I arrived two days before, a little tired from an overnight stay on an airplane from a one month stay in beautiful foggy Cameroon, but grabbed a rental car and positioned myself on the right side of the car and in the left lane and sped off to the nearest Woolworth’s for groceries. I loaded up the tiny Chevy Spark and drove the stunning trek to paradise, otherwise known as Simon’s Town. It is a sleepy little coastal town and home of the South African navy. The house is pale blue and trimmed in white and sits on the side of the mountain and overlooks the sea. I could never leave the porch. There is a lighthouse in the bay and purple mountains in the distance. The sky is vibrant blue. It is mesmerizing.
My first morning there I wake up early, determined to go and see and do all that I can so as not to waste a perfectly good Chevy Spark. I have an appointment at 9am for a hair cut at the darling little vintage salon, Fringe. So I dress quickly and peel out of the garage for a long overdue hair cut and lunch in Stellenbosch, one the the most beautiful places on earth. It’s beauty is in all that surrounds her and all that she is. The drive to Stellenbosch is breathtaking sea and white sands and waves and majestic mountains. Then suddenly she turns into farmland and vineyards and groves and takes on a different beauty, rustic and grand. I go to the nearest vineyard, Spier. They offer picnics on the grounds where you can buy sandwiches in baskets and take onto the expansive lawn. I opt for a table and chair and have my all time favorite salad; beetroot, rocket and goat cheese. The Rand is weak per usual and my salad is cheap. I walk the gardens and even pop in on an exclusive little wine festival going on in their conference center. I drive back toward Simon’s Town to hit up the mall for the Pick n Pay for wine and cheese and the little health food store for my favorite line of hair products.
Carly came for dinner and to stay the night and we sat on the porch and talked till our eyelids drooped. I got up early the next morning and drove to the airport to greet Wendy from her overnight flight from London. We went home to drop off luggage and then hit up the Earth Fair Food Market at Tokai. I watched Wendy fall in love with one of my favorite bits of this region, the food. We were immediately greeted by locally made olive oils free for the tasting and buy a bottle. We sampled and purchased four types of cheeses and smoked snoek pate. I bought raw beets and fresh eggs. We each selected a quiche from a very Greek looking man who warmed them up for us and we took them on paper plates to the picnic tables in the center of the market, devoured them, and chased with beer.
On Sunday we got up early to go to the Kirstenbosch Market. Only open once a month, it is a must do if you are in the area, even for the food stalls alone. It is just outside the Kirstenbosch Gardens and boasts venders of all sorts, including food. Our favorite finds were these sweet girls at 37 Sandals. We celebrated our finds with a toast of homemade ginger beers and skipped off to our lunch date with Carly at Bistro 1682. It is a beautiful restaurant on the grounds of a large vineyard. I like this place because the prices are good, the atmosphere is breathtaking and the people watching is first rate. It’s loaded with interestingly dressed posh Western Capers of all ages.
On Monday we walked into Simon’s Town. I bought a cotton pillowcase with antique lace and buttons at a sweet little antique store. Wendy bought dainty floral handkerchiefs. We went to the drugstore to stock up on Olbas oil and Paracetamol (my mild to moderate pain killer of choice) and other non-American pharmaceuticals. We then drove to Noordhoek for lunch at probably my all time favorite place to dine, The Foodbarn. It is an absolute must. In October they offer half price ala carte menu items. I had cob tartare (a delicious white fish farmed by friends in Mozambique) with lime, basil,and avocado. Wendy had goat cheese fritters with mint and sugar snaps and balsamic syrup and then we switched! I had fish with rocket and peppers and smoked paprika cream. Wendy ate meat. Barely a word was spoken, sauces were sopped up with crusty French bread, fingers were licked, I am certain I moaned a little. It was that good. And half off. We paired this with a crisp white wine and it was perfection in a meal. Before we left, we made reservations for their next available seating, a week later. We then walked around Nordhoek Farm Village. Itchy & Stitchy was our favorite shop, with beautiful affordable artwork, Christmas ornaments, Africa themed cards and multi-colored suede handbags and clutches.
