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In February my wife and I are spending a couple of weeks in Southern Africa. The first week is sorted (Sabi Sands and Victoria Falls), but we currently have 7 nights we need to work out how to split between Cape Town and the Garden Route - we are arriving in Cape Town mid-afternoon on the Sunday and then need to fly out from Port Elizabeth the following Sunday mid-morning. Kind of unsure where to stay along the Garden Route and how long for - since we have only a few days I read that flying to George will save us time. We like landscapes, nature, the outdoors, etc. so places like the Wilderness national park, Knysna forests, and then Nature's Valley and Storm's River have caught my eye. We'll have spent a number of days on safari prior to this so don't need to go to a game reserve, though any animals you don't typically spot on safari would be good to see. Not so bothered about spending time sitting on the beach. Thinking of the following itineray: Sunday - arrive mid-afternoon, V&A waterfront or around Monday - Table mountin and botanical gardens Tuesday - Cape penninsula Wednesday - Fly to George early morning, pick up rental car, see Wilderness national park, spend night in Wilderness Thursday - drive to Knysna and forests, night in Knysna Friday - use Knysna as a base, maybe drive to near Plet and to the Robberg Point walk, and other stuff in Knysna, night in Knysna Saturday - drive to Nature's Valley/Storm's River (undecided yet), one night there Sunday - drive to PE airport, fly out How does that look? Not sure if we have enough time in each place - from what I can read online it's only a couple of hours drive at most between those places on the Garden Route, which should give enough time for stopping on the way, spending a good few hours in the parks/forests/etc. However, this is just an intitial plan - if it's too packed and it's better to pick a couple of places and spend 2 nights in each, I am happy to cut things down. I feel like I am trying to cram too much in.
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Oct 5, 2018 12:16
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I think you're trying to do way too much in too little time. I spent 2 weeks just in and around Cape Town last year and it wasn't enough. Mind you, sounds like I have a little more interest in the culture scene than you, but I still think you'll be happier deciding to devote a week entirely to Cape Town and surrounds—there are countess day trips in nature worth doing—OR the garden route. - You can take the funicular up Table Mountain, but I highly recommend hiking up instead - The Lion's Head hike is also worth doing - VA waterfront is okay but I think Camps Bay is nicer if you don't have time for both - There is a huge and exciting wine scene in ZA (that most Americans are not exposed to at all), it's worth checking out if you're at all into wine, ask if you want more details - The stunning drive from Cape Town to Hermanus is 100% mandatory, with a stop at Stony Point to see the Penguins - Cape Town has a great food scene, don't miss it
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Oct 29, 2018 18:57
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Lady Gaza posted:In February my wife and I are spending a couple of weeks in Southern Africa. The first week is sorted (Sabi Sands and Victoria Falls), but we currently have 7 nights we need to work out how to split between Cape Town and the Garden Route - we are arriving in Cape Town mid-afternoon on the Sunday and then need to fly out from Port Elizabeth the following Sunday mid-morning. You might as well drive to George? It's about 5 hours and you'll want a car anyway for Cape Peninsula, so renting a car for two days, then flying to George and renting another car, sounds like a hassle and flying won't save all that much time vs. driving. Plus if you're into Geography Nerding you could go to Cape Agulhas on Tuesday night and break up that drive. Also make sure to check for fire news while you're on the spot, as February is both dry season and hot season, and right now for instance George is on fire, e.g. https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/44959211_1277345962417146_7727038828594069504_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent-amt2-1.xx from today. I just googled it since there's like, always a huge fire somewhere in Cape Province, it was a pretty safe bet that I'd find one raging at the moment. E: that link sucks, here's the FB group with the photos: https://www.facebook.com/KnysnaFires2017/?ref=br_rs&_rdc=1&_rdr Never been to George-Port Elizabeth area so can't really give any specific suggestions. You're missing all of the wine country around Cape Town but maybe you've already been or maybe you want to do something less Stereotypical First Visit to Cape Province. Saladman fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Oct 29, 2018 |
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Oct 29, 2018 19:56
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Thanks both. My wife doesn’t drink and I’m not massively bothered by visiting wineries so don’t mind missing that - plus I’d be driving so couldn’t really drink. There seems to be a lot to do around Plet; some friends recommended national parks for walking and wildlife within a short drive so we’ll likely stay round there for a few days.
