tripgirl

Hello all!

Well, yes .. it's true. After 20 some odd years of international travel, our first trip to Africa was the best trip we ever had and we've had many, many memorable trips.

I already used this description with our friends and family and all were so curious as to why this was the best.

For those of you have been to Africa I can feel you right now smiling and just knowing on your insides what I am talking about. This trip was just coordinated so right for us to include culture, history, food, wine, safari, all enveloped in the being with some of the nicest, most genuine people we've ever met in our lives.

All in all, a truly inspiring and moving trip.

I will begin with our portions before safaris, so if you are just interested in safaris, please be patient as it will take me awhile to get there.

Here was our itinerary:
May 29th: Depart DC via Heathrow
May 31st: Arrival to Cape Town
May 31st-June 5th: Cape Grace Hotel, Cape Town
June 5-7: Le Quartier Francais, Franschoek, Winelands
June 7th-8th: Johannesburg: Melrose Arch Hotel
June 8-11th: Little Vumbura, Botswana
June 11th-12th: Johannesburg: Melrose Arch Hotel
June 12-15th: Singita Boulders, Sabi Sand
June 15th-June 16th: Home

Prior to our departure, about 6-7 weeks ahead, DH had a bone spur removed. He had the same procedure about 5 yrs ago. But this time it became infected ( the small % that this actually happens to and it had to happen to my DH!!)

Anyway, long story short, we almost did not make this trip as his toe was still healing and he had an open wound. But through it all, he made it. But I had ordered wheel chair service for all legs of the trip.

Now here is a man who has been athletic his whole life, so convincing him of the wheel chair service was a feat. But as you all know, this was indeed a life saver. Some of those distances from gates to gate are tough and I wanted his foot to rest as much as possible as we went into this trip.

Besides, wheel chair service does have its privileges; we were breezed through checkpoints and generally were very well taken care of. Just comforting to know.

Once we landed in Cape town, DH, got out of the wheelchair and proudly announced" No more wheelchairs for me". His toes and the pain around his foot completely was well during the trip, healing the most just about the time we got to Botswana.

Anyway, enough about DH. Capetown here we come!

May 31st: We are greeted by our guide for Capetown, Andrew Brink, a former ranger in Botswana, who now is an independent guide for Capetown and surrounds. He is born and bred in Capetown and lives in the Southern suburbs. His knowledge of all things Capetown from its people and history to the flora and fauna are encyclopedic. More than anything though he is down to earth extremely relaxed guy we enjoy spending time with.

We arrive at the beautiful Cape Grace and are bowled over by the attentive service. Our room is ready and its beautiful. Later on Monday we are upgraded to the fourth floor new renovated rooms so that we can experience both types of rooms. I'll go on a bit later about the service of this hotel, but in brief, if you just stand in the lobby for 1 second, someone asks you if need anything. They know you by name and everyone wears a smile and more than happy to assist.

Our ground floor initial room is large, outfitted in an English decor, with dressing rooms, tremendous bathroom, floor to ceiling windows overlooking Table Mountain and the harbour. And to our surprise, we can ACTUALLY see Table Mountain! What a treat. The light on it changes during the course of the day and its just so dramatic. As I can stare at a body of water for hours, I found myself completely mesmerized by this mountain.

Andrew does inform us the day he drives us in that he has taken the liberty to change around our original itinerary and has us going up to Table Mountain AND Robben Island the next day as the forecast is for a clear day. And he is right! We get to enjoy Table Mountain and Robben Island the next day ( I will write up those experiences next)and are so thankful we did it because the subsequent days are too clouded over ( no rain or wind, just heavy clouds). Several guests we spoke to who were leaving upon our arrival said they never got to do both because of the weather. Feeling sorry for them, but secretly smiling inside about our good fortune!

Anyway, we take the time to check out the hotel and then stroll over to the Waterfront which reminds us alot of Baltimores Inner Harbour, but nicer.

We have lunch reservations already set up for us at Baia and we partake in a fabulous seafood meal.
The restaurant is on the upper floor of the mall and overlooks the strollers.

Me: Kingklip and DH: Dourade
with vegetables and fabulous rolls. We share some calamari as an appetizer. Service is swift and excellent and the food is very tasty. First time for Kingklip and I enjoyed the subtle flavor and tender moist texture.

We immediately make friends with the table next to us; a nice family who live in Capetown. We share our itinerary and they said we chose well. Their warnings of safety were a bit much, but then again, we have been properly warned to keep our wits about us as in any city and happy to report the entire trip went without incident.

