This spring, I'm making a few changes to my home and garden and I'd like to incorporate elements inspired by our recent trip around the world. Although I can't plant exotic tropical flowers in Boston, nor do I have the space for nest beds, I can look for a few pieces that remind me of some of my favorite places. So, in no particular order, here are a 15 things from around the world that would be fun to replicate at home. 

1. Bangkok, Thailand: Nest Beds
Nesting has taken on a whole new meaning in Bangkok. The shape of these human sized sanctuaries will make the most boring of outdoor spaces intriguing. Add a light inside and create glowing garden sculptures at night!

Photo by Eva Barbier from blog post: Chillin' Out In Bangkok

2. Hamburg, Germany: Modern Rococo
I'm typically not a fan of rococo and prefer balancing frills and flourishes with corners and crisp lines. However, I reveled in this little cafe in Hamburg, sipping my chai tea slowly while sinking into a cozy velvet couch.  I have no idea if they intentionally distressed the walls or if they just spruced up a derelict space with vintage couches from Oma and Opa's house. Whatever they did, it worked. 

Photo by Eva Barbier from blog post: Hamburg, Bremen & Bloemendaal

3. Cappadocia, Turkey: Canvas & Carpet Covered Terraces
While in Turkey, we spent two glorious mornings having breakfast here, overlooking the cave town of Goreme. I've been thinking about using canvas to provide shade on my deck during the hot summer since it's pretty easy to put up and take down. I also love the rug covered table for extra lounging.

Photo by Eva Barbier. To learn more about Turkey, visit our Turkey Destination Page. 

4. Cambodia: Colored Wooden Blinds
These colorful blinds would add cheer to any space such as a nursery, kitchen or my home office.

Photo by Eva Barbier from the blog post: Waterworld: The Floating Village of Kompong Phluk, Cambodia

5. Yangshuo, China: Wagon Wheel Benches
Check out these benches at our Inn in Yangshuo. They are made by attaching local wood planks to an axle and wagon wheels. This set-up is a charming alternative to a traditional picnic table. 

Photo by Eva Barbier from blog post: Days 167-170: Yangshuo, China - Hiking and Biking the Karst Mountains

6. Koh Lanta, Thailand: Bamboo Lounges & Pyramid Pillows
Koh Lanta is one of the places i miss most often because we found total relaxation here. Perhaps it's because bamboo lounges and beds are scattered along the beaches, waiting for a wanderer to plop down for a cold beer and a little shut eye. The colorful pyramid pillows are a nice touch, and help prop up one's head in order to enjoy the sea view.  I don't think bamboo would last in the harsh Boston weather, but if i ever live somewhere milder I plan on creating my own little slice of Lanta. 

Photo of The Indian bar in Koh Lanta by Eva Barbier from Our Guide to Koh Lanta, Thailand

7. Ubud, Bali: Stone & Wood Carvings
Bali is full of insanely talented artisans and artists that have been perfecting their craft for generations. We visited gardens, homes and temples full of intricately carved statues and furniture. Two of my favorite pieces were these Balinese women who seem full of happiness and peace. Generally, this is how I feel after a really good meal. They would look lovely in my garden and remind me of the warmth and hospitality we experienced in Bali. 

Read more about Bali here: Ubud, Bali - The Barong Dance, Stone Carving & The Awe-Inspiring Contact Lens 

8. Melbourne, Australia: Bold Tile
This tile covered the inside of a bench shelter in Melbourne. It was a pleasant surprise, since the structure was grey on the outside. I thought the pattern would make a nice outdoor table top. 

Photo by Eva Barbier from blog post: 3 Days In Melbourne

9. Kruger Park,  South Africa: Drapery Over Doors
The decor at safari camps is fantastic, but much of what you'd expect from the African bush - typical wood furniture, local animal fur rugs, and lots of neutrals.  One thing I really liked was the use of drapery, particularly over doors or entryways.  I'm not sure if this has a practical use in the summer (ie keeping bugs out of rooms) but they really made our accommodation, a tent, very homey. 