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Oct 29, 2018 21:18
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If you can make it, try going to De Grendel Restaurant. I'm on my last day of a South Africa tour with my family, and even though it was earlier in our trip, it's stuck out as being the best restaurant we ate at the whole time we were here - by a far margin. Even if you don't drink, the food is totally worth all the wine talk you'd hear while there. The views and the estate itself are totally spectacular. Try to get there around sunset. It's nuts. About a 30-40 minute drive outside Cape Town. Reservation is a must if you decide to go.
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Nov 30, 2018 11:20
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An update if anyone is interested. We decided to not go to Victoria Falls and are just staying in South Africa. After 4 days at Sabi Sands we have 4 days in Cape Town, so we might go to the winelands if we have time. Then we're going to take our time driving to Brenton-on-Sea (thinking via R62) - any ideas for stops on the way would be good (we're going to do it on one day, leaving early in the morning). We've got a couple of nights there so will go to the forests and the heads, then 4 days in Plett as a base to explore Tsitsikamma. So overall a more relaxed trip than we had previously planned, which I think will be better. Also we booked De Grendel in Cape Town on a Friday night for sunset; thanks for the tip!
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Jan 19, 2019 13:08
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Does anyone have a good guide to setting up a 10-14 day trip to South Africa? My wife and I want to do something this fall (as a delayed honeymoon). We have friends who went through andBeyond travel and had an awesome experience, but I've typically done things on my own. Before we do something similar, is it feasible to do this on my own (and have an equally good time)? Is 10-14 days enough time to spend a few days in/around Cape Town and do a safari in Kruger while traveling from the east coast?
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May 16, 2019 19:28
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Residency Evil posted:Does anyone have a good guide to setting up a 10-14 day trip to South Africa? My wife and I want to do something this fall (as a delayed honeymoon). We have friends who went through andBeyond travel and had an awesome experience, but I've typically done things on my own. Before we do something similar, is it feasible to do this on my own (and have an equally good time)? Is 10-14 days enough time to spend a few days in/around Cape Town and do a safari in Kruger while traveling from the east coast? Yes you can definitely do it on your own, it just depends on how much effort you want to spend working out how long to spend in each place and where about to stay, etc. My wife and I had two weeks in SA and we just booked our own hotels and flights (we landed in JNB, flew to Greater Kruger for a few days and from there flew to Cape Town). Hired a car in Cape Town. It took a bit of organisation but I like doing that myself. SA is a modern developed country for the most part so it’s easy enough to book things. If you have 10 days I would perhaps limit yourself to safari and Cape Town area. In 2 weeks my wife and I also did a few days on the garden route and felt a little rushed, so if you’re travelling from east coast and only have 10 days don’t overdo it. If you want a more upmarket safari experience try Sabi Sands rather than a Kruger self drive - we spent 4 nights in a lodge and it was honestly one of the best things we’ve ever done. The Elephant Plains lodge was really great despite being one of the cheaper ones in the area, I’d highly recommend them. Literally 2 hours from arriving we saw a leopard drag a kill into a tree just a few feet in front of us. I follow them on Instagram now and a bunch of leopards have cubs, plus there are male lions moving into the local pride, which is quite exciting. Most people we met at the lodge did 2 or 3 nights, though I would suggest 3 at a minimum so as to give yourself plenty of time to see different animals.
