Days 21-24: Winelands & Garden Route

On Thursday, before heading out of town, we stopped at the Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town. To sum it up, the gardens were scenic, set against the backdrop of Table Mountain, expansive, beautiful, and included entire sections dedicated to medicinal and fragrant plants! A note to everyone considering a visit: go early in the morning and it will feel like your own private garden.

We then departed Cape Town for Stellenbosch, a town in the famous South African Winelands, and less than an hour drive away! Our first evening we hit up the Africaans language museum in Paarl and a couple of wineries, including the massive KWV, one of the largest in the region. On our cellar tour they boasted that they owned five of the largest redwood barrels in the world, making them priceless in today's market as the California redwood is now a protected species.

After spending the night at a lovely B&B in downtown Stellenbosch and dining at Ernie Els' restaurant, The Big Easy, we spent all day Saturday dodging the cold rain and cozying up to fireplaces at various wineries around the area. [Side note, our private tour guide was Willem, father of a well-known Victoria's Secret model!] First stop, Simonsig, for a 10 am champagne tasting - fantastic! Second was Hartenberg, where we tasted one of the best Rieslings I've ever had. They also offered a special House of Mandela label that they make especially for the Mandela family. Fortunately for us, they had opened a bottle a few days prior in honor of Madiba's birthday, so we got to try it - yum! Third was a tasting at Jordan, where we also had a lovely gourmet lunch with what would have been a stunning view had the weather cooperated. By this point the wine was catching up to us and we were running a bit behind schedule, so our last stop was at Ernie Els, where we enjoyed (and bought) several bottles. We are expecting a letter of thanks from Ernie any day now, as our lucky purchases undoubtedly played a large part in his win yesterday at the British Open.

We headed out the next day along the scenic R-62 for Oudtshoorn, ostrich capital of the world! It was an incredible 4+ hour drive that included views of mountains and exciting and sometimes petrifying twisty roads. In Oudtshoorn, it was clearly the off season with nary a tourist in sight, but we made the most of it by receiving kisses and neck massages at the local ostrich farm. Sadly we were told that rides would not be allowed that day due to muddy conditions, but when we heard that ostriches must be put down if they break a leg (similar to a horse), we wondered why rides are allowed in the first place...

Ostrich taking food from between Stan's lips! Unfortunately too quick to capture on film but you can see the food flipping into its mouth

We also spent an hour in the Cango Caves on the "adventure tour," which involved crawling into super tiny spaces that trapped some obese tourists not too long ago! Pretty cool caves, although perhaps not as commercialized or impressive as Carlsbad. I have started to really appreciate the natural wonders that we are so fortunate to have in the States!

Food in the Western Cape has been solid. Lots of ostrich, lamb, some kudu and springbok, and as you get closer to the coast, mussels, calamari and oysters as big as your hand! (Call me biased, but I still think Beantown seafood is hard to beat.)

After ostrich country we then followed another winding and blustery route southeast to Knysna (pronounced "nīze-nuh"), a lovely seaside town known for its oysters and outdoor activities. Our first day we did a zipline tour over Tzitzikamma Falls! We almost followed this up with a bungee jump from the world's highest height but chickened out figured we should save something for later in the trip.

The same day, we also did something that we had been wanting to do since our arrival in South Africa - a township tour. We found a great one in Knysna, led by Ella, who showed us around the township of Concordia, where she and most of the working class people of Knysna live. It was a truly humbling and inspiring experience - we met with a member of the Grass Routes Rastafarian community (the largest in the country), visited the local grocery store (housed in an industrial container unit), as well as the library, hair dresser and preschool. We also played the drums and tried to learn their native Xhosa language, which was ultimately a hopeless exercise as the multiple clicking syllables proved to be infinitely more difficult than the four Mandarin tones!

It was so uplifting to see what Ella has been able to do with so relatively little, namely raise two kids of her own while also taking care of 6 foster kids, running a soup kitchen behind her house, managing a safe house for abused families within the township, giving township tours and much more. As if that weren't enough, she is in the process of starting her own ministry! I am not a particularly religious person, but after meeting someone like Ella I can certainly understand how religion can serve as someone's salvation in challenging times.

Our visit to the township was so fun and meaningful that we actually called Ella later that afternoon to take her up on her offer to hang out her kids after school! With chocolate in tow, we were sure to make new friends. After their sugary snack, they burned through the extra energy boost by singing songs, dancing, playing hand clapping games and playing soccer. It was perhaps the most fun we had on our trip thus far, and made us appreciative of how different ways of life have evolved post-apartheid. Trite as it may sound, this was a unique opportunity that I hope everyone has a chance to experience at some point. Stan and I have already begun scheming how we can come back to visit on an extended overnight stay!

Also, I now want to adopt about 20 South African kids.

This morning we make the ~5 hour drive back to Cape Town. Next stop, Bangladesh!