Another early night, good sleep but awake at 5.30. Still getting used to the time change. Today we are off to Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl for our wine tasting. We need to be at the pick up point by 8.20 am, so we have an early breakfast and head off just before 8 am to walk to the Aquarium which is the pick up point. Capetown weather is 16 to 23 with sunny breaks. It is an easy 12 minute walk so we are there plenty of time.
The bus arrives and we find out there is 60 on the tour! At least the bus is comfortable and has wifi access. As we leave Capetown it is clear over Table Top mountain and our guide Louis tells us we can expect the temperature to reach 30 degrees.
On our way to the first winery Stellenbosch we are giving a heap of information on the history of the region, its settlement, and the establishment of wine growing industry. During the apartheid era when Sth Africa was boycotted, they did a deal with Israel to ship their wine there where it was labelled as Israeli wine and no one ever questioned how Israel was suddenly making wine!
Each winery we went to was well set up, in beautiful surrounds. At the first we started with sparkling, and a demonstration of taking the cork off with a sabre. We then had two whites and two reds with cheese, biscuits, fruit and nuts. We then head off to Franschhoek where we are also to have lunch. Here we also have two whites and two reds while we have our lunch.
After lunch on our way to Paarl we stop off at the prison Nelson Mandela was in for the three years prior to his release. Rather than a prison cell he was kept in a house on the prison grounds. This was important because he was incarcerated for 27 years and if he was to rule, as everyone expected, he needed to be educated in all the technological developments over the past years and discuss transition with the government. The scenery is pretty spectacular as we travel through a valley with vineyards and mountains on both sides.
At Paarl we have two whites and three reds accompanied by sweet desserts to match the wines. It has been a long day and we leave the last winery at 4.30. On the way back we have to divert because of accidents. The road we take is the N2 which is dangerous as in some areas there are illegal settlements, which are slum like but have power and satellite dishes. The danger is rock throwing onto the highway! Fortunately we get through OK, it is a very busy road. We eventually get back just after 6 pm and walk back to our hotel.
Tomorrow we are up early with a 6.50 am pick up and off to the airport to fly to Victoria Falls.
Three D sculpture of Nelson Mandela in Stellenbosch
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