The Africa Journals
Chapter 49
The Winelands of South Africa
Reminds me of my safari in Africa. Somebody forgot the corkscrew and for several
days we had to live on nothing but food and water.—W.C. Fields
Congratulations,” says Brian. “This group has set a new record. You drank 14 bottles of wine at our meeting
last night.”
Well, we WERE in the heart of Stellenbosch, South Africa’s world-famous
wine-growing lands, so drinking wine was de
rigueur, no? I did my part—a half
glass of white wine.
Not only were we in Stellenboch, we were at the four star
Spier Hotel. We arrived late yesterday afternoon
after leaving Kruger National Park, driving to Mpumalanga airport, and flying
to the Cape Town airport.
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| Brian in the lobby of the Protea Kruger Gate Hotel. Is he sleeping.? He said he was checking messages on his phone or playing a game. Looks to me like he's doing it with his eyes closed. |
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| Table decor in the lobby of the hotel. |
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| Flying over the outskirts of Cape Town |
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| The iconic Table Mountain of Cape Town with Lion's Head on the right. |
After a short drive past enormous squatter towns and then orderly
vineyards, the driver slowed and pulled into the hotel grounds.
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| South African towns always had squatter towns, but they became enormous after Nelson Mandela was elected and essentially opened the country's borders. |
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| Even modest homes have squatter shanties in their backyards, often inhabited by grown children or rented out. |
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| Adjacent to the freeway, the shanties are constructed of anything that can be scrounged. |
We had time to get settled in our rooms and then look around
before the meeting, which was, as Brian said, the time to lure us into our next
trip with Vantage World Travel. His
problem is that he hasn’t been on any of the many adventures the
company offers though he has been with the company for a decade. They keep him busy with these three-week
trips like ours. Also, his long-time girlfriend is
a guide, though for another company and for shorter trips, and is much in
demand because she is multilingual.
So, we began talking about our adventures and encouraging
him to go when he had time. Tony and
Carol were on their 12th trip, and already signed up for
another. I was on my 3rd,
having traveled with Vantage to Russia, Antarctica, and now Africa. Many others offered their experienced
suggestions.
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| The meeting room where our group of 24 consumed a record 14 bottles of wine. I was early. |
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| An outdoor sitting area. |
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|
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| Hors d-oeuvres to go with the wine: potato chips, biltong (sausage--a South African favorite), peanuts, olives, and (hmmm...) I think this was dried beef. |
Then, it was time for dinner.
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| Our group at dinner, with more wine. |
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| My dinner: Looks like marinated artichoke, a cherry tomato, broccoli, rice, squash, chicken, a couple pieces of potato, and I have no idea what that other thing is. |
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| This looked way too much like Pavola for me. I took a photo because I liked the colorful fruit topping. |
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| Fruit salad. |
Room key in hand and pointed in the right direction, I head for Riverside Lane, which turns off of Village Walk. It's a good thing I have a map, otherwise I might still be dragging my hand carry around the grounds of Spier.
My friends have found their street.
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| Through the arbor... |
Here we go.
And, wow!
My door...
And, ohmyword, my room:
This is the largest hotel room I've ever seen. I'm guessing at 16x16, plus the bath and closet.
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| The mini-bar. |
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| There's also a separate shower. |
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| An iron bar holds the shutters closed. |
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| Each room has a fireplace. |
Let's go outdoors.
Each group of village-style rooms surrounds an interior courtyard, each with its own pool.
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| The courtyard. |
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| My room is the one on the lower left. It appears there are four rooms to a building. |
Tomorrow: more wine and a little history.