Photo by Eva Barbier in blog post: Tanda Tula Safari Camp

10. Paris, France: Black & White Tile
Black and white tile was everywhere in Paris so it always reminds me of my favorite city.  I don't know if it's the the tile that contributes to the glamour of Paris or if it's Paris that makes the tile so chic.  Let's just say it's a symbiotic relationship. If my bathroom wasn't so tiny, I'd tile it like the picture below. 

Photo by Eva Barbier from blog post: Our Favorite Room in Paris: Six Cent Deux 

11. Arrowtown, New Zealand: Recycled Container Garden
This is a neat idea for people who have a lot of outdoor space. Arrowtown is an old gold mining town in New Zealand. There was a lot of abandoned equipment from the mining days so local artists used them in their artwork and homes. Here is an old pipe transformed into a container garden. 

Photo by Eva Barbier. To learn more about New Zealand visit our New Zealand Destination Page. 

12. Winelands, South Africa: Chrome+Stone+Wood
The wineries in Franschhoek, South Africa are stunning both inside and out.  I particularly enjoyed the modern decor of the tasting room at the Gran Provence. The chrome bar and fixtures gave it a sleek modern look which was nicely offset by the rest of the room, comprised of natural elements from the region - stone, clay and wood. While it's void of color inside, the view was bursting with color outside the glass doors. 

Photo of the Gran Provence tasting room by Eva Barbier as featured in The Winelands Awards.

13. Seminyak, Bali: Colorful Shutters
These pretty shutters, spotted in Bali, would liven up a pool house or backyard shed. 

Photo by Eva Barbier in blog post: Bali, Indonesia - Laid Back Seminyak

14. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Copper Light Fixtures
Giant copper lights were suspended from tall tree trunks in our hotel lobby in Chiang Mai.  They were especially enchanting when twinkling at night. Perhaps they could be used on a much smaller scale in an entryway, over a dining room table or kitchen island. 

Photo of VC@Suanpaak lobby by Eva Barbier from Chiang Mai, Thailand - Hits & Misses

15. Caye Caulker, Belize: Weathered Wooden Signs
The tiny Caribbean island is comprised of small wooden structures that have been weathered by the salt and sand in the air.  Painted wooden signs were strewn about the island featuring island mantras (Go Slow) and store names. I think these would look great hanging in a bohemian urban garden. 

Photo by Eva Barbier from Caye Caulker - You Better Belize It.

Africa presents a veritable paradise for the sampler of exotic meats.  Here are some of the creatures I enjoyed whilst there:

Shown below is a plate featuring many of the above, courtesy of Momma Africa in Cape Town.  From right to left, crocodile with peanut sauce, springbok, ostrich kebab, kudu, and a sausage made of a combo of kudu and springbok.  The concoction on the left is a mash made from corn meal called pap n' wors, with tomato sauce atop.   

Verdicts?  

Starting on the right:  I've had alligator on several occasions which, to me, has been virtually indiscernible from chicken.  I expected something similar from its reptilian cousin.  In fact, the croc had a taste all its own.  It was interesting, but I found the peanut relish, depicted above as the orangeish heap on top of the meat, to be the best part.  The peanut relish actually added a bit to it, but the meat itself did not do much for me.  

The sausage had lots of malay spice in it, and that is primarily what gave it flavor.  It was quite tasty, but not sure it had much to do with the meat. 

I've also had ostrich before, and knew pretty much what to expect.  It is a fine beef alternative, and one which I will continue to eat with pleasure, but also not terribly unusual.

Which brings us to the highlights: kudu and springbok.  Both of these deer cousins tasted more beef-like than deer-like to us.  Given their red meatiness, Eva actually sampled these with me!  Between the two, our favorite was easily the springbok.  It tasted like an exceptional cut of steak.  Extremely flavorful, tender, and perfectly cooked.  The kudu was a strong second, but not quite as tender a cut of meat as the springbok.

We also tasted wildebeest at Ryan's Kitchen in Franshhoek, which was another tasty beef-like meat.  It was a tender medallion prepared with pancetta and a sauce made from a local stout beer and honey.  It was a solid protein, but the award for the meat itself still goes to the springbok (though Ryan's preparation put Momma's to shame).