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May 17, 2019 08:18
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Keep in mind that Cape Town weather can be a bit lovely around September / October still, the best time is usually end of Jan to end of Feb as the wind dies down then. Kruger will be allright during SA spring though. And yeah, there is a world of difference between doing "normal" Kruger and Sabie Sands or similer lodges. Its not cheap but 100% worth it, even if you just stay two nights or whatever.
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Jun 8, 2019 09:42
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I'm looking at &Beyond to put together a 10 day package for Cape Town/Kruger, but is this something I could do myself easily as well? It seems like booking a hotel in Cape Town is fairly straightforward, but how about getting from Cape Town - Kruger lodges/places in Kruger? Budget is somewhat flexible (say, 10k for the two of us), but I don't want to spend money for no reason.
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Jun 10, 2019 15:18
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Residency Evil posted:I'm looking at &Beyond to put together a 10 day package for Cape Town/Kruger, but is this something I could do myself easily as well? It seems like booking a hotel in Cape Town is fairly straightforward, but how about getting from Cape Town - Kruger lodges/places in Kruger? Budget is somewhat flexible (say, 10k for the two of us), but I don't want to spend money for no reason. e: just realised it was you I replied to earlier in the thread too. Looks like I gave similar advice to both questions - It’s easy enough to book your own tickets and fly. There are a few airports in Kruger - we went from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit (as we were staying in Sabi Sands) and from there to Cape Town. You’d save so much money doing it for yourself - with 10k you could book your own nice hotel in Cape Town and a lodge in greater Kruger. For example we spent ~$3000 (2 people) on 4 nights in a lodge including accommodation, game drives, food, alcohol, tips, transfers to/from airport (lodge organised these). Cape Town was so much cheaper in terms of accommodation and food though. It just depends on how much organisation you want to do; SA is however very developed in terms of tourist infrastructure where you want to go, and everyone speaks English, so it’s easy enough to do yourself. The only time sensitive part will be finding a lodge if you go that way instead of doing a self drive - they can book up very far in advance. For Cape Town, another thing to consider is that those tours will likely be full of older people and you’ll just be shepherded round in a coach; we saw a bunch of large groups like that at table mountain and other main sites. Part of what’s nice about Cape Town is doing your own thing at your own pace. Ubers are super cheap and common so you don’t even need to worry about getting around.
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Jun 10, 2019 21:28
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Lady Gaza posted:The only time sensitive part will be finding a lodge if you go that way instead of doing a self drive - they can book up very far in advance. I'm not sure about Kruger but I assume it's like Namibia's big NPs for this -- a lot of lodges are "booked" by tour operators, who then release the rooms 30, 60, or 90 days before the night, depending on the lodge's policy for full refunds. OTOH a lot of lodges now only give like 30-70% refunds because of that problem. Though if you're going in high season it's probably worth the extra few bucks to get one of those reserved rooms through an operator, although I guess Kruger might be more complicated than Namibia for this since there are so many more operators there. One way to check this would be to see what the lodge's refund policy is, then check (e.g.) availability 29 days in advance vs 31 days in advance. In Etosha for instance there was a massive difference in availability between the two days. Other places, like the NamibRand lodges, were genuinely 100% booked up months in advance even though they were north of $1000/night. Not sure how much Etosha/Namib experiences translate to Kruger, but probably a fair amount? Like Lady Gaza I can't imagine booking a tour or using an operator for Cape Town. Just DIY on hotels.com, and rent a car and do whatever you want. Unless you want to drink a lot on a wine tour, I guess.
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Jun 10, 2019 22:54
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Good point about the lodges being booked up. Ours did charge a hefty non-refundable deposit , and the entire place was quite small (30 guests max) so it was a mix of people staying for overlapping periods rather than one big group. If you want to do a wine tour in Cape Town you can just get your hotel to organise one for you.
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Jun 11, 2019 12:40
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Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. We're thinking mainly of doing Cape Town, some Vineyards, and the park. I'm open to doing the lodging in Cape Town/Vineyards on my own, but do you guys have any suggestions for lodges in Kruger/Sabi Sands? Seems like many of them are booked through tour operators/etc, as you guys are saying.
