How to a enjoy Cape Town Holiday
Under normal circumstances one wouldn't recommend drinking wine at 10 in the morning to bring out the best in a holiday. But then lounging under a
fiercely hot sun, surrounded by some of the most beautiful and lush
countryside one could ever hope to find, with hardly a fellow holidaymaker
in sight, aren't normal circumstances.
Nestled among the foothills and along the jagged, ragged slopes of the
Stellenbosch and Franschoek Mountains, about an hour's drive from Cape Town,lie some of South Africa's most enviable land on which a motley assortment of dreamers, businessmen, passionate amateurs and chancers have sought out their own personal Holy Grape Grails to put them on the international vineyard map.
And 350 years after they were first cultivated by Dutch pioneers, the
Winelands as they're now called, are as impressive for their produce as for
their pulchritude. The award-laden Vergelegen Estate in Stellenbosch, for
instance, where we found ourselves for a welcome late breakfast of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, is set among vibrant rose gardens and mysterious 300-year-old camphor trees that turn a simple wine-tasting among friends into a beguiling, dream-like morning out that you almost wish wouldn't end.
The nearby Morgenster Estate is a relative newcomer, just a few years old
but already winning plaudits for its Francophile red wines and Italianate
olive oils, while further on, the courtyard of the Waterford Estate is an
odd blend of Mexican-style hacienda, Provencale subtlety with a welcoming
South African sense of spirited fun. And the fun comes in the shape of an
enticing row of velvety-smooth red wines, each paired with a Belgian
chocolate, designed to enhance the flavours of both. Bizarre though it may
sound, shiraz and salt-encrusted bitter chocolate seem made for each other.
Well, we needed some solids, it was elevensies after all and what better way
to .
Further on into the mountains, Franschoek, a smaller but no less beautiful
enclave of loosely regimented vineyards and meandering roads, lays claim to
be a foodie haven too, hosting some of South Africa's most celebrated
restaurants. We rather tipsily made our way to one of the finest, La Petite
Ferme, which also has its own bijou vineyard, for a lunch of locally sourced
trout and thinly-sliced warthog (trust me, a real treat), relieved to toast
our indispensible host and guide Glen, one of a number of specialists who
organise tailor-made trips throughout the Winelands (Vineyard Ventures, see
below) - after all, there's no sense in driving yourself, wary of drinking
too much, and doing things in half-measures. Granted there are spittoons
galore on the wine estates but when you're being enticed to enjoy the fruits
of someone else's labours, it seems rather rude, to my palate at least, to
expectorate all over the place.
There's something wonderfully Bacchanalian - and forgiveably so, since
wine-tasting is quite clearly an arduous, stressful and serious learning
experience - about spending indulgent hours in the homes of celebrated
winemakers only to complete the day with a late lunch overlooking the vast
expanse of mountains and valleys from which you've just light-headedly
emerged.
If wine isn't your thing, then the impressive Dutch-style architecture of
both Franschoek and Stellenbosch should make the drive from the city centre
just as satisfying, places where white-fenced verandas and balconies jostle
with perfectly-thatched roofs and pristine Dutch-style churches with
towering spires that pierce the dark blue sky. If you can drag yourself away
from the beaches and book in at one of the boutique bed and breakfasts
around the main thoroughfares, it's more than a day out, to be honest.
But then that's the (rather enviable) problem with a holiday in Cape Town -
whatever you do, you're bound to be missing out on something just as
gratifying. With these interminably drab days and cold nights, it's the
perfect time to warm the cockles by planning a spot of winter sun for the
end of the year. For our family, Disneyworld was far too brash, the
Caribbean carried with it the hazard of having to share a beach with Michael
Winner and some Asian holiday resorts seem to have strayed just the wrong
side of mass-tourism. South Africa, on the other hand, is still - remarkably
- largely unspoilt and, just as important if you've got a young family,
there's only a two-hour time difference so the overnight flights, though
long, don't leave you with any jet-lag.
Seemingly endless stretches of dazzling white sand, secret little coves and
sheltered horseshoe-shaped bays are not just perfect playgrounds for kids
aged 2 to 92, they're hardly ever crowded. And if you're not brave enough to
dip a toe in the Antarctic-chilled sea that pounds the smooth boulders on
the well-heeled and pretty-peopled resorts of Camps Bay, Clifton and the
spectacularly-deserted Llandudno, well it'll take you all of 30 minutes to
find an unclaimed acre of sand on the warmer Indian Ocean side.
A word of warning though - and this from a battle-hardened family for whom
swimming in the Cornish sea in rainy Easter holds no fears - when the locals
tell you the water's cold, don't ignore them and plunge in with abandon as
my over-eager five-year-old did. I treasure the image of his stunned face,
thin dark blue lips quivering and limp, lifeless arms dripping, as he
stuttered the words W..w.w.. why is it so c.c.c.cold, Daddy?'
What most thrills about the beaches of Cape Town, however, is not the sheer
expanse of them, nor the fact that, dwarfed by the imposing Table Mountain
behind, they must boast the world's most spectacular backdrop. It's the fact
that so many seem to have their own image or personality. You want
family-friendliness? Well the warm waters of Fish Hoek to the south east of
the city are perfect. Want to go people spotting? Head to Camps Bay or the
coveted 'Fourth Beach at Clifton. Or how about heading to Hout Bay for
peace, quiet and pretty much your own stretch of coast and beachside
brasserie (the charming Mariner's Wharf). And if you're a surfer, then
Muizenberg, the now-faded playground of the rich and famous beginning to
enjoy something of a renaissance with its unspoilt views all the way down to
Cape Point, is simply breathtaking. We tried them all, and still can't
decide which was best.