Finally, we are left with the McDonald's of the bush, the omnipresent impala.  Ryan, the chef at Tanda Tula (not to be confused with Ryan of Ryan's Kitchen), made this into a stew, which was then cooked over charcoal.  The stew itself was excellent, although I am not sure whether it was the impala or Ryan's culinary magic.  It may well be one of those multipurpose meats that can be enjoyed in a wide variety of preparations.  

So there you have my recap of some of the more interesting animals we ate in Africa.  Some were tastier than others, but all were a wild adventure.

Note: Photos of springbok and crocodile courtesy of Google Images. All other images are from our travels.

From Tanda Tula, we drove about three hours south to Notten's Bush Camp, which is another family run game lodge located within the Sabi Sands game reserve.  Notten's is not a tented camp like Tanda Tula, as the rooms are actual buildings.  We decided to try two different safari camps in order to get a feel for these two different types of experiences, but more importantly, because Sabi Sands is geographically and environmentally different from Timbavati and hence you could potentially see different types of animals.  Specifically, Timbavati is rather open, spread out and vegetation can be very sparse at times.  Sabi Sands features some areas of very dense vegetation and other areas with wide open savannas.  

As mentioned, Nottens' accomodations are completed structures rather than the tents at Tanda Tula.  Here are some photos of our room:

Similar to Tanda Tula, Notten's has two game drives per day - in the early morning and at sunset.  Our group this time consisted of a very nice couple from Berlin who were working for the German embassy in Rwanda.  The other members of our group were two girls from Sweden on the first day, and a small group from India on the second day, as well as our guide, Thomas and tracker, Fox.

As we expected, we did get to see some different types of animals at Notten's and had some more great experiences!  Here are some of the highlights:

Cheetah!
According to our guide, these are very rare to glimpse in this part of Africa.  He said he sometimes goes six months without seeing any.  However, on our second evening drive, we spotted this guy sitting on top of a large termite mound staring out over the open fields.  

Lions
This time we came across a group of four female lions snoozing in a field on our morning drive.

In the evening, after sunset, we came upon the same group waking up and getting ready to hunt.  We followed them for 30 minutes or so, hoping they would find dinner.  They walked slowly, single-file, evenly spaced, listening for any potential prey in the bushes.  Amazingly, they paid little attention to us or our spotlight.  We felt like we were on the hunt with them.  It was really incredible to see!

Here are some videos of the lions. Please note that the flashlight did not bother them since they are primarily nocturnal.

Buffalo
We saw many more buffalo at Notten's, including a group of about 8-10 grazing in a clearing.  This is the only time we saw our guide get a little nervous.  Some of the buffalo are more used to the safari vehicles than others.  Because the reserve is not fenced in, animals come and go from other areas of the park and beyond.  Those that are not as used to seeing vehicles and people can sometimes react unpredictably.  We saw a buffalo freak out when we got too close, and our guide quickly moved the vehicle away from the area.  Nevertheless, we got some great shots!

Wild Dog and Hyena
For such an elusive animal, we got lucky twice and saw more wild dogs at Sabi Sands.  We saw these guys coming, turned off the engine and waited.  Three dogs came right by our vehicle, barely paying us any attention.  Later that night, we saw a solitary hyena prowling around for food and captured a few shots, though he seemed a bit put off by us.  Even our guide, Thomas, could not believe our luck and the number of animals we were spotting, saying It's like a zoo out here tonight!

Bush Walk
After breakfast on our second day at Notten's we went on a guided walk through some of the local areas to learn more about some of the interesting plants and smaller animals one might not see on a game drive.  We soon came across a local warthog named Philemon.

We learned lots of interesting tidbits about the local plants, bugs and dung identification techniques, skills sure to come in handy one day.  We also got to see bones from lots of the local wildlife:

In addition to the highlights described above, here are some of the other interesting creatures we saw while at Notten's:

Notten's also featured all of the traditional aspects of safari life, such as sundowner cocktails in the bush and fun dining experiences with the other guests.  Notten's was fully booked while we were there (about 16-18 guests), while Tanda Tula was at most half full (10-12 people), which created a bit of a different dynamic.  We had a great time at both places and are glad we chose to try two different sites, as the environment was very different and we got to see a wide variety of animals.   The only drawback was the drive between the two camps, which was tedious due to slow mining trucks along the route and long stretches of bumpy unpaved roads within the reserves.  We unwisely rented a compact car instead of an SUV, resulting in some interesting experiences traversing dried up sandy riverbeds in the reserves.  It is a miracle we got the car back in one piece with no visible scratches!

