Protea Stellenbosch

... wineries in Stellenbosch dating back to the 1600's. Most of the wines there were unremarkable except for a red wine that tasted like cigars? We all piled back into the minibus which brought us back to our aptly named hostel 'The Stumble Inn'. <br><br>We went back into town that evening to get some dinner before the shuttle took us to meet the Baz Bus, Stellenbosch is not on the direct Baz Bus route so the hostel organises ...

... regions in South Africa. The South African wine industry produces about 1,000,000,000 liters of wine annually. The region has a Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers and cool wet winters. Stellenbosch lies at the foot of the Cape Fold mountain range (you can see from some of the pictures), which provides soil favorable to viticulture. Grapes grown in this area are mainly used for wine production ...

... honestly claim that StellenPosh was my favorite part of the trip with much credit to our amazing accommodations. In addition to the wonderful lodge, we all went on a wine tour. Stellenbosch is well known for its wineries. We are all very proud. Through the Stumble Inn we booked ourselves on the Easy Rider Wine Tours. The name alone was a selling point. Along with many other tourists we jumped into two vans with our guides, Titi (I ...

I had such an amazing time last Sunday when we went for dinner at an African restaurant called Moyo. It was inside a huge tent with individual booths around the edge housing the food. They also had a large outside area where there were tree houses, open fires, lots of sculptures and art and hundreds of lanterns. Inside there was low lighting, sofly glowing food booths, cushions and blankets on the seats a relaxed ...

... good displays and lots of information about the marine life from South Africa's Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts. Although we were warned that the ticketing for Robben Island was a shambles and the chances of getting a booking during our week in Cape Town were slim, we decided to take a punt and went to the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront to see if we could get a last minute ticket for the 11am ferry. The ticket office was as disorganised ...

... Defender went first this time, Franci pulled a fast one, and with relative ease it made it to the top. The Cruiser did likewise. Thereafter the entire team made its way to base camp, namely the parking lot down below. We traded in our deposit for cooldrinks and cheesecake. It was a very enjoyable, informative, testing, and encouraging day. We understand the vehicles better, understand ourselves better, and are that much more eager to test the vehicles in Africa, as a team.

... Anyways the person who came to pick us up, Gershom (the friend of a friend of a friend) was waiting and we pilled into a van and headed towards Cape Town... and then we turned left and started heading away... (We thought we were suppose to be IN Cape Town... not near but hey no worries) At about this point in time Sarah and I had completely adapted the ideology that "Where ever He wants us... that's where we will be," a fly by the seat of your paints mentality guided by the Man ...

... in Tulbagh, first up to the chocolate factory, which turned out to be one woman in a kitchen, at the top of a damn big hill, but she makes good chocolate so we had a sample tray with tea. Then over to the Twee Jong Gezellen (Afrikaans for "two young bachelors", long story) vineyards where Champagne by the original method is their specialty. A short description of the Champagne process, "done correctly" since I found it ...

... questions that the children have about us and Canada. We are the first volunteers to visit this school and so it has been weird getting used to the 2000 curios eyes that follow us on the playground wherever we go! This afternoon we were asked if we could cover a grade 6 class for a thirty minute period as there was no teacher in that room. We gladly went up to spend some time with them and where informed by a teacher to play ...

... our early Senior or late Junior years at Uni. How small world is that???? We talked for a bit, chatted and then decided to meet up for dinner that night. The 4 of us (her friend Allison also went to UCSB) went to a wonderful place called Mama Africa's and enjoyed fabulous food, conversation, and South African wine. I think we are both still tripping out about seeing someone from a past life in a small cafe in Cape Town!