Relatively low car rental fees in South Africa encouraged us to travel farther afield. There is so much to do in the area around Cape Town, driving along a spectacular coast or heading inland into the western cape’s vast winelands, with about 300 vineyards, that starts near Stellenbosch, just 31 miles away via the N2.
We planned a long weekend to celebrate Bastille Day in Franschhoek, a wine making community founded by French Huguenots in the 17th century. French roots aside, the village is full of Cape Dutch architecture and set in a valley surrounded by the Drakenstein and Groot Drakenstein mountain ranges. The lower slopes provide the vineyards in the valley with unique terroirs. Afterwards we ventured down to Hermanus on the coast to look for whales.
But first we had to get there. Just before our exit off the N2, the silhouettes of several tall sailing ships broke the horizon as if they were crossing an inland sea. Imagining a pirate swinging from a yardarm, we did a quick double take and followed a side road down to the entrance of Cape Town Film Studios, where a guard waved us away when we stopped to take pictures. They’ve hosted many international productions that include Doctor Who, Tomb Raider, Outlander and Mad Max Fury Road.
Across the street from the movie studio, our wine tasting started at Vergenoegd Löw The Wine Estate. The vineyard is known for its biodiversity, sustainability and conservation efforts. It uses a flock of 1200 Indian Runner Ducks to cruise the undergrowth of the grape vines and devour snails and other pests that can destroy the harvest. Three times a day, wranglers gather the flock and parade it through the beautiful estate for the amusement of visitors. Of course, there are wine tastings and food available to encourage you to linger and enjoy the setting. It was our first of several visits; the place was just delightful.
Our travel mantra is usually “walk a little, then café, walk a little more, then café.” This changes to “drive a little, café, pitstop” when it’s a road trip. And staying true to our philosophy, we stopped at the Root 44 Market just before Stellenbosch, for a quick look. This is one of the weekend markets with live music, food and craft vendors that have become so popular in the region. We had the most sinful donuts from Desire Donuts. These truly would have become addictive if they were closer to home.
Driving through Stellenbosch we came across a large bronze sculpture of a giant octopus outside the studio/gallery of Stephen Rautenbach. It’s a nice gallery space filled with pieces that capture the spirit of the South African animals he’s sculpted.
Around the corner we enjoyed some homemade Turkish delight and Turkish coffee before continuing our drive to our B&B for two nights, Val d’Or Estate in Franschhoek. A long dirt driveway led to a pretty, naturally landscaped property with a large pond and swimming pool overlooked by the guesthouse.
Our room was spacious and comfortable, bigger than several studio apartments we have rented. We spent a little time walking around the pond, watching the weaver birds dart in and out of their hanging nests, before the sunset.
The next morning, we passed an enormous amount of red, white and blue bunting festooning every building on either side of the street as we headed to the festival grounds at the Huguenot Monument on the far end of the village. 
We followed the queue of beret wearing Francophiles draped in colors of the flag, past a vintage car show and a very competitive barrel rolling contest, to the Food & Wine Marquee, where our tickets included a live concert by South African rocker Karen Zoid, two very nice wine glasses, tasting coupons and R20 vouchers to use towards the purchase of food or bottles of wine.
Thirty vineyards poured generous samples of their white, red, and rose wines along with champagne. The crowd sang along when Karen Zoid took the stage and performed a collection of her South African hits and La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, for a nostalgic audience. She also paid tribute to rocker Johnny Clegg, who passed away earlier in July. He was the first Afrikaner singer during the apartheid era to form a band with a black man, Sipho Mchunu, called Juluka. They were hugely successful and beloved by many. It was a lot of fun sampling the wines and purchasing bottles of our favorites to enjoy in Cape Town later.
We had planned to follow R45 east through the rugged terrain of Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve to Bot River and continue on the R43 south into Hermanus, but a winter rock slide had indefinitely blocked the road and forced us to backtrack through Stellenbosch.
Luck was with us when we pulled into the Sir Lowry’s Pass View Point, in time to see several paragliders launch from the steep slope of the overlook. The view toward the town of Strand, on False Bay, with its long sandy crescent of beach, was incredible. Further on fruit orchards lined both sides of the road for as far as we could see. The valley’s unique climate, cooler and wetter than the surrounding region, is perfect for the local orchards to blossom. Today the Elgin region produces 65% of South Africa’s export crop of deciduous fruits.
We were working our way to the Elgin Railway Market, another beloved Saturday/Sunday venue for Cape families, in the “Valley of Apples.” Appropriately it’s housed in a renovated railway warehouse where the region’s famous fruits were stored before being loaded onto trains and sent to Cape Town or Port Elizabeth for export. It’s a huge, two story space, with wine, food and craft vendors, a performance stage and rock-climbing wall. 