We made the six hour drive back to Johannesburg, as the return flights from Hoedspruit and Nelspruit were very expensive.  This is another very tedious drive due to lots of severely potholed roads, more trucks, and curvy mountain passes.  If possible, we'd avoid this drive next time around.  

Overall, the safari experience was amazing and a highlight of our voyage so far.  We would highly recommend it to anyone and hope to do another someday.

As promised, here are more pictures of the younger of the two male lions we saw at Tanda Tula. We watched these lions for a good 20 minutes and had fun taking photos of this guy.  

From Cape Town we flew across South Africa to Hoedspruit, which sits just east of the Kruger National Park.  We had booked two nights at two different safari camps.  The first was located in the Timbavati Reserve, a large area of private game reserves that is open to the Kruger Park.  We chose to stay in these private reserves rather than in Kruger itself, as in Kruger, you are not allowed to leave the roads and thus your chances of viewing wildlife are more limited.  Within private reserves, game lodge operators can look for wildlife anywhere. 

We spent our first two nights at a camp called Tanda Tula, which was about a 45-minute drive east of the Hoedspruit airport.  Tanda Tula is what’s known as a ‘tented’ camp.  There were twelve individual ‘tents’.  We use the term ‘tents’ loosely as our tent was really more of an upscale cabin that happened to have canvas walls and ceiling.  Here are a few photos of our ‘tent’, #8.

Upon arrival we were greeted by everyone working at the camp - Harry, Smiling, Pretty, Ryan the chef and many others. Everyone here is very friendly and welcoming!  We arrived just in time for the first of many excellent meals prepared by chef Ryan. 

We met up with the rest of our group, who would share a guide, tracker, and safari vehicle together for the next two days.  We were very lucky as we ended up with a great guide (Scotch), tracker (Patrick) and group mates (Thomas, Sabina, Barbara and Ann).  Thomas and Sabina are from Munich and were vacationing in South Africa for a few weeks.  Barbara and Ann had both retired to Antigua and were beginning an African vacation as well.  We had a lot of fun with our group and shared a lot of laughs over the next couple of days!

We toured the bush in a Land Rover pictured below.  We could get very close to the animals without alarming them because they think the Land Rover is just another large animal. We had to maintain the shape of a the vehicle because if we were to stand up, the animals would think our vehicle was a different animal, potentially an enemy, and they would attack or run away. 

After meeting up with our group, it was time to get ready for our first game drive.  Typically, on a safari, you will go on two drives per day, one in the early morning and one around sunset, as this is when the animals are most active.  Therefore, at Tanda Tula, we had four separate drives, each of which lasts 3-4 hours.  Without going into each of the game drives specifically, here are some of the highlights of our time at Tanda Tula:

Lions
We came across two male lions catching some sun on a dried up riverbed.  The younger lion does not yet have a mane, which typically comes in when the lion is 6-7 years old.  They were taking turns keeping watch and snoozing.  We later caught the same two lions in a field.  Take note of the younger lion here.  He put on a bit of a performance for us which will be highlighted in a future post…

Elephants
The Timbavati Reserve and much of the Kruger region abounds with elephants.  In fact, there are too many elephants, which is a problem because they eat trees nonstop.  There was an attempt to relocate some elephants to Mozambique, however, they soon found their way back to Kruger.  At least we were able to benefit by seeing lots of them!

Rhinoceros
We saw loads of these guys too.

Leopard
This is apparently one of the more elusive animals to spot.  Unlike lions, leopards are typically solitary and are harder to find during the day.  On our second day, we saw this in a tree on our morning game drive.  This is a freshly-killed impala, pulled up into a tree by a leopard the night before.  We searched the area for the leopard but to no avail – in fact, we ended up with a flat tire after driving over some sort of small tree and had to abandon the hunt.