If you really want to explore, then a car is a must. Don't be put off - you
drive on the left, the roads are top-notch and it's far safer driving than
in many parts of inner-city Britain. Cape Town's city centre - the City Bowl
- is, for the most part, a safe and comfortable place to base yourself. It's
an intriguing mix of old and new, formal and informal. Many of the fine
ornate buildings if the 18th and 19th centuries have been preserved and
restored to their former glory, splendid reminders of a less hurried age.
They sit, cheek by jowl, next to the soaring glass and steel constructions
that provide the 21st century gloss.
But for families, true hedonists and the more adventurous, leave the city
centre and head for the suburbs, in particular the millionaires' playground
of Constantia, dwarfed by Table Mountain on its eastern side, where you'll
find mansions with obligatory tennis courts and swimming pools, lawns so
well-maincured you get the feeling they were probably massaged after being
cut, estates with their own vineyards and front courtyards large enough to
park several buses. You'll find the odd vulgar touch (no, not Mark Thatcher,
he's persona non grata, but mock-Tudor porches do seem a little out ofplace
here) yet it's lush, exotic and the sunrises are as spectacular as the early
evening sunsets. And all from around £100 a day. Companies like Cape Private Properties (see below) are happy to discuss your needs, scour the area for the right rental home and then drop everything to answer the SOS call when the DVD player packs up. Living in the comfort of your own 'home', a few gentle footsteps from the warm pool to the chilled crayfish and chardonnay in the fridge, untethered by the demands of hotel-life, seems to allow for a more Cape Townian lifestyle - shoeless, shirtless andunabashedly
pleasure-seeking.
The nearby Kirstenbosch gardens (www.nbi.ac.za) make for a truly spectacular outing, home to almost 10,000 of southern Africa's flora species, its outdoor music venue encourages the taking of lazy picnics as you gaze at the sweeping landscape that seems to merge seamlessly with Table Mountain's fynbos-cloaked slopes.
Obviously the Mountain itself, with its own temperamental weather system
that tends to hide its peak in a wispily or densley-clouded 'tablecloth', is
Cape Town's most popular tourist attraction and the breathtaking ride up to
the summit in the cable car (www.tablemountain.net), rotating as you rise,
provides magnificent views of the clustered districts stretching out to the
sea below.
It's an ever-evolving city, empty pieces of land eagerly siezed upon to
build yet another beautifully-designed, glass-fronted home. But the city's
changing nature is probably best-expressed in the newly-developed Victoria
and Albert waterfront in the old harbour (www.waterfront.co.za), where a
cornucopia of cafes, shops, restaurants, markets, hotels and even an
aquarium eagerly vie for your rand. A little overly-touristy perhaps but
it's a great destination for when the children start to kick up a stink
about their lazy parents.
Lazy, that is, until around 8pm when the babysitter arrived. Again, if you
choose to rent a home the company you pick, or independent travel agents you book the holiday through like African Leisure Travel, will be able to put
you in touch with trusted staff to watch the kids while you indulge in what
has fast become one of the most lauded - and cheapest - centres of foodie
excellence on the planet. With at least 10 rand to the pound, you'll be
hard-pressed to spend more than £20 a head on food and wine. Obviously,
seafood is especially coveted here - it's a haven for prawns, mussels, tuna,
monkfish and the local kingclip speciality. Blues in Clifton has a real
sparkle overlooking the sea and its Californian-fusion food has kept it a
hot destination for 18 years. More subdued, glamorous and chic, the Savoy
Cabbage in the City Bowl shows the other side to Cape Townian cuisine -
serious, sophisticated with a strong gamey theme. There's a lot of culinary
influences from across the planet at work here - Japanese, Australian,
Malaysian, Italian and French (the impossibly-romantic La Colombe in
Constantia is a Francophile's foodie heaven) - though perhaps the biggest
changes at the moment are in the emergence of a cafe society with good
coffee now regarded as important as a fine bottle of pinotage. For an
unforgettable meal, head down the Indian Ocean coast to Olympia Cafe and
Deli. It's grubby, rickety and chaotic but the food - from ciabatta
sandwiches to curried mussels and sausages and mash - is legendary. You
might have to queue but, boy, will it be worth it.
Naturally, there are still some concerns over safety, particularly if you're
new to the idiosyncracies of Africa and this still scarred country, but
security is tight and if you're sensible it's as safe as any westernised
city. The welcome you'll get on the other hand is as warm and sunny as the
climate. As Glen, our temporarily teetotal winelands guide pointed out:
'This country needs people like you to make it work. Of course there's
extreme poverty but there's also extreme beauty and the latter can help
alleviate the problems of the former. This is a paradise here - we just need
to let more people know.'
Vineyard Ventures - vinven@iafrica.com, tel: +27 (0)21 434 8888
Cape Private Properties - nickm@cpprop.com, tel: +27 (0)21 794 7661,
www.cpprop.com for Cape Town Holiday villa Rentals.
African Leisure Travel - +27 (0)21 797 1373, www.africanleisuretravel.com
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