The Waterfront? I know lots of people either love it, don't, or are somewhat neutral on it. I would say , yes it's clean, feels safe and offers a wide variety of dining and shopping options, but don't limit yourself here. We love, love, love the Cape Grace hotel for itself, not that its on the Waterfront. There is too much else to see to just confine yourself here, but it is a comfortable place to stroll, shop and dine.

I know this is a long start and I have to go now and see clients for the rest of the day, but I knew I had to get this started.

Next up: first Full Day in Capetown: A day of Beauty and Hardship ( not ours, but for Nelson Mandela and all the prisoners of Robben Island)

Mademoiselle

Hi Tripgirl,
Awesome trip report, keep it coming =D My friend and I have a last minute trip to S. Africa and Botswana, though I would like to include Namibia too, but we have more planning to do.

The general itinerary will include Capetown, Garden Route, Durban / Zulu-Natal, Kruger, Victoria Falls, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, Pretoria, and a one day stop in Johannesburg just so that we can fly back. All in about 4 weeks, so hearing more of your travelouge would be great.

tripgirl

M:

Your itinerary sounds fantastic.

Yes, dashing out the door, but will continue... I promise....

divine54

very promising start of a trip report!
the venues chosen are top notch and hardly to beat (except for joburg i would have chosen the saxon ;-) )
baia for lunch was exellent choice!

looking forward to reading more of your experiences; i am especially keen on the LQF and your dine experience there.....hope you had the pleasure of meeting with margot!

isabel25

Great start to your report; can't wait to hear more! I'm savoring every word, but also can't wait until you reach Little Vumbura!

annhig

ttt 4 later

Dana_M

I'm one of the ones smiling, knowing exactly what you mean

Great start to your report. Can't wait for the safari portion.

scfphoto

I am so glad to hear you had a great trip. I believe we used the same company to book our September trip and now we are really going to have a hard time waitng until then. I look forward to hearing about the rest of your fabualous experience. Thanks for posting.

atravelynn

Your title sings the praises of Africa travel. Glad your trip was so wonderful. I bet many of us could make that same claim and only the 20 would change from person to person. So welcome to the club!

I bet you had a hard time conveying just why it was the best ever. Your reasons are a good summary.

Best trip even though husband was in a wheel chair says a lot. You'll have to let us know how the wheelchair went when you get to other parts of your trip--the first part seems to be no problem. The use of a wheel chair in Africa could be a burning question for some people and unless you've done it, it's hard to advise.

tripgirl

Hi all,

Dashing out the door... again...

But will continue later I promise

Did want to address the wheelchair issue. Dh did not need it beyond landing in Capetown. He did not really need at all, but I insisted and glad I did, I saved him some aches.

Although I did not see wheelchairs on the trip itself, only in the airports, but I did notice one placed in the lobby of Singita Boulders. I asked DH if he wanted a ride!!!!!( he did not think it was too funny!)

Yesterday I was again telling people about our trip and found myself again letting them know that it was the best in all my years of travel. Still hard to explain to someone who has not been, but I think its the combination of everything. When people asked was it the food, the safari, the scenery, etc. I just kept saying it all comes together to form an experience that is unforgettable.

While parts of the food, wine, people, safari do stand out as particular highlights( and I'll sahre those of course), it was not a trip of highlights; everything together worked and perhaps that is why I felt it was the best in 20 yrs. in other words, there was no dependency on highlights, it all one just one big ball of a fabulous vacation.

tripgirl

Ok.. here for a little bit..

So still on first full Day in Capetown:

We wandered some more around the Waterfront, checking out the table Bay Hotel. When I am on vacation having grown up inthe hotel business, I check out all the hotels I have read about.

Glad we did not stay at the Table Bay from at least from what I saw. It was too busy of a hotel, convention like. Although visually beautiful with a fine location, I prepferred the quiet elegance of the Cape Grace.

We looked at the Red Shed craft shop with lots of nice things, but its our first day in Africa and I want to save some room for shopping so empty handed we went.

Dinner tonight is at Nyoni Kraal on Long Street. This restuarant is still relatively new and serves up a fabulous African menu. The place is very warm and friendly, prices more than fair and nice and casual for our first night.

We enjoy a roasted lamb dish and roast pork ribs. The side dishes are huge, mine was some sort of bread dumpling that there was no way I could tackle it all. we start off our trip with our first Pinotage. I can't quite remember the dessert, but at this point, we are a bit tired and off to bed with go...

It was our first night of many using the hotel's BMW service. What fun! We ended up using all the drivers, I think there were 7 of them, and had so much fun talking to them all. We learned so much about Capetown and South Africa from them, we enjoyed learning about their families and it was such a nice convenient service when we wanted to go out at night.

June 1st: First Full Day in Capetown: A day of Beauty and Hardship

Breakfast is very good at the Cape Grace, service superb. A nice spread of fruits, yogurts, cereals, breads and muffins is preceded by anything you want on the menu to include many hot dishes.