However, the next day, our fortunes were better.  We found this female leopard in the grass under a tree protecting a recent kill.  She also had two cubs with her!  The cubs ran off when we approached, but we were able to snap a shot of them heading off into the bushes…

Wild Dogs and Hyenas
Another animal that is fairly rare to glimpse is the wild dog.  These are similar to a large domestic dog, and they travel / hunt in groups.  We were lucky, and came across a pack of wild dogs that had just killed an impala.  Soon afterwards, a group of hyenas stole the kill, chasing off the wild dogs!  This all happened right next to our jeep and we got to see the hyenas fighting over the kill up close.  They also had a baby, which had to fight for a few bits of the carcass just like the others.  Hyenas are slow and therefore rarely hunt for their own kills.   They are, however, vicious, move in large groups, and typically take kills away from many other types of animals.  Unfortunately, this all happened after sunset, so our photos are a bit blurry, but it was amazing to see.

In addition to these, we also saw a variety of other animals including buffalo, warthogs, giraffes, monkeys, lots of different types of antelopes such as impalas, kudus and water bucks, and many types of interesting birds.  Here is a sample:

The animals were amazing. We saw all big 5 animals (elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, and leopard) in just two days at Tanda Tula.  In addition to the game drives we also enjoyed the traditional aspects of safari life. For example, every night at sunset we stop in the bush for Sundowners - a cocktail & snack.  The South African sunsets are stunning and it's also fun to look at a sky full of stars on the drive back to the lodge. 

After our game drive, everyone warms up with an Amarula hot chocolate before dinner. Then the entire lodge eats together - either fine dining style or a typical braai (BBQ).  We enjoyed many different game meats that Chris surely write about in a future Culinary Delights post!

We had an AMAZING time at Tanda Tula - stay tuned for more safari adventures from our next stop, Nottens Bush Camp!

The day after our shark encounter was a rainy one.  Luckily for us, it was a travel day because we were driving back to Cape Town from Hermanus.  This time, we opted to stay in a different part of Cape Town called Greenpoint. We found a neat little boutique hotel called Villa Zest that felt more like staying at someone's ultra modern home than staying at a hotel. While the rooms were compact, the staff was very friendly, the common room was very comfortable and the breakfast was delicious. We'd recommend this place, especially if you are into modern design. 

Table Mountain
The next day was clear and sunny so we decided to take advantage of the weather and go up  Table Mountain, one of the official New Seven Wonders of Nature.  One can hike up the mountain or take the cable car up. We opted to hike up because we had been consuming mass amounts of food in the Winelands and really needed a challenging workout. The hike up took us an hour and half and the view at the top was the perfect reward for our workout. Check out some of the photos:

Magritte Moment
That evening was so lovely that we decided to walk along the beach in Camps Bay. The light was phenomenal so I spent most of the time taking pictures. While approaching Camps Bay in the car, I spotted what looked like an amature photo shoot of a man in a suit floating in the water. It immediately made me think of one of my favorite artists, Rene Magritte (famous for painting men in bowler hats).  I jumped out of the car and from a distance, I snapped a couple of shots of the scene. I was incredibly jealous of the photographer, but happy I had the chance to see his vision! 

Here are a few more shots from the sunset at/around Camps Bay:

Gold Restaurant
That evening we walked down the street from our hotel to Gold Restaurant. It's a popular tourist spot in Cape Town that received rave reviews online because, not only do they serve typical South African dishes, but they also have a series of live performances of African music & dance.  While the food was very good, I enjoyed the dancing and music most. 

Here are some video clips of the performances.  The first dance featured below was amazing but sadly, I ran out of memory right when the guy went crazy on the dance floor. You get a brief glimpse of it - maybe enough to tempt you to go see it for yourself one day! 

USA: The Impossible Dream

During this stay in Cape Town, we talked at length to a gentleman from Zimbabwe who was working in South Africa. As most of you know, Zimbabwe went through an economic meltdown and political revolution in the late 90s/early 2000s and has been slowly trying to recover ever since. Because of this, many people have fled the country to find work - some permanently and others, like this man, hope to one day go home to a growing, stable country. We talked for a while about his history, family, the challenges he faces being from Zimbabwe and living in a South African township, and his vision for the future of his young family.  