Located directly across the street from the ocean, the Windsor Hotel would be our base for the next two nights. It’s a modest old hotel, built originally as a sanatorium in 1896, then converted to a hotel in 1931. It still retains much of its original character with fireplaces in the wood paneled common areas, arched doorways and wide staircases. The breakfast room was outstanding with large picture windows facing the sea.
Walker Bay’s thunderous waves crashing against the rocky coastline were spectacular with their large sprays as we walked along the Hermanus’ Cliffside Path to Gearing’s Point, a scenic overlook, hoping to spot whales. Our Cape Town friends had mentioned that it’s often possible to sight Southern Right Whales from the shore here during their June to November calving season, after which they head back to the waters of Antarctica.
It’s a well-defined trail, with cement, dirt and boardwalk sections, that starts at the village’s New Harbor and hugs the coast for 7.5 miles, ending at the Klein River Estuary. Five miles of the path are wheelchair accessible. In some places it passes under trees twisted to grow almost parallel to the ground, by the fierce South Atlantic winds that blow in from Antarctica.
In the off-season not everything is open and we had to search awhile before finding Oskars Bakery, two blocks in from the ocean on High Street, for coffee. But with one glance at the pastry case we were hooked. We both agree it had to be one of the best bakeries in the western cape. 
The seascapes from the cliffside path were beautiful, but we hadn’t spotted any whales and the village’s whale crier wasn’t sounding his kelp horn. Yep, what started as a publicity stunt has become tradition and Hermanus has had an official, and the world’s only, whale crier since 1992. 
In 2016 the movie The Whale Caller was adapted from South African author Zake Mda’s 2005 novel, of the same name, which has the whale crier as the central character.
Hoping for better luck, we booked a whale watching excursion operating out of the village’s new harbor. There are a number of tour operators that run excursions out of this port, but we liked the look of the Unathi, a 50ft catamaran, that Hermanus Whale Watchers uses. 
With skipper Emile at the helm, the first mate tossed the mooring lines to the dock and we departed onto a gently rolling sea. Phillip, a registered naturalist with a delightful wry sense of humor shared his love of the sea with us. “There’s a good chance we’ll see Southern Rights today. We spot them by their distinctive V-shaped blow and the callosities (clusters of barnacle like growths) on their heads. We may also see Africa Penguins, Fur Seals, Dolphins, migrating Humpback Whales and resident Bryde’s Whales.” Psyched now, all eyes scanned the horizon for any telltale signs of these gigantic, yet elusive creatures.
Blows were spotted, yet the whales had dived to a greater depth before we got closer. We eventually encountered a small pod just off-shore at Die Plaat beach, a ten mile stretch of wild, rocky and sandy beach, backed by tall dunes. The captain skillfully maneuvered us as close to the beach as possible as we followed the pod of Southern Rights, that sometimes surfaced close enough to hear the puff of their blows. We were thrilled, but a little disappointed also, that there wasn’t any tail slapping or breaching. Back ashore we had a wonderful lunch of fried calamari and fresh oysters at a little place on the wharf, the Quayside Cabin.
Heading back to Cape Town late the next day, we followed the scenic R44 coastal road through the seaside villages of Kleinmond, Betty’s Bay, Pringle Bay and Rooi-Els as the golden hour was approaching. 
Each turn of the road offered a dramatic view of the coast and we stopped many times for photos. We merged back onto the R2 at Gordons Bay just after sunset for the ride the rest of the way back to the city.
So many regions of the Western Cape are stunningly beautiful!
Till next time, Craig & Donna
After our last apartment in the “Mother City,” on Bree Street, we moved to the Sea Point neighborhood and as its name suggests, it hugs the coastline under Signal Hill and Lion’s Head Mountain. Finding the ideal apartment for our last 30 days in Cape Town required a bit of detective work on our part though. One of the draw backs of using Airbnb is that it does not provide the specific address of a property until you actually book it. So, while the interior photos of a listing might be charming, its exact location could be anywhere within a five-block radius of a dot on the map, unless the host gives hints in the apartment description.
In Sea Point this could mean on the water or nowhere near it. But with a little sleuthing regarding our final three choices, we were able to determine which one was right on the waterfront. Our reconnaissance of the neighborhood paid off and we booked a sixth-floor one-bedroom apartment with a terrace, that had an ocean view for dramatic sunsets and inland views of the paragliders launching from Signal Hill. 
