We've taken a break from the rat race in Cape Town to visit South Africa's wine country. We had heard that there was a wine region here, but we learned on our tour that it is the 9th largest in the world. Not bad, considering!
We spent our first night in Paarl at a wonderful luxury hotel that was a gift from a certain friend of Heather's. It was truly fantastic with an unbelievable gourmet restaurant and a beautiful setting at the base of Paarl Rock. Dinner was an introduction to some of the more exotic Cape cuisine, including my grilled Springbok. (An African antelope. Don't worry nature lovers, there are more Springboks here than anyone knows what to do with.. so they eat 'em. Yum!)
Paarl is named for the rock which apparently looks like three giant pearls in the morning dew. After the incredible dinner, we slept in and missed the effect. Oh well. We were still able to enjoy a bit of luxury before returning to our cheap backpacker's accomodations.
From there we visited the town of Stellenbosch. The hotel was rather amused that we would be taking the local train, but they nicely gave us a ride and helped us learn that we needed to transfer at Muldervlie. A first class ticket (for $1.40) and an hour later we were in Stellenbosch.
Stellenbosch was a bit like the Davis, California of South Africa. Its a college town in the winelands and is fairly quiet and safe. We stayed at the Stumble Inn (get it?) and ate at a fantastic local restaurant, The Workshop. It is a favorite with the college crowd looking for a nice night out and features a industrial-metal decor.
Like most backpackers, (that's the local name for 'hostel' here..) the Stumble Inn arranges tours and any other tourist request (car hire, horseback rides, you name it) right at the front desk. We decided to actually take in the wines of the wine country and booked the all-day wine tour.
We were picked up at 10:30, along with a girl from Japan on holiday here from studying Arabic music in Egypt. The day was a relaxing drive in a little minibus all over Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, and Paarl visiting a total of 4 different wineries, tasting over 22 wines in all and having a scrumptious Cape Malay lunch. (There is a small Malaysian influence here, and Cape Malay cuisine is a local specialty)
We arrived back at the Stumble Inn around 5, just in time to take the Backpackers Bus back to Cape Town.
And that's where we are now! For the next three weeks, updates may be very sporatic, if there are any at all. We wish everyone the best, but feel free to drop us an e-mail that we can read once we reach Zimbabwe!