At one point I asked him what he thought of the US, since I like to get an outsider's perspective on our country. He response:  To live and work in America is my biggest dream.  But it is impossible for me to get in. It will never happen. America  - it is the impossible dream. 

He was very sincere and looked off into the distance when he talked about the US, as if he was visiting the imaginary life he had built there many years ago. A few things struck me about what he said:

1) What made it impossible was that he literally can't get into the country. He wasn't concerned about having no money - he would do anything - any kind of work - everyday for the rest of his life just for the privilege to live and raise his child there.

2) He knew we were from the US and never said anything like - you are so lucky to have been born in the USA.  He didn't seem resentful or make us feel badly about our good fortune for being born in a successful country. He just answered my question simply and honestly.  

3) He spoke similarly about the UK and Germany. He just wants the opportunity to work in a strong, diverse economy where you can make a better life for your family if you work hard.

I think about my grandparents who fled Cuba or Chris' grandmother's family that fled Germany during WWII. They both came here with very little money and almost broken spirits.  Everything was taken from them so quickly.  But they had the freedom and opportunity to work and prosper. And they did so quickly - rebuilding little by little from the ground up. 

I've always known that I'm lucky to have been born in the USA, but I never felt more thankful for my country and the freedom & opportunities we have as Americans than I did after that conversation. 

We were in Cape Town during peak shark viewing season, so we could not let the opportunity remain unexploited.  Chris was very excited about the chance to dive with the great whites, while I was more hesitant about the encounter.  We booked two spots with Great White Shark Tours, Chris to dive and me (I thought) to watch from the safety of the boat.  You see, I saw Jaws the Revenge at the young age of 6 one summer in Puerto Rico. That summer, I was so scared of sharks, I refused to swim in any body of water, including pools, fearing sharks would somehow find their way in through the drains.  Not only was I scared of the sharks, I was also afraid of plunging into the frigid winter seas.  

We departed from Gansbaai, a small town about 45 minutes south of Hermanus, and about two hours south of Cape Town.  We took the boat about five miles offshore to Dyer Island.  This is the area known as Shark Alley that you always see on Shark Week specials.  The area attracts the highest concentration of great whites in the world due to its bountiful seal crop. 

Check it out:

We dropped anchor and the guides began chumming the water to attract the sharks.  They also put a seal decoy into the water to further entice the beasts.  Supposedly, it normally takes about 45 minutes for the chum to do its job and the first sharks to show up.

We didn't have to wait that long.  The first shark made his presence known in about 15-20 minutes.  Here are some of the scenes we witnessed from the shark boat.

The first of these monsters was soon joined by 4-5 others.  They ranged in size from about 12 feet up to 18-20 feet.  Some of them were absolutely massive.  We saw some great attacks on the seal decoy but unfortunately, I was a bit slow on the trigger to capture a good shot of it with its teeth bared.  

After taunting the sharks with chum, bait and decoys for about ten minutes, it was time to get into the water.  The first few people suited up and made their way into the cage.

About 6-8 people typically get into the cage at once.  The cage is just wide enough for one person in each slot, and floats in the water with about one foot of cage above the surface.  You wear a wetsuit and scuba mask, but no diving gear, as the air bubbles apparently frighten the sharks.  Then, when a shark approaches, the capitan gives you a signal and you hold your breath and go underwater.  

After watching the first group emerge from the cage unscathed and in awe, I decided I had to try it out.  Chris and I suited up and descended into the frigid water.

We had been toying with the idea of investing in a GoPro before our trip, and the next 20 minutes caused us to thoroughly regret not pulling the trigger.  The sharks were spectacular.  We saw 4-5 different sharks from underwater attacking the seal decoy and bait, and making many close passes by the cage.  There was one massive shark that would come straight toward the cage very slowly while staring right at you with its bottomless eyes.  It would only turn at the last minute, in order to catch a better glimpse of the potential meal awaiting it inside the cage. This was by far the scariest part!

