10/24 All Day Winelands Tour

We left our hotel in Cape Town at 8:00am for an all day tour of vineyards with a total of ten guests from our tour group. We were greeted by Kevin, a local tour guide raised here as a youngster. Enroute to the winelands, about a 1 hour ride, he shared some history of Cape Town with us. More than I can share in this blog, but a brief summary would include the early Dutch settlements, the Apartheid events, Nelson Mandala story, the struggles of the poor and the housing challenges. Well to do folks live more central to the city, while the poor push to the outskirts in “shanty towns”, most relying on government support.

A stop at a small village named “Stellenbosch” enroute to the vineyards gave us an hour of free time to explore the historic Dutch settlement. A neat little tourist and small college community, lots of shops and history to explore.

Then on to the wine vineyards, three in total with taste sampling a must. South African wines are famous world wide and many thereof. Our tour guide picked three favorites: 1. Delaire Graff 2. Marianne Wine Estate 3. Malherbe Family “Eikehof”. All had several flavors to sample, and of course the opportunity to purchase, which several folks did, including us. The last one was by far the best presentation, with a complement of cheeses and meats to enjoy with the tasting. Suffice to say, I was feeling pretty good by days end returning to our hotel around 6:30pm.

Fun day and a new experience for us. Meeting lots of new folks as well.