DAYS 79-82 Wine Wine Wine

DAY 79 Monday, April 3. At sea

We enjoyed a tasting of three lovely Uruguayan wines with our friends Lynn and Adrian. This is a very under-appreciated wine-growing area.

DAY 80 Tuesday, April 4. Cape Town and Stellenbosch

The entry to the harbor on the morning of April 4 was dramatic, and I plan to attempt a painting of the scene our next day at sea, along with more Cape Town and Stellenbosch images, so stay tuned.

The first day the Around the World passengers were bused to the area of Stellenbosch for a big luncheon on the grounds of the Boschendal winery. This area reminds me strongly of Napa Valley. Except for the zebras and springbok, of course.

We traveled along a broad multi-lane highway, the N1, national highway 1. On our approach to the winery we were given wrist bands that we were told were worth 500 Rand, to be spent at the booths surrounding the picnic grounds. These were all first-class booths, selling very nice souvenirs and wine. Mary and I turned our wrist bands in for two bottles of red and two bottles of sparkling wine.

We were greeted by African drummers in full costume, with colorful body paint and feathers. The venue was stunning. Lush green, with a picturesque mountain filling the horizon. The food was excellent—creative as well as tasty—and so was the music. Two bands played, one four-piece band—three xylophones and a drummer—and a duo of acoustic guitar and violin, played by two white guys in skinny jeans. The first band had the crowd jumping with their rhythms, the second was Millennial takes on familiar songs.

Day 81 Wednesday, April 5. Stellenbosch

The next day we took an excursion with Lynn and Adrian that Mary had discovered online, for  less than a third of what one of the cruise’s excursions would have cost. We were very satisfied with the choice. Not only was the guide extremely knowledgeable, but also insisted that we take all the time we wanted at the stops we made. His company was proud of not making their guests adhere to an artificial timetable. 

The van arrived with two passengers already there. Happy to say they were two really interesting people who we got along with famously. We left along the same highway as the day before, the N1. The reason for my mentioning this will become evident. Our first stop was a large winery called Fairview. It had lots of visitors and a busy delicatessen. Some of them were families with little children.

We sat around a bar and had a choice of two samplings. Oddly enough the women took one choice and we guys took the other. They were both really interesting flights of six wines, and were served with small chunks of carefully paired cheeses. They were all well-made, and all at very reasonable prices. The flights were then followed by a sampling of two dessert wines, one fortified like a port, the other made of late-harvest red grapes, the “Beryl Red,” named after the owner’s mother. Mary and I ended up buying six bottles of wines we sampled plus a Beryl Red, which I’m saving for home, to have with my special death-by-chocolate cake.

The next stop was a very traditional French-style winery, Marianne, which featured wines that definitely a step up, and accordingly priced. This one had a simply stunning view. I just had to pull out my pad and portable watercolor palette and do a sketch on the spot.

I’m glad my fellow travelers allowed this. I think they thought it was actually cool that I did this, telling me I have talent. I replied “It’s not talent, it’s an obsession.”

The final stop was in the town of Stellenbosch itself, at an ice cream parlor! We were told that they are very proud of their ice cream here. It was certainly fun.

On the way back to Cape Town we took a different route, the N2. As we passed mile after mile of counsel housing and squatters’ sheds, our guide told us some hair-raising stories of how dangerous this route was. One did not travel N2 at night if at all possible.

His stories and opinions were corroborated the next day.

Day 82 Thursday, April 6. Cape Town

On Thursday Mary and I went wandering the tourist area of the waterfront on our own. This is a very upscale shopping district. We walked to the Waterfront Mall to look around a bit. I wanted a couple of small drafting triangles, so we stopped into an art supply and stationery store. I bought a kit that was sold for middle-school students for their mathematics classes for just a couple of bucks. Perfect.

We then bumped into one of our fellow travelers, who told us about a barbershop on the upper floor. This was a posh place, all old-fashioned barber chairs, plush leather sofas, selling luxurious men’s grooming supplies—fancy razors, real badger brushes, and so on—and crocodile skin leather goods—belts, shoes, hip flasks, you name it. The shop had been owned by a man I would consider somewhat eccentric. The passion for these old-fashioned, luxurious grooming supplies, as well as the crocodile stuff, was his.

But the current owners were extremely friendly, and I think justifiably proud of having made a successful business of this top-flight barber shop. We told one of them, Johann, about a special wine we had heard of, and he said he knew it and where I could buy it, right in the mall. And while I waited for my haircut, he took me there!

The haircut was superbly done. It was quite the experience, for a haircut. 

I had heard good things from Mary and others about a chain restaurant called Nando’s, which served chicken with peri-peri sauce. As it happens, the chain was founded in Cape Town. So for lunch we stopped at a Nando’s and yes, it’s worth seeking out.

On the way back to the ship we passed the Buskers Corner, where a men’s choir was singing traditional songs, beautifully. I videoed them, and we bought two of their CD’s. Perhaps I’ll draw them, too.

It was a very enjoyable day. Sail away was at 4pm, with beautiful skies, but into a rather rough sea, as we sail around the Cape of Good Hope.

What I can’t really address, because I don’t understand it myself, is the vast difference between this wealthy city and its destitute surrounds. When Johann was younger, he said he and his friends would carouse in the bar scene along Long Street, make bonfires and even sleep on the beach. Now those days are gone. He warned some visitors not to go alone along Long Street, he told me, but they didn’t heed his warning and got mugged. Cleaned out of everything.