We arrived in Cape Town on a full-sized airplane and Steve Lake introduced us to our next driver and his fellow guide Nick. Nick has plenty of knowledge of game drives in the bush but wanted to pick up the Cape Town and surrounds knowledge that Steve Lake knows so well. The names! The dates! How does Steve keep it all straight? He confessed that he spouts off as he’s taking his kids to school and they’re all like, “Just drive the car, dad.”

Our hotel was The One and Only Cape Town, close to the aquarium and the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. The lobby and bar have a magnificent view of Table Mountain, and some days you wouldn’t even know it was there because of the cloud cover. That being said the next morning looked like an opportunity to go to the top with breaks of sun; so when you see a chance take it!

The cable car ride up to the top provided unobstructed views of Cape Town, the mountains and the coast. It was chilly and windy at the top and we were in and out of clouds, but it was so worth it.

Table Mountain is one of the 7 Wonders of Nature, and the description below is from the 7 Wonders website:

The main feature of Table Mountain is the level plateau approximately 3 kilometres (2 mi) from side to side, edged by impressive cliffs. The plateau, flanked by Devil’s Peak to the east and by Lion’s Head to the west, forms a dramatic backdrop to Cape Town. This broad sweep of mountainous heights, together with Signal Hill, forms the natural amphitheatre of the City Bowl and Table Bay harbour. The highest point on Table Mountain is towards the eastern end of the plateau and is marked by Maclear’s Beacon, a stone cairn built in 1865 by Sir Thomas Maclear for trigonometrical survey. It is 1,086 metres (3,563 ft) above sea level, about 19 metres (62 ft) higher than the cable station at the western end of the plateau.

Very impressive.

From there we off to the wine country, through the beautiful town of Stellenbosch and to Waterford Estate for a wine and chocolate pairing. The chocolates were to mimic the attributes of food one would eat while drinking these wines, so there were salty, spicy and sweet chocolate with our tasting. We’ll pretty much drink wine or eat chocolate with anything so it was all good. I was really taken by their Chenin Blanc. Some came home, only one is left.

I was really taken by their Chenin Blanc. Some came home, only one is left.

From there we drove to Tokara, another winery, restaurant and art gallery. Great wine, shrimp tempura and pork belly near a roaring fireplace. All good. And not done yet!

Thelema Mountain Vineyards is a special place. Tom Webb, the director and part of the family that owns the vineyard is a personal friend of Steve Lake’s. He took us on a tour of the vineyard, stopping on the mountainside with a gorgeous view and broke out a bottle of Thelema Brut. As it turns out this valley has perfect growing conditions for wine grapes and Thelema has become one of the most sought-after wines in South Africa. We had a tasting of their reds in their lovely tasting room as well.

That night we dined in the very hopping Victoria and Alfred Waterfront at Marble, a very hip restaurant overlooking the harbor. Not sure we needed more food but we all gave it our best shot.

Deborah

 

 

Up next – Penguins!