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Jun 11, 2019 14:16
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Residency Evil posted:Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. We're thinking mainly of doing Cape Town, some Vineyards, and the park. I'm open to doing the lodging in Cape Town/Vineyards on my own, but do you guys have any suggestions for lodges in Kruger/Sabi Sands? Seems like many of them are booked through tour operators/etc, as you guys are saying. I think your best bet is to ask TripAdvisor's forums. I find people there never give very long or detailed responses (for any country) but if you have a fairly specific question about a touristy country like SA, then the feedback is often pretty useful.
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Jun 11, 2019 15:08
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Residency Evil posted:Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. We're thinking mainly of doing Cape Town, some Vineyards, and the park. I'm open to doing the lodging in Cape Town/Vineyards on my own, but do you guys have any suggestions for lodges in Kruger/Sabi Sands? Seems like many of them are booked through tour operators/etc, as you guys are saying. We stayed at Elephant Plains - one of the cheaper lodges but still fantastic. I just emailed them myself to enquire about bookings. Tripadvisor or booking.com reviews of Sabi Sands lodges will be useful too. Another thing you can do is look for travel blogs - I seem to recall reading about Elephant Plains and a place called Idube, and Cheetah Plains, on someone’s website. Those blogs have photos and more in depth descriptions of things which can help in choosing.
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Jun 12, 2019 08:43
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Ok guys, looks like we'll use the tour company for the lodge booking (andbeyond Ngala lodge) and then book hotels in Cape Town/Stellenbosch ourselves. We've travelled plenty in Europe/South American, but this will be the first time in Africa for either of us. Cape Town is safe, right? I know nothing about safety in south africa other than hearing about J-burg being the car jacking capital of the world a few years ago and people using cars with flame throwers to defend themselves. Is Cape Town just another big city? Would it make sense to rent a car to get from Cape Town to Stellenbosch?
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Jun 23, 2019 14:47
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Residency Evil posted:Ok guys, looks like we'll use the tour company for the lodge booking (andbeyond Ngala lodge) and then book hotels in Cape Town/Stellenbosch ourselves. We've travelled plenty in Europe/South American, but this will be the first time in Africa for either of us. Cape Town is safe, right? I know nothing about safety in south africa other than hearing about J-burg being the car jacking capital of the world a few years ago and people using cars with flame throwers to defend themselves. Is Cape Town just another big city? Would it make sense to rent a car to get from Cape Town to Stellenbosch? Cool! The lodge looks really nice. In terms of safety, my wife and I had zero problems in Cape Town. But, this was because we were sensible and stayed in a nice area. For example, we took Ubers everywhere at night except when walking round V&A, and stayed in Camps Bay. One of our Uber drivers said that in Cape Town crime is bad (murders etc) but limited to certain areas (eg the Cape Flats), so rich areas like Camps Bay are alright. In Johannesburg he said it is everywhere, so being in a rich area means nothing. That’s just one opinion but it was an interesting perspective. I’d recommend getting a car if you’re in Cape Town for a few days. To get from hotel to attractions around town take an Uber, but if you go to Cape Point (and you should!) it’s really great having your own car. You can get Ubers to Stellenbosch - we didn’t go there as my wife doesn’t drink but don’t imagine you’d want to drive on a day visiting wineries. Your hotel can probably organise a trip too, or look up wine tours online in advance if you don’t want to wing it while out there.
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Jun 27, 2019 19:03
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Bumping this since we're getting closer. We're spending 4 days in Cape Town, with our hotel in V&A, then spending 2 nights in Franschoek before we go spend some time watching some animals. Any thing in particular not to miss? Hiking Table Mountain? Mandela? Penguins? We like good food and drink and are pretty open to pretty much anything.
