Sunday, March 16, 2014

Visiting South Africa — Wine!

The purpose of our trip to South Africa was to learn more about the South African wine industry and the many excellent wines. Did we ever! Here a few — a few — of the wines we tasted.






Need I say more?

We had a wonderful trip to the Western Cape of South Africa. There is so much more to see and do (and eat and drink)! We would welcome a return trip.

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We have many people to thank for our exceptional experiences in South Africa: wine makers, farmers, hospitality staff, chefs, servers, hotel and B&B owners and staff, wildlife rangers, Wines of South Africa staff, VinPro staff, and many others. We especially appreciate the many friends we made during our travels. Thank you! All of you!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Visiting South Africa — Food

Anyone who knows us will know that we like food tourism. And we are among those obnoxious people who take pictures of their food. So here is a sample from South Africa.

Boerie (sausage sandwich) from Gourmet Boerie
Yummy lunch at the Joubert-Tradauw deli
Fish at Botlierskop Private Game Reserve, where meals
are included with the visitor package
Fresh veg at Terroir Restaurant at Kleine Zalze
Sosatie (Malay kebabs) at Botlierskop
Lunch at Two Oceans at Cape Point, with
line fish, calamari, mussels, langoustines
Braai!
Lamb rolls at Pierneef à La Motte
Beet salad at Jordan Wine Estate
Each meal was accompanied by outstanding wines of South Africa. I would go back to every one of these places.

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We have many people to thank for our exceptional experiences in South Africa: wine makers, farmers, hospitality staff, chefs, servers, hotel and B&B owners and staff, wildlife rangers, Wines of South Africa staff, VinPro staff, and many others. We especially appreciate the many friends we made during our travels. Thank you! All of you!

Friday, March 07, 2014

Visiting South Africa — Critters

When we started planning our trip to South Africa, one thing on the must-do list was to see animals. Because of time and logistics, we ended up at Botlierskop Private Game Reserve. It was a good choice for us in our search for animals. Our ranger, Neil, taught us a lot about the reserve, the animals, and South Africa.

Elephants
Impala, including black impala
Two of the reserve’s three lions
Mother and baby white rhino
Zebra
Bontebok (Sue’s favorite)
One of four giraffe in the reserve
Wildebeest (a.k.a. gnu)
Waterbuck
Botlierskop reserve
On another day, we went to the Cape of Good Hope, stopping along the way to visit the African penguins at Boulders Beach.



And, at the Cape, a baboon. Baboons can be aggressive and mean; many people think they are a nuisance. In a flash, this one jumped from the top of the taxi into a nearby car that had left its door open for passengers to enter. The baboon ransacked the car looking for food. We were told that baboons know the sound of car-door remotes clicking and recognize the different sounds made when unlocking the car and locking a car. They also know how to open car doors.


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We have many people to thank for our exceptional experiences in South Africa: wine makers, farmers, hospitality staff, chefs, servers, hotel and B&B owners and staff, wildlife rangers, Wines of South Africa staff, VinPro staff, and many others. We especially appreciate the many friends we made during our travels. Thank you! All of you!

Monday, March 03, 2014

Visiting South Africa — Architecture

The outstanding architectural feature of the Western Cape is the Cape Dutch architecture. We were fortunate to visit many places with this beautiful style
.
Lanzerac Wine Estate
At Paul Cluver Wines, we stayed in the Old Skool,
renovated for modern visitors
Comfort at the Old Skool
The Welbeloond farm’s Old Bull Pen,
beautifully renovated for visitors 
Excelsior Wine Estate guest house
The manor house at Klein Constantia is being renovated
Thatched roofs are common on traditional
Cape Dutch buildings

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We have many people to thank for our exceptional experiences in South Africa: wine makers, farmers, hospitality staff, chefs, servers, hotel and B&B owners and staff, wildlife rangers, Wines of South Africa staff, VinPro staff, and many others. We especially appreciate the many friends we made during our travels. Thank you! All of you!