I recently had the privilege of sharing the Splendours of the Cape with a group of friends and relatives from Miami who had come here to celebrate Marian and Cesar’s daughter’s wedding in Giants Castle. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/fashion/weddings/sarah-odio-andrew-torlage-weddings.html
On Monday the 28th we were lucky to enjoy the Cape’s weather at it’s absolute best which made the Peninsular Tour rather spectacular. They were very fortunate to see Zebras, something you do not see to often and a bunch of baboons doing what baboons do best!
On the way home we dropped a few off at Table Mountain and they were lucky enough to see the sun go down and the city lights of Cape Town come on, all for half price, what a bonus!
On Tuesday we headed to Hermanus via Apple Country stopping along the way to admire the amazing view at the top of Sir Lowry’s pass. We enjoyed a very scenic wine tasting and some Boules at La Vierge. We had time for a stroll along the Cliffs and a bit of shopping in the picturesque village of Hermanus before having a very good lunch at Lemmon Butta overlooking the Bay. Unfortunately the Whales must have been visiting elsewhere that day, but that did not stop Maria Elena from collecting Sea Shells and other bits and pieces from the beach down at the Old Harbour and having a whale of a time! We then headed back via the spectacular coastal route stopping along the way to admire the Stoney Point Penguins which really impressed the group no end!
Wednesday was a free day and I arranged for four of the group to go on a Township Tour with Cape Capers, something which induced very mixed emotions but everyone was very happy to have done it. Another 4 went horse riding on Noordhoek Beach with Sleepy Hollow, unfortunately the two ladies took a bit of a tumble but were happy how this was handled by Sleepy Hollow. Thankfully, there were no very serious injuries!
On Thursday we headed off for a Wonderful Winelands Tour, our first stop being Amani where the Assistant Wine Maker gave us a very interesting Cellar Tour and Barrel Tasting which was great! Next Stop was Spier where some visited the Cheetahs and others tasted wine in their new wine tasting facility which was impressive. After a drive through Stellenbosch we had lunch at The Kitchen at Maison, a very new restaurant on the Maison Wine Estate. The setting was superb, in the garden alongside the Vines, sitting around huge wooden Tables and the cuisine was absolutely excellent, every one enjoyed it and absolutely raved. It was hard extracting the group from this paradise. It was even harder dragging them from the pleasures and delights they found in Franschhoek later, the Art Galleries, and Chocolate shop and all the other little Souvenir shops and Boutiques, they just loved Franschhoek!
On Friday I took 6 of the group for a City tour which included Table Mountain, the Company Gardens and a stop at the Green Market Square Flea Market, we had an enjoyable lunch at the V&A Waterfront before I bid 5 a fond farewell and took Richard for a leisurely walk through Kirstenbosch Gardens, a lovely way to end a pretty busy week!.
It was really a pleasure sharing the Splendours of the Cape with the group which on most days comprised 14 happy travelers, 14 took me about 10 out of my usual comfort zone, but it was great fun. Willy of Tour De Force Drove us and I must commend him on his driving skills and his accommodating easy going manner. It was great working with him! I Hope to see all or some of the Miami 14 again some day!!