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Oct 3, 2019 23:50
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I’d recommend Kirstenbosch gardens. Someone earlier in the thread recommend this restaurant: https://degrendel.co.za/pages/restaurant We went for sunset and it really was great, had a five course meal with paired wines and it was ridiculously cheap by U.K. standards. About a 40 minute Uber outside of Cape Town.
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Oct 4, 2019 06:44
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Lady Gaza posted:I’d recommend Kirstenbosch gardens. Someone earlier in the thread recommend this restaurant: https://degrendel.co.za/pages/restaurant Thanks for this. Any chance you guys did any wine tours? We'll be in Franschhoek for 2 days.
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Oct 22, 2019 13:14
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Residency Evil posted:Thanks for this. Any chance you guys did any wine tours? We'll be in Franschhoek for 2 days. Afraid not, my wife was pregnant at the time so we didn’t do any wine tours. I imagine your hotel in Franschoek will be able to organise something, the entire town seems catered to wine.
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Oct 22, 2019 17:28
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https://winetram.co.za/tours/#lines We did the Franschoek wine tram tour last year and it was a blast. I think we did the red line because diue donne was a great view for lunch. Wines are cheap at each of the wineries and it's well organized, plus you can get sauced and don't have to drive. Franschoek is really small so easy to walk to the start and when you finish. We aren't super big into wine so were more interested in the views and the experience, but we met some people who do wine tours on every trip and they were enjoying it. Also check out the Constantia Wine area in cape Town if you have time. We went to Constantia Glen and it had a beautiful view of table mountain and a nice outdoor seating area. Right in cape Town too.
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Oct 31, 2019 03:51
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Thanks man. Can't wait for our trip that starts next week.
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Nov 2, 2019 13:00
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So it’s my first time in Africa. Oh man, I am not used to this flavor of racism.
Residency Evil fucked around with this message at 14:33 on Nov 9, 2019 |
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Nov 9, 2019 14:19
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How was the trip to South Africa?
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Dec 15, 2019 23:31
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sleep with the vicious posted:How was the trip to South Africa? Trip was absolutely incredible. On the way over, we did a long-ish layover in Doha (would probably not recommend), and then spent about 11 days there. Cape Town: Kind of a strange feel to the city, to be honest. On the drive from the airport to the city, the first think I noticed on the drive was the "nice" houses on the right side of the highway, and the slums on the left side of the highway, both surrounded by concrete walls. We ended up staying the the V&A area which is obviously very safe, but from talking to all of the uber drivers there are definitely areas to stay away from, especially at night, and even small areas can change very quickly. You notice the electrified fences and ADT ARMED RESPONSE signs around people's houses very quickly. In the area itself, we spent a day hiking up table mountain, some time at the Kirstenbosch gardens, and also ended up renting a car to drive south towards Simon's Town and the Cape of Good Hope. That was an awesome day, and we loved stopping along the coast line to grab lunch/walk along the beach at all of the small towns that line it. Saw the Penguins in Simon's Town, and then also made it all the way to the Cape. Walking around that area was incredible, and we made it down the the beach which made for some incredible photos. Food in cape town was incredible, and the USD/Rand exchange rate is incredibly favorable right now. You can easily get dinner for 2 for $20. We then rented a car to drive to Franschhoek, where we stayed for 2 nights. Probably should have stayed there for 3 nights, since we really effectively only had 1 full day there. We spent our full day there being driven around in a van drinking wines/touring wineries. Scenery is stunning: it's essentially a more mountainous version of Napa. Obviously it's pretty commercialized, but it feels more authentic/less