Destination of the Week

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South Africa

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.  So goes the song but you’d never think of singing it in the winter . . . unless you’re in South Africa where summer starts in December.

It’s not a short trip – minimum is fourteen hours from the US – but it’s really a tremendous experience.  Believe us, it’s a different world.  In three days you can view the Indian and Atlantic Oceans’ merger from the Cape of Good Hope, watch whales and baboons up the coastline, celebrate delicious wines in Stellenbosch, and safari seeking the big five – lions, elephants, white rhino, wildebeest, and cheetah.

But, if you’re flying all that distance, spend the time to do it right.  Head for Capetown first.  You’ll recognize it as a truly metropolitan area yet replete with forests, parks, and plenty of beaches.  There’s plenty of nightlife from classical music to disco to theater. Include one night on the waterfront.  The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront surrounds the harbor where you can eat, drink and shop to your heart’s content. 

If you’re a water lover, there are beaches aplenty whether you swim, surf, fish, play water sports, or just hang out.  Check out Clifton, Muizenberg, Kometjie, Fishhoek and Hout bays.  If you’re daring, there’s Sandy Bay where you may be overdressed in a Speedo.  Enough said.

Quick visits include Robben Island – site of Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment, Table Mountain (take the cable car up and you’ll be looking back down on Capetown from over 3000 feet), and The Castle of Good Hope, a pentagon fortress from the 1660’s. 

Capetown also is the rallying point for visits to the cape and to the wine country.  The easiest mode of transportation is car . . . you easily can drive to The Cape of Good Hope.  Once parked, it’s a short and magnificent walk to Cape Point, the southernmost point of the peninsula.  There you can dive (with over 25 shipwrecks logged, many positioned for easy underwater exploration) or grab a tram to visit the old lighthouse.  Bird watching is easy and you’ll find baboons that will gladly deprive you of your lunch if you take your eye off it.

North of the cape, you’ll find yourself on the perimeter of some of South African’s wine country.  Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, and Paarl are the producers of the most and best wines of South Africa.

The region is truly beautiful, largely untouched since the original introduction of vines.  These were originally imported by the Dutch and by the French Huguenots but the European vines were eventually grafted to American rootstock which is much more resistant to attacks from phylloxera.  Today, some of the production is of local hybrids like Pinotage (Pinot Noir and Hermitage).  In addition, more well-known varietals like Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Pinot Noir are grown.  Many of these – both the local hybrids and the better-known varietals are scoring high in taste tests and demand is growing as the world discovers South African wines.

Franschhoek and Paarl – named for the huge granite rock that towers above the town and glistens like a pearl in the rain – were originally settled in the 1600’s.   The region grew slowly . . . Paarl didn’t become a city until 1840.  Today, you can stay in any of the wine towns, at a B&B or hotel/motel with ease.  It will give you a chance to tour the wineries and vineyards, taste to your heart’s content, and photograph or just take in the scenery.

From there, you can head north to the game reserves.  Sabi Sabi is one of the biggest and best.  A private reserve, they take reservations for singles or groups.  If you have a chance to go as a group, you’ll multiply the enjoyment.  The stay is in a bungalow and you’re in and among the animals.  It’ll be a long ride out to the reserve and your first evening you’ll probably spend time watching a variety of animals gravitate toward the watering hole nearby.  Enjoy the view but the next morning, you’ll be a lot closer.

Boarding a land rover, you’ll leave about 4:30 or 5AM (that’s AM and, no, it’s not the US’s PM.  It doesn’t work that way.)  You’ll have a guide/driver and a tracker.  Working together, the two will trail animals indigenous to the area.  While they won’t promise it – nobody can control the movement of the animals – the guide and tracker are set on finding the lion, elephant, giraffe, white rhino, zebra and cheetah and, along the way, wildebeest, kudu, springbok, impala, antelope, hyena, baboon, and the handsome warthog.  You’ll be back in time for breakfast then head back out on another expedition.

In the evening there’s yet another safari.  The lights from the vehicle don’t interfere with animal activity; however, you’ll find your guide stopping and extinguishing the lights should he sense the possibility of an attack of one animal on another.  The reason:  to “level the playing field” and not give either animal the advantage of the artificial light.  Once a kill occurs, for example a pride of lions attacking a springbok, the lights come back on . . . and once again, the animals totally ignore them.

The stays are for 4 to 5 days.  You may well experience some rain but it’s the wild and that’s what it’s all about so throw on the poncho and keep on trackin’.  Note that the only killing is within the laws of nature.  You’ll be an observer, not a hunter.  It doesn’t lessen the thrill!

From Sabi Sabi south, you’ll enjoy the tasty cuisines of South Africa.  One of the many influences of taste was that of the Indonesian slaves from the 1600’s.  They scoured up spices that cross Asian, Indian and European tastes including ginger, curry, cumin and many other spices.

Potjiekos is a “one pot” meal.  It never tastes the same because as hunters trap or shoot additional animals, they’re added to the stew.  Regardless of what’s in it, you can count on it being tasty – and interesting.  But if you really want interesting, go for mashonzha which is a mixture of chili and Mopani caterpillars.  Next week, we’ll be asking Ken whether Mopanis should be served with red or white.

Some more “local” dishes:  Achaar, a spicy mango and oil salad; Chakalaka, another salad with onion, ginger, garlic, carrots, green peppers and cauliflower with some chili peppers and curry thrown in; Frikkadel, ground beef, tomatoes and onion shaped into meat balls; Mogodu, which is tripe; Morogo, boiled spinach; Ting; a porridge from sorghum; and, finally, Skop, the boiled head of a cow or sheep.  These are all fun but you should know that there are great tastes to be experienced.  Springbok or kudu taste like venison and springbok stew is absolutely delightful. 

We’ll also mention, in passing, that there’s a favorite spicy sauce – peri peri – which is available.  Try it, but do so sparingly at first.  It can get pretty hot, especially if it’s your first experience.  Biltong is the South African equivalent of our beef jerky, made from beef or venison.  It’s chewy, spicy and perfect for car travel.  Make a note, though; don’t even try to bring any back.  You don’t want to experience the howl of one of US Customs’ hounds as she passes one of your bags.  

Enjoy your trip and let us know about any of your special experiences here.

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