Tuesday morning we got up early to drive downtown to the V&A Waterfront to catch the boat to Robben Island. I am not a huge fan of the V&A Waterfront. I am not a fan of downtown Cape Town nor downtown Atlanta nor downtown Nashville. I don’t do downtown cities. The V&A is pretty and worth going to, once. Last time I went I enjoyed the little market full of stalls of good, fresh food. I like Cape Union Mart and my K-Way Jacket I purchased there but I don’t need another. There is a Zara and a Jo Malone in the mall, but I needed to avoid mall shopping at all costs and we have those in Atlanta. Woolworth’s brands, Trenery and Country Road, are nice but it is Summer now in Cape Town and I am entering my first Tennessee Christmas and decided summer clothes should not be on the agenda. Robben Island was a disappointment, covered with obnoxious foreign tourists, horribly unorganized and $25 each. We left there and went downtown for lunch at The Kitchen. It was nice but still downtown and I don’t do downtown. We then snuck into Jambo, a wholesale warehouse in Woodstock and bought the place out. It was absolutely thrilling. We got jewelry, baskets, textiles and housewares for ridiculously cheap prices. We came home and sat them out and looked and them and grinned over our bargains. We sat back satisfied that we were done with our shopping for the trip, little did we know.
On Wednesday we had reservations for a day at Babylonstoren. This had been on the books for months, part of the trip itself, a spa day. I had been saving up for this one since May. It was wonderful, it was relaxing, it was perfect. The grounds alone of Babylonstoren are a must see. The restaurant there, Babel requires reservations three months in advance. At the spa, I had a massage followed by a tiny, raw lunch. We spent the day in robes with hair soaked in massage oils, completely utterly relaxed. I read a magazine and bobbled in the hot tub. It was perfection in a day and all a girl could ever ask for. But the day got even better. After the rabbit food for lunch we were hungry. We drove back through Stellenbosch to the nearest of my favorite vineyards, Tokara, to find it closed and were forced to go to the really posh place across the street, Delaire Graff. Owned by Mr. Graff of Graff Diamonds, who has spared no expenses on this grand place. It is artistic and architecturally brilliant, surrounded by lush landscapes and hilly vineyards. Chandeliers and carpets and sculpture and art await. We rock up with no make up and our jojoba oil hair and request a table, they give us one. We are forced to wait in the wine tasting room until our table is ready. I sip cab from the biggest wine glass I have ever seen and am so relaxed, I have trouble staying upright on my plush velvet chair. The view, the room, the wine, the gardens, Africa and food. All too much for me to even take in. A poor missionary sitting in the lap of luxury in awe of how this even happened and still astounded by how He spreads my little dollars and my little lunch and feeds me over and over and over and such feasts they can be. We ate with huge grins on our faces and often our eyes shut tight, taking in every single bite. I had French fries with parmesan and truffle oil, flaky lovely fish, green peas with mint and hands down the best oysters in the whole wide world.
On Thursday we went back into Simon’s Town for internet and fish and chips. We met Lisa (an Iris friend who works in prison ministry) for a wine tasting at Beau Constantia. The Constantia region is located close to Cape Town proper and is a much closer alternative to Stellenbosch/Paarl/Franschhoek for wine tastings. Beau Constantia, Groot Constantia and Steenberg Farm offer great views and nice wines and are worth the visit if you are in the area. Groot Constantia and Steenberg Farm have nice restaurants (Jonkerhuis Restaurant and Bistro 1682) with good food at good prices and beautiful views. Yet, I still prefer the vineyards and delicacies of the Stellenbosch region.
On Friday, I was exhausted and fighting a head cold and despite really wanting to go and see and do, I stayed on the sofa. Mozambican missionary friends Nick and Cate Lear came to visit along with their daughters, Lilly and Willow. They just so happened to be on a break and staying in Fish Hoek, the little town next door, just minutes away. It was wonderful to see them and meet Little Willow for the first time. I am amazed how the future paths of my friends from around the world continue to cross and we are forever bound together by our pasts. They are my forever family. That evening we met Carly at the V&A Mall for delicious Best in the City sushi at Willoughby & Co. Go early, there was a queue.