While we didn't have an underwater camera, we found this random guy's video on Youtube. He used the same company as us. This is pretty much what we got to see!

After our great white encounter, we decided that the sharks were not nearly as aggressive as we had expected, and were mostly curious about us rather than threatening.  It made me think of the movie Edward Scissorhands, where Edward just wanted to shake someone's hand or touch someone's face but couldn't because he would cut them with his sharp scissor hands.  Similarly, the sharks wanted to play and explore, but instead of scissors for hands, the sharks have a mouth full of razor sharp teeth.   While this gives me a better understanding of what is going through the shark's mind, I still would not want to find myself in the water with one!

As we headed back to Gansbaai after our adventure, we were accompanied by these birds, who were hand-fed in mid air by one of the boat's crew.

We spent the night in the quaint town of Hermanus, which is known as the best spot in the world for land-based whale watching.  The town also employes a Whale Crier, whose job is to wander the streets and inform everyone about the latest whale sightings.  Unfortunately, while we were there, we didn't spot a while or hear a whale cry.  We did enjoy a night in the town, however, and an excellent dinner at La Pentola - highly recommended if you are ever in town! 

The next day, we headed back to Cape Town and hoped for better weather than the previous weekend's...

After a few days in Cape Town, we drove out to South Africa's famous winelands.  We've been to a few other well-known wine regions including Napa/Sonoma/Healdsburg in California and Marlborough in New Zealand.  While these regions are both stunning, we liked South Africa's Winelands the best because of their unique landscape, friendly locals, phenomenal red wines and amazing (and affordable!) food.  

Similar to California's wine region, the Winelands consist of a number of small towns.  The biggest is Stellenbosch, which is full of great wineries, but the town center is pretty crowded with tourists, students and people who work in the area. The next largest town is Franschhoek  which consists of beautiful vineyards, a small town and some of the world's best restauarants. Then there are smaller towns like Paarl, where the town itself is nothing to write home about, but the vineyards are very pretty. 

Our brother-in-law, Jerry, is a chef and long time wine connoisseur, so he had some connections with a few wineries in South Africa. Thanks to said connections, we had a nice list of places to visit! We also ventured out on our own and made some great discoveries.  

We did a lot in just 3 days so for this entry, we will list our favorites.  In case you don't know us, we should note that we are, by no means, food & wine experts.  We are, however, fortunate in that we have very similar tastes in wine, so we tended to favor the same wines during our Winelands tour.  Some have even suggested that we had less sophisticated palates (ahem...cork dork at New Zealand's Serasin winery).   We just like what we like.  As a preface to the following, we should mention that we only made it to about eight wineries, and tasted 3-8 wines at each place.  Therefore, we are by no means qualified to issue the following awards.  However, we will do so anyway.  So without further ado, here are our Wineland Awards:

Best Red Wines:

First place: Boekenhoutskloof's flagship Syrah shown in the picture below (seven chairs on the label).  We wanted to buy a bottle, but they only sell it by the case and, sadly, do not ship to the US. We tasted this on our 3rd day in the Winelands and it was easily the best red we had during our visit. 
  
Second place: a tie between Choloclate Block (also a Boekenhoutskloof wine - it's second-tier offering) and Mont Rochelle's 2007 Syrah.  We tasted the Mont Rochelle at dinner at Ryan's Kitchen the first night and loved it so we went to the vineyard the next day and picked up a bottle.  It is really a shame (or maybe a blessing) that none of these places ship to Massachusetts! 

Best White Wines:

First place: Grand Provence Sauvignon Blanc.  Normally we enjoy Sauvy's from New Zealand, and this wine was very close to one of our favorites (as it happens, the one our unsophisticated palates were ridiculed for enjoying, so take this one for what it's worth!)  It turns out they use grapes from the coastal region, similar to those in New Zealand, while others source their Sauvy grapes farther inland.  These other local attempts at Sauvignon Blancs fell a bit short for us.

Second place:  Hamilton Russell Chardonnay.  Typically we do not like Chardonnays due to their heft and full, buttery taste.  This wine, however, was lighter and crisp with a great flavor.  They use clay barrels in combination with oak, which gives it this taste.