It was the perfect location across from the Sea Point promenade. The lively Mojo Market, with numerous food stalls and live music seven nights a week, was just around the corner. Here we enjoyed the best fresh oysters and mussels in sauce at The Mussel Monger & Oyster Bar while sipping South African wine or local craft beers as the nightly band played.
It’s actually possible to walk along the promenade from the V&A Waterfront all the way to the Camps Bay Beach. It’s a little over six miles in length, but it’s a popular stretch of sidewalk, which locals call the Prom.
Weather permitting, paragliders seemed to launch in rapid succession all day long from Signal Hill, first riding the thermals along the ridge towards Lion’s Head before turning back and gracefully spiraling down over the rooftops of Sea Point to land in a grassy park next to the promenade.
We transitioned easily into our new neighborhood, finding three grocery stores and 
Cape Town artists will paint anywhere and the walls of the underground parking garage at the Pick ‘n Pay – Sea Point were the perfect canvases for some incredibly talented street muralists. Sadly, we don’t think enough folks see these hidden works of art.
In Hout Bay, time flew by at the 
The wind was so strong it made it impossible to hold the camera steady. We soaked in the views as long as we could before the buffeting winds forced our retreat. Sitting outside at the snack bar we were astonished to witness a baboon snatch an ice-cream cone from a young boy and then gobble it up with great delight.
We revisited the Simon’s Town area several times, because to see all the spots that interested us required more than one day. The big draw to Simon’s Town was the Boulders Penguin Colony. This is a restricted reserve where visitors must stay on the boardwalk in the viewing areas. Our timing was perfect as penguin chicks had recently hatched and could be seen at the nests snuggling against their parents for warmth. The beach was full of activity, with different groups of penguins doing their best Charlie Chaplin struts into or out of the turquoise waters of the bay.
One morning in late July we opted to try a whale watching tour again, this time from the Simon’s Town waterfront, hoping to see some tail slapping or breaching action that was elusive in Hermanus earlier. Alas, we only viewed one tail slap on this trip. As much as the tour operators want you to believe July is a good month for viewing whales, based on our disappointing experiences we’d suggest waiting till later in August or September for more certainty when larger whale pods return to the waters of False Bay. But it was a smooth day at sea, cruising along a dramatic coast and we did get to view a large colony of sea lions on some offshore rocks.
Once outside of Cape Town the R27 cut a desolate track through a rolling landscape of open fynbos with scarcely a tree to be seen. Every so often the head of an antelope or ostrich could be seen emerging above the bushes on either side of the road. The heather clad landscape eventually gave way to pastureland speckled with sheep and wheat fields.
Paternoster is one of the Western Cape’s oldest fishing villages, dating from the early 1800s, and is said to have gotten its name from Portuguese sailors who evoked the Lord’s Prayer to save themselves from shipwreck off its coast. The area was first explored when Vasco da Gama landed nearby in Helena Bay, in 1497. By then the area had been inhabited by the indigenous Khoisan for thousands of years. Hunter-gatherers, they harvested dune spinach, an local vegetable, from the beaches, and shellfish from the area waters, and they left behind middens that have been estimated to be 3,000-4,000 years old. The harvesting of the ocean’s bounty continues, with fishermen still launching their small boats into the sea from the beach and returning with fish and lobsters. As you pull into the village it’s not unusual to see fishermen selling their day’s catch from five- gallon buckets at the town’s intersections, where they hoist live lobsters aloft and yell “kry hier kreef!”, Afrikaans for “get some lobster here.” Aside from the picturesque whitewashed and thatched roofed fisherman’s cottages along a white sand beach dotted with boulders, there’s not much to this sleepy fishing village, except for some reportedly excellent seafood restaurants that were unfortunately closed the winter day we visited.
A short way out of town we followed a dirt road to the Cape Columbine Lighthouse. Built in 1936, on an outcropping of boulders called Castle Rock, it’s one of the last manned lighthouses in South Africa. “Seniors are free,” the lighthouse keeper, a senior himself, announced, as he pointed us to a set of stairs that eventually led to a very tall, steep wooden ladder. The panoramic view from the top was brilliant and, as expected, breathtaking. Getting down was a little more challenging than getting up. It was a kind of “make it or break every bone in your body if you don’t” situation. We’ve found in our travels around the world that folks in other countries can do all sorts of risky things, that in the states wouldn’t be allowed for safety concerns. Overseas it’s all about being responsible for your own safety. “See you at the bottom,” Donna said as she agilely maneuvered on to the ladder. “One way or another,” I grimaced in response. For me, with a fearful respect for height, it was all about that first step down.
2 Suitcases for 2 years 