like Disney than Napa does today. Ended up eating awesome food for dinner there one night. Final part of the trip was safari, which involved a flight from Cape Town north to Hoedspruit, an airport outside of Kruger, and then a 1.5 hour drive to our lodge (andBeyond Ngala Lodge). This part of our trip was planned by the lodge company. Safari was definitely the best part of our trip, and we're already thinking of doing it again. Our lodge was incredible, and we were there for 4 nights. We got there in the early afternoon and did a game drive that afternoon, and saw Lions, Leopards, and Elephants our first evening. Drives were from 530am - 9am or so in the morning, then 4-730pm in the evening. We were able to see the Big 5 as well as Wild Dogs, which were great. Only the company's cars are allowed in the park, which meant that the drives were small and uncrowded. Happy to answer any specific questions, but takehomes: 1. The safari experience was everything I thought it would be and more. We can't wait to go back. 2. I need to read more about apartheid, because man did that do a number on South Africa. Trip on the way back was a little brutal: Safari lodge -> Nelspruit -> 5 hour layover at JNB -> 2 hour layover/Doha -> 14 hour flight back home. Residency Evil fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Dec 16, 2019 |
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Dec 16, 2019 04:14
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Glad you had fun!Residency Evil posted:Trip on the way back was a little brutal: Safari lodge -> Nelspruit -> 5 hour layover at JNB -> 2 hour layover/Doha -> 14 hour flight back home. And lol -- if I'd seen this thread, I could have told you that trying to do Kruger and Cape Town in 10-14 days would be a bit rushed. Another food thing worth checking out near Cape Town is Babylonstoren. It's an old winery converted into a kind of botanical gardens for heirloom fruits and vegetables. The cafe and restaurant sell food largely made from the produce grown on-site.
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Jan 29, 2020 01:14
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Going to jump into this thread to say that I am going to be at a conference at Stellenbosch University for a week in late June/early July this year. I have never been to South Africa before. I will probably take at least a few other days after the conference to go around Cape Town. Wine is fine with me, but I really like beer, and food of any sort. Is there any place in particular I absolutely need to check out beer or food wise, either in Cape Town or Stellenbosch itself if anyone is familiar with the town?
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Feb 5, 2020 03:07
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Chairman Capone posted:Going to jump into this thread to say that I am going to be at a conference at Stellenbosch University for a week in late June/early July this year. I have never been to South Africa before. I will probably take at least a few other days after the conference to go around Cape Town. Stellenbosch is right in the heart of wine country, so definitely do some wine tasting at least once. Sort out a designated driver though. Craft beer is a thing, though I get the impression more so down in Cape Town. Cape Town is about an hour away from Stellenbosch, but has a pretty excellent bar and food scene. I'd recommend staying on after the conference at an AirBnB or backpackers near downtown Cape Town to check that out. Quick edit: June/July is the middle of winter, and it rains a lot down there in winter, so you probably won't want to go hiking / hang out on beaches.
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Feb 5, 2020 03:40
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Yeah, looking it up, I figured I had to get at least some wine in. Knowing historians I am sure it will be flowing liberally after-hours anyway. And good to know about the Cape Town food scene. I definitely think I will spend a few days there afterwards. I really want to get to the former Royal Observatory, though sadly looks like I will miss the open telescope nights from the current observatory. And thanks for letting me know about the rain. I knew it would be winter there but good to know that it tends to be wet.
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Feb 5, 2020 14:35
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I can’t recommend anywhere specific but Cape Town had great restaurants and bars, and it was all so cheap (coming from London). If you check Google Maps for ‘craft beer’ there looks to be a ton of tap rooms and breweries. Just make sure you get Ubers between places rather than walk.
