you really enjoy.  Places to explore and discover new things about yourself or the world around you and help you get out of your comfort zone.  A destination should tweak all of your senses.  A destination is some place you want to return to again and again.

Remember to like and follow the podcast and the Facebook page.  Check out the photos and videos I’ve posted that go along with this episode.  Make sure to tell your friends too and share the podcast on your socials.  Don’t forget to send me your questions and feedback either on the Explorations All Over Facebook Page or to my email, russg4willard at mac dot com.

Thanks so much for listening.  I hope you enjoyed hearing about our South African adventures and really appreciate your tuning in.  Once again, I’m Russ.  Thanks for joining me on my Explorations All Over.  Until next time, I’ll see you soon.