Travel Tales - Day 8

Day 8 - Wow.... The views in Franschhoek are amazing. We arrived the night before and got ourselves settled. We opted for a low key dinner at a local pub as we were pretty tired and wanted to be well rested for the start of day 8.

We coordinated a driver to take us around to some local vineyards. We had done some research prior to arriving, so we had a good idea of where we wanted to spend the day. We knew we were enjoying the heavy handed nature of the South African pour, but when we learned that tastings at all of the vineyards are FREE, we were next level excited.

First up on the docket was Boekenhoutskloof. This was more of a commercially driven winery, one more in the business of profit and less in the business of love of wine. The lack of passion was evident, but the wine went down all the same. I think we were all glad this was our first stop of the day since it was lacking a personal touch. Coming out of the first one, we had no idea what we were in for with stop #2. Boy were we pleasantly surprised....

Up next, Maison Estate. What a welcomed change of pace. For all of those missing elements at Boekenhoutskloof, Maison made up for it ten times over. This was easily one of the coolest vineyards any of us had ever been to. It had everything - ambience, character, passion and the staff was equally as amazing. All of those positive attributes aside, the wine spoke for itself.

Following our tasting, we had lunch at the estate's restaurant, The Kitchen. As if the coziness of the tasting room were not enough, the views from our lunch table were even more than we could have dreamed. Complete with robust lemon trees and resident chickens, we had plenty to take in while we enjoyed the amazing cuisine.

3.5 hours later, we had time for only one more stop before our time with the driver ended. Jason had heard of a place called Chamonix, and it was close to where we were staying so it worked out perfectly. We popped into a quaint little tasting room. It was more old world than the others, but also more occupied by guests. We engaged in friendly conversation with the couples seated around us - one from Brazil and the other from Australia. It was definitely a short and sweet tasting compared to the one prior, but it was the perfect end to the day.

We got home with plenty of time to relax, taking our time to get ready for the dinner we had scheduled at The Tasting Room. A definite difference from the fast paced lifestyle experiences we had in Cape Town.

The Tasting Room is said to be one of South Africa's top restaurants. While the potential is certainly there, I think we were all pretty disappointed overall. Aside from Jason....he dug it. Claire and I are both pretty selective with meats, but tend to try anything when put in a tasting menu environment. We almost always surprise ourselves with how much we enjoy items we would otherwise never have tried. This was, unfortunately, not one of those times....

I'm probably making it sound like more of a downer than it really is. We have just had SO many great culinary experiences thus far, this one just fell a little short in comparison. Regardless, it by no means put a damper on the day as a whole.  The wine, the culture, the views.... Perfection.

Travel Tales - Day 7

Day 7 - A day full of driving. Sounds completely miserable, but words cannot even begin to describe what we experienced today. How easy it is for us to live our lives, giving no mind to the beauty that exists in places we may least expect it. Traveling reminds us of this and can be quite a humbling experience, especially on a day like today.

Ultimately a travel day, destination Franschhoek, we opted to make things a bit more interesting and turned this into a tour of Boulders Beach, Cape Point, The Cape of Good Hope and plenty of other countless images that will stay with us forever. We even had a rain shower produce the largest rainbow any of us had ever seen, shining directly over False Bay - the most shark infested waters in the world, and where we will be diving on the 30th.

Our day was filled with penguins, whale sightings, an ostrich encounter, hiking the lookouts at Cape Point and lots of coastal driving. As I said, words cannot do the experience justice, but perhaps a few photos from my phone can attempt to try (the real ones will come later when we are home and can download from our real camera!).

We are now in Franschhoek, gearing up for lots and lots of wine for the next few days!

Travel Tales - Day 6

Day 6 - It was quite cold and a bit rainy. Another early start for us, as this was the morning of our pre-scheduled tour of Robben Island. Nothing screams "post-anniversary celebration," quite like a prison tour - am I right?!

We were among the first to arrive and board the boat - very fortunate for us as we were on high alert, dealing with Brandon's motion sickness disability. We were able to snag first dibs on the top level seats, selecting only those allowing for fresh air and fully equipped with "lean over edge and release" capabilities (should it come to that...). Then we waited, which leaves little to be desired for the anxious...

The sea was angry that day, with swells that felt as though we were co-stars in the Perfect Storm 2. All of that said, Brandon was a champ. No vom jobs to report, as he kept his sights on the horizon to maintain his stability. Claire on the other hand was not so comfortable with the rocking of the boat for the 45 minute ride. On numerous occasions she squeezed Jason in fear that we were capsizing. It was definitely the choppiest of waters I've ever been on (as was evident by the German girl ralphing off of the edge), but we were on a South African navy vessel built for such disturbances.

Boat ride aside, the tour was so captivating because the guide was a former inmate. INCREDIBLE. He was so interesting, with a great sense of humor. I only wish we had more time with him, and that others took more interest in his own experiences as opposed to the photo opps of Nelson Mandela's garden and former prison cell. Of course those hold great significance to South Africa as a whole, and I imagine he is used to such overlooking, but can you imagine what stories our guide could have shared beyond what was on the surface?!

The moment we returned from the island and stepped off the boat, we received some pretty devastating news - our shark encounter for the 28th had been cancelled due to high seas. I wanted to cry... Instead, I went into total work mode, finessing every possible angle I could with spotty internet access and a single cell phone.

My husband can talk his way into anything - which is arguably the single most powerful gift a human can possess - but I thrive in high stress environments, using whatever resources I may have at my disposal to create the best possible outcome in a given situation. I only mention this because no one ever sees that side of me. Jason and Claire were floored when they saw how quickly I managed this situation on the fly, adjusting our schedule accordingly without compromising a single reservation or experience we had planned. Brandon knows these types of activities are my strong suit, so he took over in calming Jason and Claire - wining and dining them while I attempted to work some logistical magic outside our lunch spot. In the end, we had to adjust some things, but we are still swimming with the sharks as planned. Crisis averted!

In the midst of our Jaws fiasco, we randomly walked by a guy who Brandon knew from SLU! It was a friend of a friend situation, but how amazing it was to see a familiar face clear across the globe - especially in such a large city and very random location within it. Such a small world... We spoke for awhile, compared itineraries to see if anything may overlap, and then parted ways.

After dealing with the chaos of the day and bouncing around the Woodstock area once more, we headed out to what would be our final dinner in Cape Town. We saved the very best for last, dining at The Test Kitchen for our final hurrah.  Apparently an extremely difficult reservation to secure, we took nothing for granted as we splurged for the tasting menu with wine pairing. It was the best possible end to not only the extremely stressful day, but also the incredible experiences that took place in Cape Town over the past 5 days.

Each day was better than the last. Filled with culture, experience and culinary delicacies, the first leg of our travels was truly an ideal combination for our crew. While we were sad to leave, we stayed up late talking about the exciting new chapters yet to come in our African journey instead of dwelling on this first one coming to an end.

On to Franschhoek!