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Feb 5, 2020 16:35
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Chairman Capone posted:Yeah, looking it up, I figured I had to get at least some wine in. Knowing historians I am sure it will be flowing liberally after-hours anyway. Lol it's kinda funny that despite having partied quite a lot in the Observatory neighbourhood, and even going to my cousin's wedding reception at the restaurant right across from the actual observatory, I never visited it. But yeah, history. Things you might want to check out: Castle of Good Hope -- 17th century bastion in downtown Cape Town, kept as a museum/monument District Six Museum -- District Six was a historical Cape Coloured neighbourhood that was "cleared" under Apartheid. The SS Mendi Memorial -- yeah, read about the story of the SS Mendi. Robben Island -- the historical prison where Nelson Mandela and fellow ANC freedom fighters were kept. Wrap up warmly and in rain gear for that time of year. Book well in advance as it's pretty popular. There is the Rhodes Memorial, if you want to go see a monument to a horrible colonial mogul. Unfortunately I think they reattached his nose after it was (quite justifiably) cut off by protesters a few years ago. Those should give you things to do during the day besides drinking! And definitely just Google Maps for tap rooms, food, etc in downtown Cape Town. Cape Town was on the hipster train pretty early, so there's a lot of artisanal stuff. Also for while you're in Stellenbosch, these are about 20 minutes drive away, and worth checking out if you're into food: https://www.spiceroute.co.za/ https://babylonstoren.com/ Wine tasting has the added benefit that all the estates are hundreds of years old, so they're all pretty historical. The above two food places are also on old wine estates. One thing for wine tasting: you will almost certainly need to drive. Make sure you have a designated driver who'll spit. (There are tours and hop-on type bus things, but they're expensive and inconvenient.)
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Feb 5, 2020 20:23
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Oh yeah, the Waterfront in Cape Town is a tourist trap, and only worth visiting if you really want to get souvenirs. The aquarium there is pretty good, though. Kirstenbosch Gardens are pretty amazing, but I don't know that they'd be worth doing in pouring rain.
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Feb 5, 2020 20:31
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Cheers, Lead out in cuffs! Really appreciate the tips! I actually know about the SS Mendi solely because a former student did his term paper on it. Had no idea there was a memorial in Cape Town to it, so I definitely need to check it out. Same with the Rhodes Memorial, seeing the epicenter of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign is a must. I had read good things about the District Six Museum also, so good to know it has an endorsement here, too! Again, thanks a lot for the tips - looking forward to the trip even more now!
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Feb 6, 2020 01:17
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Lead out in cuffs posted:Oh yeah, the Waterfront in Cape Town is a tourist trap, and only worth visiting if you really want to get souvenirs. The aquarium there is pretty good, though. Yeah I'd echo this. Waterfront is kind of meh. We stayed there but tried to do things away from that area. We were lucky enough to get reservations at The Pot Luck Club, the sister restaurant of The Test Kitchen, which is regularly on the World's Top 50 restaurant list. A+, would eat again.
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Feb 6, 2020 16:46
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I'm a pretty big beer guy and in late 2018 when I was in cape Town I couldn't really find great beer or breweries. Not to the level of USA/Canada at least. But the wine was amazing, and Stellenbosch is fantastic. So my recommendation would be to check out a new beer if you see it on a menu but seek out wine or other experience if you want something more unique.
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Feb 9, 2020 07:54
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That's a shame about the breweries, but I feel like I can't pass up the chance to go to at least one or two while I'm there. But even though I'm not a big wine drinker, I will absolutely check out the wineries and the vineyards while I'm there. I did try a bottle of white wine from Stellenbosch just to get a sense of it and I thought it was very good, so I can only imagine being blown away by the wine at the source.
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Feb 9, 2020 16:10
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For fun, check out the winery called Thelema. It's in a region close to Stellenbosch called Helshoogte ("Hell's Heights"). They make no mention anywhere in their marketing materials of any connection whatsoever to Aleister Crowley or weird black magic cults. The wine is actually very good. To be honest there's so much good wine around there that it's hard to go wrong. It's also fairly cheap, so worth picking up your duty free allowance's worth at the vineyards to bring back home.
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Feb 11, 2020 08:40
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 15:20 |
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I don’t think I had a bad glass of wine the entire time I was in South Africa. I was never a big white wine fan before I went but had the most amazing Sauvignon Blanc with some sushi.
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Feb 11, 2020 09:19
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