On Saturday we got up early to experience the Neighbourgoods Market. It is another Cape Town must. You actually need to also plan extra time and money to walk around and shop within the Old Biscuit Mill in addition to shopping the market. The Market is quite unlike anything I have ever experienced. It is loaded with very impressive stalls of a huge variety of foods, sweet and savory. We arrived early and watched them set up. We stopped first for coffee and then circled round and round deciding where to land. Wendy chose raw oysters and champagne and I chose a mozzarella, basil, tomato, olive oil and balsamic vinegar sandwich. The choices were unlimited, loads of pies and pastries and breads and jams and honey and meats, dim sum and then some. We purchased three readymade salads for takeaway. We picked up Carly from her flat downtown and drove to the Stellenbosch Slow Market. It’s a good one. Here, everything has been raised, harvested, grown or made by the producers themselves. It is hard to know where to start. Come hungry. It seemed this market offered less savory and more sweet items. It didn’t offer a ton of hot food for lunch but I had a glass of chenin blanc from a local vineyard and vegetable dumplings from the Asian food stand. In retrospect, I didn't choose well. I should have had pale pink macarons for lunch. I also bought a charcoal grey cable knit beanie from this local clothing company. We then drove to Tokara and had wine, bread, cheese, olives and, so I was told, a superb charcuterie at the delicatessen where we sipped and people watched.
On Sunday we drove to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope which was once believed to be the tip of Africa but it’s not quite. It was horribly windy and loaded with tourists but the views were astounding. We saw ostrich and baboons. It would have been more lovely on a less windy day and I recommend going and packing a lunch so as to stay the day and sit a spell. The sea views are lovely with cliffs and shore birds and I am sure you can find a spot to lounge. Free hiking tours are offered.
On Monday we spent the morning in Manenberg, a township in the Cape Flats, visiting Pete Portal, a new friend who Wendy and I both happened to know through separate mutual friends. He and his wife have moved into the roughest neighborhood in town and are loving the gang members there and opening up their home to these men in need of a place of restoration and love. So brave. So impressive. He drove us through the streets of this extremely dangerous neighborhood showing us the homes of various gang leaders. Two days after this tour over our car radio we learned three gang members had been killed in their front lawn the night after we were there. On the way home we stopped for coffee that turned into poached eggs and toast with nutella at Knead, a great brunch spot in Muizenberg, and watched the surfers. That afternoon we went back to The Foodbarn for a repeat of our lunch from the week before. It was just as grand. That evening we met friends Ana, a doctor in the township, Khayelitsha and Hilary, a missionary from England, for dinner at The Olympia Cafe in Kalk Bay and ate mussels in cream sauce and caught up on the past year of living continents apart.
Tuesday we drove Chapman’s Peak Drive, a stunning, breathtaking drive around the mountain overlooking the sea. We stopped at a local dive for fish and chips and then went to Llundudno Beach to watch the surfers. That evening we got to sit for the Lear children. It was wonderful for me to spend time with these sweet girls.
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| We had those quiches for breakfast Friday morning! |
On Thursday we finally got to meet with Barry. His is the project I went to Cape Town to see. UBU stands for Ubuhle Bakha Ubule Xhosa for “beauty builds beauty” and is a community development project, offering incremental building for those in need of housing. I wanted to see what they were doing in the township of Sweet Home Farm more closely. We went to their little office in the township and to see the model house on display downtown as they compete in the 2014 Better Living Challenge Showcase. My friend Nick made this video that helps explain the concept. We walked from the station downtown to Bree Street to dine at Chef’s Warehouse and Canteen, a yummy little lunch spot offering street food and flavorful tapas. The cold cauliflower soup with truffle oil was like nothing I had ever tasted and was wonderful.
We had big plans to go to Twelve Apostles for the view and sundowners, but we were spent, done, beat. Sweet Carly came to us and we roasted vegetables and enjoyed our view and beautiful friend one last night.
Although there are no words to describe the beauty of Cape Town, I tried.
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