A friendly country - really

It is really gripping how a country that has endured such troublesome times can be filled with such friendly people! People are in general really helpful and kind. Even people that expect money in return, e.g. taxi drivers, parking attendants and waiters, go out of their way to help and assist. A vision would be to bring back a smile or two to Sweden.

“The clouds cover the mountain, we cover everything else”

So reads the clever marketing slogan of one of the leading mobile telecom companies at the airport. It is true that most days, the dramatic landscape here makes itself reminded. Even though the weather is clear, the clouds seem to gather on top of Table Mountain and the small mountain range known as the 12 Apostles. The effect of a cloud waterfall is an unmistakable signature of Cape Town.

The road south towards the Cape of Good Hope is equally dramatic including “the most beautiful road in the world”, at least according to the local guidebooks.

Music suitable for South Africa

We are of course fully equipped with iPod, laptop, speakers and double headsets (Christmas gift from E&C), which means we have the luxury of carrying music with us. The natural selection of music would be African music, but so far (until we can get hold of those very cool African chill/lounge music we heard at a bar the other night), we have to make do with our imported music. Kindly enough Mattias B (who just became a proud father) has provided the complete Woxy500 list, which is a list with the 500 best alternative rock songs ever made. Thus the sunny music for us so far has been plenty of classics à la Pixies, Talking Heads and The Smiths. A goldmine!

Cape Gourmet

We have been surprised by many things in South Africa, but one of the best surprises has been the food. Since we arrived we have eaten high quality food on almost every meal, ranging from good to world class. In addition, it is often very cheap, which makes the experience even better. One example was the extensive seven dish selection menu we had at the Greenhouse in Constantia – a place with obvious Guide Rouge ambitions – costed only 275R (around 350 SEK)!

Cape Town – Waterfront

Hildebrant – Excellent beef and great fish and seafood. Rapid service.
Balthazar – Italian style restaurant. Delisious pasta and fish.
Baia – Supposedly the best seafood in town, but we were a bit disappointed. Still great food though.

Camps Bay

Blues – Wonderful kitchen with high ambition, The crayfish is carried out from the open kitchen in masses! Great bar as well.
Ocean Blue – A small diner with the best grilled tuna salad we have ever had.

Worth mentioning are also:
Franschoek: Ici / Le Quartier Francais
Spier: Moyo

Wonderful wine!

We have so far done two tours into the Cape Region’s beautiful wine district. It is incredible to discover that so many excellent vineyards seem to hide behind each and every hill.
The region has some local specialities, such as the heavily debated cross-bred grape Pinotage. Wines made from this newcomer grape can easily catch a bitter tone, but the best wine producers have learnt how to avoid through a adapted wine making process. Oddly enough, the Pinotage often has a “bushgrowing” vine which looks really funny crawling along the ground.


A few of the best estates we’ve visited so far in the Stellenbosch region:

Rustenberg
A huge estate that is culturally protected, which means that all renovations needs to, and have been, made with great care. Rustenberg produces excellent white wines and their Chardonnay quickly became Sara’s favorite.

Kanonkop
The name of this vineyard means “the cannon on the hill”. Their speciality is their Pinotage wines, which are excellent.

Laibach
On New Year’s Eve we tried a Pinotage from the Stellenbosch producer Laibach. The taste then led us to the estate, which turned out to be a friendly little producer.

The main question now is how to get so much great wine back to Sweden.

http://www.kanonkop.co.za/
http://www.rustenberg.co.za/
http://www.laibachwines.com/

The hills are alive, with the sound of ... penguins!

During a trip to the Cape Point, including the famous Cape of Good Hope, we got to meet the adorable penguins. A huge colony of these little creatures is situated at a convenient walking distance from the main road.

They weigh 2-4 kg and seem to like the sun and the surf as much as we do...

Sara wanted to take a couple of them home, to serve chilled drinks and hang around the apartment, but we finally deemed the idea unpractical and decided against it.

Cape Town, South Africa

What a wonderful place! We have been in Cape Town for over a week now, and it is just incredible. We arrived on 30 December after a endurance-testing flight and got to spend New Year's Eve under the African sun. Quite a different experience compared to the usual cold and darkness.
Currently we are staying at the Camps Bay Retreat in Camps Bay just outside Cape Town. We managed to find a small studio at a very nice price at this luxury retreat!
Have a look at http://www.campsbayretreat.com/