Best Pinotage:

Pinotage is a red wine variety produced exclusively in South Africa.  We tried several of these at various wineries, but really only cared for one of them, the Pinotage produced at Neil Ellis winery.  Apparently, about 80% of the Pinotage grapes burned last summer due to excessive heat, so it may be a while before production levels are restored.

Best View:

First place:  The beautiful view from Tokara, which is perched atop a hill on the main route between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek.  The bright colors and diagonal lines of the vineyard contrasted with the blue sky.

Second place: Delaire Graff's main outdoor patio. The owners of this vineyard also own a diamond business and have poured a lot of money into this place. It's decadent.  The wines were not our favorite, but we really enjoyed the stunning view of the fall leaves and colorful gardens surrounding the property. 

Best Dinner:

We ate at a place called Ryan's Kitchen in Franshhoek. Supposedly you can't get a table at this place in the high season, but this time of year, you can walk in.  It was our good fortune.  While the menu was very interesting we opted for the fixed menu chosen by the chef, which ended up consisting of the following:

• Amuse-bouche:  Beet mousse with crispy mushroom crumbles served in a miniature pail
  
• 1st Course: Tuna tartare in a tunnel made of frozen vegetable puree with seaweed gelatin cubes, aubergine and some sort of dust that made the tuna effervescent
  
• 2nd Course: Minced lamb in a thin pancake / crepe with chopped nuts, white pepper meringue and roasted red pepper 
  
• 3rd Course: Wildebeest medallions on a bed of minced green beans with duck fat french fry cubes
  
• Dessert: Guava souffle with caramel ice cream and some sort of chocolate concoction with pumpkin seed oil ice cream. The guava souffle was one of my all time favorite desserts!
  

This was our favorite/most interesting meal from South Africa.  We also had dinner at The Common Room which was not nearly as creative or delicious.

Most Relaxing:

We had lunch at La Motte winery.  This winery is owned by the same family that owns (or owned) large stakes in a number of famous luxury brands, such as Cartier. The wine estate is expansive and beautiful, and there was a great spot for lunch where we spent a few hours eating, exploring the grounds and of course, sampling the wine.  Here are a few photos:

Best Decor:

Part of the fun of visiting all of these wineries is seeing how each has chosen to decorate its facilities and wine tasting area.  Each is different based on the owner's personal style and tastes.  While it's tough to choose, for us, first place goes to the tasting room at Grand Provence, which was certainly not the most elaborately decorated place we visited, but had great style.

Best Lodging:

This isn't really an award because we only stayed at one place in the Winelands, but we thought it was worth mentioning because it was wonderful!  We stayed at a guesthouse called Fransvliet outside of Franschhoek.  It consists of 4 lovely cottages situated in the garden with a great view of the vines and the mountains.  The manager, Victor, was incredibly hospitable and the owner, Shirley, was very friendly. Shirley owned a cooking school in Johannesburg for many years and recently decided to retire to Franschhoek.  Victor also worked with her at the cooking school, and moved his family to Franschhoek to manage the property. 

The rooms are massive and nicely decorated by Shirley's daughter who is an interior designer. The bathroom is huge, with a claw foot tub, heated floors, and wonderful bath products (I loved the lotion!). Each room has a wood burning stove and two complimentary bottles of wine - a perfect combination for a cool winter's night.  

Another thing worth calling out is the breakfast. The amazing breakfast!!! We ate at gourmet breakfast in the main  house every single morning. Here is a sample of our menu:

-A fantastic juice made from ginger, lime, apple and pear
-Yogurt with fresh warmed berries from the orchard outside
-Cappuccino and fresh breads & pastries
-Eggs with portabello mushrooms and bacon

If you ever make it out to the Winelands, definitely stay here!

Best Bartender:

We stopped into Tokara primarily to see the grounds and the view, but ended up having a tasting and spent probably an hour talking to the bartender who helped us out.  He was very young, maybe early 20's, but very passionate and knowledgeable about wine. He talked about wines from different regions - inside and out of South Africa. We think he may be a winemaker some time soon!

Best Wildlife: