South Africa - November 2002 A fantastic trip and a holiday destination you absolutely must consider - even if you're not into wine ! We met lots of people who had come on 'packages' organised in their own country, all of whom realised it would have been much cheaper if they had organised things themselves by email/web etc. - just like we did ! Although expensive to reach from Europe, your Pound, Euro or Swiss Franc will go much further than you could ever believe once you arrive. OUR ROUTE We stayed for four nights in Hout Bay, just south of Cape Town. This is a good base to work your way around the coast to Cape Point National Park, but care needs to be excercised while driving in the park: I just avoided the Ostrich which walked out in front of the car ! Hout Bay is just the other side of the valley from Constantia, so only 15 minutes to some very fine old wine estates. We were also lucky enough to see whales in the bay. From there we moved onto Stellenbosch for two nights. A much larger town than I expected, and to my mind not so interesting as smaller Franschhoek, next time I will stay in Franschhoek instead. Most of the wine estates we visited were in the Franschhoek and Stellenbosch area, all with stunning scenery. From Stellenbosch we took the longer option to reach the Garden Route, going over the Franschhoek pass via the 'Route 62' to Montagu for one night in the Robertson wine producing area, and then on to Wilderness via Oudtshoorn for another two nights. The scenery was magical with towering ranges of hills and long plains. Wilderness is between George and Knysna. You can take an 'interesting' road to Knysna which is called the 7 passes road, after taking this predominantly 'dirt' road, we christened our Toyota Tazz, 'The Mighty Tazz'! We then took the normal N2 highway towards Port Elizabeth to reach the Shamwari game reserve for lunch. You won't find the spectacular plains of Kenya and Tanzania here, but lots of bushland and valleys covering about 25,000ha. We saw all the animals we wanted to see with knowlegeable rangers, good food and great accommodation - expensive, but recommended. Onwards for a night with relations in East London, followed by consecutive nights in Knysna and Franschhoek before flying out from Cape Town. DRIVING You definitely need a car to get around. Car hire is not too expensive, ours through 'Cape Car Hire' worked out to around €440 for a small Toyota for 15 days, during which we covered ~3,600Km. Fuel is cheaper than many European countries, though be aware that many fuel stations on the 'Garden Route' do not acccept Mastercard or Visa, only cash. No problems with credit cards in Cape Town or the 'Winelands' though. The roads in the tourist areas are in better shape than in many European countries, the standard of driving and courtesy shown to other drivers is also (in my opinion) much better than 'Euroland'. This courtesy extends across the tourists routes - but don't expect to find it in Johannesburg too ! SECURITY Most tourists won't go to Johannesburg, this is where the security in terms of electric fences, high walls etc., etc. is most evident. In Cape Town this is at a lower level, but most of the houses still sport signs warning of armed response security. Get away from Cape Town into the Winelands and onto the Garden route and it's much more like home and seems quite easy going. You can get into trouble by entering the 'wrong' parts of town at 'inapropriate' times in most European cities and South Africa is no different in that respect - common sense required. During our 15 days we had no cause for concern. Below is a working summary of the places we visited, tasted or ate at, in the main very good. I'll update this regularly until complete :     Restaurants   Accommodation           Mariners Wharf, Hout Bay           Papino's, Hout Bay           Cobbs, Scarborough           Den Anker, Cape Town           Emily's, Cape Town           La Colombe, Constantia Uitsig           Lady Philips, Vergelegen           Fishmonger, Stellenbosch           La Couronne, Franschhoek           Polfyntjies, Franschhoek           Mimosa Lodge, Montagu           Cecilia's, Wilderness           Serendipity, Wilderness           Drydock Food Co, Knysna Quays           Paquita's, Knysna Heads         Seacliffe Lodge, Hout Bay         d'Ouwe Werf, Stellenbosch         Mimosa Lodge, Montagu         Wilderness Manor, Wilderness         Shamwari Gamelodge         Under Milk Wood, Knysna         Guinea Fowl Cottage, Franschhoek   Wineries         Constantia Uitsig, Constantia         Vergelegen, Somerset West         Waterford, Stellenbosch         Rustenberg, Stellenbosch         Fairview, Suider-Paarl         Seidelberg, Suider-Paarl         Mont du Toit, Wellington © nanson.ch 2000-2002