I left Thursday night Sept. 25, the week before Spring Break, and took the bus with about 6 or 7 other friends to Stellenbosch, the 2nd oldest town in South Africa and the largest wine producing city in the entire country. The bus ride was 12 hours and we took it over night. So, the bus was an experience all in its own; big black women with their little children eating fried chicken which stunk up the whole bus with the addition of Arnold Swartzanager 90s movie Eraser and some other random 90s movie that was extremely boring and hard to follow. So if that doesn't specify that I did not sleep at all, then yeah, I didn't sleep more than 2 hours on the bus and upon arrival in Stellenbosch it was raining. It wasn't that bad though BECAUSE after getting off the bus we ran into a women who obviously knew we were internationals and asked us if we wanted a ride to our accommodations. It was awesome!! A lifesaver at the most! And on top of it she was driving a nice ass BMW!
So we eventually made it to the backpacker, Stumble Inn, convieniently named because of the wine tours they hold equate to drunkin' stumbling students. That Friday I just walked around town, taking in the periodic sites and surrounds whenever the rain would stop and the clouds would clear. It was extremely beautiful and breath taking. I love Stellenbosch, the people (well not the women, fucking Afrikaans bitches) and the locals and just the atmosphere. So that night the group decided instead of eating out, we would have a huge braai at the backpacker. It was awesome!! I love to braai and for some reason I am always the one designated the position. Maybe its because I love to BBQ or maybe because no one else likes to take on the position of standing over hot flaming fire and smelling like cooked meat the following morning but anyhow, I was given all the props after the meal was consumed of which I received hardly little. Oh well, thats what you get when you cook for a large drunken group!
The Next day we set out on the wine tour. We went to four different wineries, all of prominent distinction in the Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Franschoek area. It was so much fun, especially since we went three wineries I had anticipated on getting to. Simonsig, Fairview, Boschondel, and Diou Donne. Simonsig is globally renowned, well for those who care about the wines here in SA. They have a beautiful blend of red wines, many Shiraz and Pinotage which they have some international awards for their blends of Pinotage and Merlot ( Tiarra 2000 & 2001) as well as their Frans Malan Reserve (Pinotage Cab and merlot) a wine which I greatly enjoyed. As for the others, more subtle but also some excellent reds and whites for the everyday dinner occassion. Boschondel makes a fabulous Shiraz, try the 2001 if you can get your hands on this limited supply of bottles or the 2004, which I managed to buy and hopefully bring back to the states for a little more maturity and aging. Any how, the tour was so much fun; everyone was drunk by the time we got back, 530, except for Jo and I so we decided the night needed just a bit more adventure. Oh and did we find ourselves an adventure! We ended up at a local student hang out drinking the locally brewed cervesa for R5 = .60cents. From there we stumbled over to this other little pub of which the name neither of us can remember to find the local students dressed in costumes and the South African overalls dancing and singing. We were warmly welcomed by a few of the students and introduced to the local favorite drink, double cane and cream soda. I don't think I have had a tastier cheap drink in my life, but the night went on and we continued to our drink extravaganza! We made it back to the hostel around 3 or so, broke and debilitated. Waking the next morning was the only hardship of the entire trip but we managed to make it out of the hostel around 11 and off to some more wineries. We managed to make it out to two on foot, both of which were spectacular wineries, Nethingsholf and Asara. Nethingsholf is one winery I truly love, and am very happy I was able to make it out there. The 350 hectare farm is one of the largest in Stelenbosch, and one of the newer more acclaimed families making some rave reviews here in SA as well as internationally. The 2001 Cab Sav was phenomenal! Jo and I split a bottle which we plan to drink sometime soon with a huge Kudu or Ostrich steak! Asara was seeming okay, with the Chardonnay Reserve winning our hearts.
That night we took it easy and ate out at a Sosati Restaurant, sosati meaning kebab in for Southern Africans. We tried some crocodile, kudu, eland, springbok and some other kinds of antelope. I also tried an exceptional potjies, another traditional south african dish which in corperates the Indian and Asian style of cooking with traditional African flavours and meat. Tired from the night before, we just went back and hit the hay early.
The following day, we jumped onto the train for Cape Town, 1st class baby!!
We arrived their in a down pour of rain and thunder storm action. We walked to the backpackers which the rest of the group was planning on staying at for I was to meet up with the CEA group because Cape Town was to be our final paid excursion. The backpackers the others stayed in was situated on Long St., a famous, friendly and Haight st. like atmosphere located in the Central part of Cape Town in the City Bowl so named because of its position central to the surrounding granite Table Mountain range. Their are venders all along the street corners, shops selling clothing of all kinds, health food stores, coffee shop after coffee shop, and cooll places to just hang out and have a beer. Oh and not to mention the immensity of Nite Club after Nite Club after Nite Club!! I walked around checking out the different shops, finding myself more at home with this type of South Africa. Later that night I met up with CEA group in Sea Point. We were about a mile from the new football stadium being built in Cape Town, which is so big! So the major things we did on our excursion included going up Table Mountain which was breath taking. I ran into a very nice guy from New Mexico who just got his degree in Geology which meant the guy was in South Africa heaven. After we ventured to Hout Bay and took a boat out to a small island just around the point which is largely inhabited by Cape Fur Seals. Man the smelt but it was super nice being out on the ocean again. I miss it so much! We ate lunch in Hout Bay and were able to make it to a few museums that day which exemplified the Cape Colony established 1652 and the different tribes that made a living off the land prior to the arrival of white man. It was a really fun time and that night I met back up with Jo and Jenn for a little pool action and R10 beers. We played pool for a few hours, and after downing a few shots we made our way to Rouge Room. We had just missed the band headlining that night but were just in time for more shots!! Hahaha... and I think that is all that needs to be said about that night!
Next day was a lovely hang over cure in the Botanical Gardens of Kirstenbosch and a trip to Cape Point, South Western most point of Africa. That night we meet up with the huge group at a night club and were pleased to see they actually had Corona!! Danced a bit that night and headed off to bed, marginally early. We spent the next day in Stellenbosch, Franshoek, and Paarl, a second round for me which I enjoyed greatly. That night we ate amazing pizza and talked with a super cool guy from Colombia. The next day we set off back to PE, sadly. We stopped for lunch in this little town in the middle of who-knows-where only to find the tube circulating coolant was leaking and in the aftermath my bottle of Frans Malan was lost. I was pissed but was able to get the dumb-ass bus driver to pay me back for the bottle. Hopefully I can find it again in PE or else I am going to be pissed! Anyhow, thats the summation of my time over the past week. Hopefully everyone was enjoying their time doing whatever it was they did or didnt do. All I can say is that I want school to be over NOW!!! I want to continue the traveling especially now that the dollar has elevated to 9% on the rand. That and PE is so boring that even sleeping sounds amazing. Oh well. I look forward to finishing exams in a little under 2 months and look to travel up through the Wild Coast and Maputaland for three weeks! Cheers!
