Southern Africa Part 1 – Cape Town & Franschhoek, South Africa

Our trip to Southern Africa began in the lovely city of Cape Town, South Africa. This happens to be one of my favorite cities in the entire world. It has so much to offer and is such a beautiful city with the backdrop of the mountains and the beautiful Atlantic Ocean.

Camp's Bay Cape Town

We had the pleasure again of staying in the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront area at yet another fabulous hotel, i.e. The One&Only Cape Town Hotel. Previously, we’d stayed at the V & A Waterfront at the lovely Cape Grace Hotel many years ago.

The One&Only Hotel Cape Town - Vista Bar & Lounge

The One&Only is such a fabulous hotel with some tremendous features including the famous Nobu Restaurant on property. We had a wonderful dinner there our first night. They also have another beautiful restaurant called Rooi, where we ate our included breakfast every morning. It had the most incredible buffet and a la carte options all included. They also served lunch and dinner there as well. Their Vista Bar & Lounge at the entrance was also a great place for us to gather for drinks throughout our stay.

One&Only's Nobu Restaurant

One&Only's Rooi Restaurant

The hotel even had a Wine Studio and Wine Loft area for tastings and educational sessions. We would have loved to have enjoyed that but ran out of time so that we have yet another reason to return at a later date.

One&Only's Wine Studio & Wine Loft

The hotel rooms were stunning with great views overlooking the rest of the property and the beautiful Table Mountain as well. They took such great care of us with lovely welcome snacks and wine and even acknowledged our anniversaries. The staff were very warm and welcoming and offered impeccable service throughout the restaurants and hotel property. We were all very impressed with the One&Only Hotel and would definitely recommend it and return to it again.

One&Only Hotel Room

View from our room at the One&Only Hotel

Some of the Treats They Provided - Wine, Fruit, & South African Specialties

And for our 41st Anniversary!

We’ve been back to Cape Town many times and it never fails to capture our hearts. We experienced a few of the same events that we’ve visited in the past including admiring the vistas from Table Mountain, visiting the endangered Boulders’ Beach African Penguins on our way to Cape Point and the infamous Cape of Good Hope and a lovely lunch stop on our way back at the Cape Point Vineyards with some great wine as well. We made our way back to Cape Town via the stunning Chapman's Peak Drive.

African Penguins @ Boulders Beach

Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope

Our lunch stop @ Cape Point Vineyard with our FABULOUS guide, Anita!

Chapman's Peak Drive

Looking back to Cape Town & The Twelve Apostles Mountain Range (and hotel by the same name)

We also enjoyed wandering around the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront that was on the doorstep of our hotel so that it was very easy access. There are plenty of great restaurants there to enjoy, lots of people watching and also some great shopping. The place continues to expand with more and more to offer visitors. We couldn't believe the growth since the last time we were there.

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront Area

This trip, we were committed to seeing the very special but sobering District Six Museum, for the first time. It’s a very sad piece of Cape Town’s history in that 60,000 people were forcibly removed from their homes back in the 70’s and then all of these homes were then demolished.  It’s a very touching experience visiting this place and realizing what they all went through during this traumatic time in history and how painful it must have been and still is.

District Six Museum

Following Cape Town, we made our way to the lovely little town of Franschhoek, just a 45-minute drive from Cape Town in the Cape Winelands District. We’ve visited this place a couple of times in the past with a day trip out of the city but this time I really wanted to actually stay there and am so very happy that we did.

Pretty Street View of Franschhoek

We stayed in the most fabulous property called Leeu Estates that is part of the larger Leeu Collection. The latter is comprised of amazing hotels, restaurants and an enviable art collection with stunning grounds at each of the properties especially the Estates where we stayed. The place was absolutely beautiful, and we could have spent more time exploring it but ran out of time after visiting the town of Franschhoek and enjoying wine tasting as well.

Leeu Estates - Where we stayed

Leeu House in the town of Franschhoek

More imagery of Leeu Properties

The Huguenot Memorial Museum in Franschhoek

Plenty of Art Museums and Boutiques in Franschhoek

And even a Wine Tram in Franschhoek

Great cafes and restaurants in Franschhoek

While in the Cape Winelands, we did some wine tasting at one of our favorite wineries that not only has great wines but also great cheese.  The place is called Fairview Wine and Cheese and features goats at the front of their property.  They have pretty cool names to some of their wines including “Goats Do Roam”, a ‘tongue in cheek play’ on France’s famous Cote du Rhone region as an example. A while ago they got into some trouble with this but were able to hang in there with their wine labels and continue on with this fun and tasty tradition.

At the Entrance of Fairview Winery - their Goat Tower (yes, they're real goats)

Fairview's Infamous Label

Fairview's Cheese Shop

The other place that we visited is called Babylonstoren – a historic almost 500-acre wine estate and tourist attraction located in the Drakenstein Valley of the Cape Winelands. They have much to offer at their property including workshops, a wine museum, various events, tours including wine, olive oil & garden ones, shopping, restaurants, and they even offer the ability to stay overnight in various accommodations. It’s a lovely ‘back-to-nature’ property ideal for all ages.

Entrance to Babylonstoren

A Depiction of Babylonstoren's Layout

One of the Many Workshop Areas of Babylonstoren

Olive Oil Tasting Area at Babylonstoren

Cool Map at Babylonstoren's Wine Museum of the Wine Regions in the World

Wine Museum Entrance at Babylonstoren - very interesting!

Wine Tasting Room @ Babylonstoren

The Cheese Shop @ Babylonstoren - one of the many great shops there

The Coffee Tasting Shop @ Babylonstoren

Farm Animals @ Babylonstoren

Beautiful Gardens @ Babylonstoren

Lunch @ The Greenhouse Restaurant @ Babylonstoren with our fabulous guide, Anita!

Stay tuned for our next chapter with our first safari experience on this trip in the fabulous Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve located in the greater Sabi Sand Nature Reserve adjacent to the famous Kruger National Park.