At 9am Andrew arrives and we are off. We start off with a short driving tour of the city just so we can get the layout and then up we go to Signal Hill first, as Andrew wants to get to Table Mountain just a tad later so that some of the cars will lessen.

It's a gorgeous clear day with nice temps ( all throughout our stay we are amazed by our good fortune with the weather, just some very intermittent rains, nothing at all to spoil a day and its warm for us. Hey if this is winter, count me in!)so our plan for Table Mountain and Robben Island has come out of Central Casting.

We immensely enjoy Signal Hill and if you can't make it to Table Mountain, at least do Signal Hill. The views are delicious, albeit not as high, but nonetheless beautiful.

We enjoy the next hour or so at Table Mountain goingup by the infamous cable car that turns. And once at the top you are rewarded with splendid panoramic views to die for. You could spend the whole day up there is you wanted to. There is no wind and bright sunshine and we are loving it! We can look down below with the whole city spread out in front and then we can see as far as the Tweleve Apostles mountain range on the other side.

A truly wonderful morning and if you get the clearance to go and have your heart set on it, drop everything else and get up there before you can't.

After TM, we make our way to the Rhodes Memorial, in honor of Cecil Rhodes. There is a lovely lunch spot there, Andrew calls ahead to his manager friend there and we are afforded a beautiful outdoor dining experience with fresh lunch fare ( meL: roasted vegetable salad, DH a really nice chicken salad sandwich) and the first of many for me: Rooibos Tea!!! I am hooked on Rooibos. High in antioxidants and a bevy of vitamins and minerals, I would begin to to have Rooibos tea with every meal ( even on game drive sundowners: I know.. I am supposed to be REALLY drinking at that hour, but the Rooibos called!)

The setting for lunch at the Rhodes is stunning, I highly recommend a peaceful and delicious lunch there.

We wind our way back into the city and Andrew points out more neighborhoods. We pass by the Kensington Place Hotel, another hotel I had researched. Looks fantastic and its in Higgovale, a really lovely part of town that hugs Table Mountain, kind of reminds me of Hollywood Hills.

And now to the event, my DH has been waiting for: Robben Island. DH is a BIG BIG history buff and researches very very throughly the history of every place we have been internationally for the past 20 yrs. Not just a guidebook or one book, but I mean tons of books, videos, practically anything he can get his hands on is researched.

So when it came time to prep for Africa I am busy with all the logistics of the trip itself and DH is off with Nelson Mandela....

Robben Island: We will never forget it. For those who have not been, the experience is very moving. You first make your way by ferry to the island, a pleasant 35-40 minute ride. Then once landed you board very old buses and a guide and driver take you around the island to point out the layout and give you the why's, how's and who's of Robben Island.

All of it was memorable, but the most was seeing the lime quarry where Mandela and others toiled in the hot sunshine for hours and hours. You can see why Mandelas retinas have been damaged by all of this. As we approached you can starkly see the blinding quarry. The light is so bright and now imagine 100 F plus degrees on top of that!

After about an 1 1/2 hours of the the bus tour we are then deposited in from of the various prison barracks and we are led by an actual former prisoner to experience the prison life.

I won't belabor every detail, but of course the most heartwrenching was to see Mandela's teensy tiny cell where he was for 18 yrs. How this man survived it, wrote about it and became one of history's most monumental figures is truly a man of epic proportions.

I shed many a tear that day. Thinking about how other human beings can be so cruel and then so compassionate is truly one of the greatest dichotomies of our world.

I will have to continue later as I am off to a 1st Birthday party.

But up next...

Dinner: Treated Like Rock Stars: Radio, Food and Wine

Calex

Would love the particulars/contact information for Andrew Brink as we will be travelling to Africa late Mar 09.

thanks

uhoh_busted

I'm enjoying reading your trip report very much. We totally LOVED Cape Town and the Winelands and Hermanus -- our tours of which sandwiched our Botswana safari in 04. It seemed like everyone we met was on their seventh or fifteenth safari and we felt like real newbies. After the first game drive we "got" it. We're planning our second trip to Africa for next year, but that's in its own little thread. Now I don't have to feel so jealous reading trip reports for a while, and I can thoroughly enjoy them.

landlcochran

tripgirl:

I also would like to have contact info on Andrew Brink. We are planning a trip to similar to yours in Fall 2009.

I am really enjoying your report..keep it coming!

Linda

tripgirl

For Andrews email, I will have to find his card. He was arranged through my agent, so if I can't find the card, I will get his info posted here as soon as I ask for it.

June 1st: Dinner: Radio, Food and Wine

As some of you know I posted here before I left that I would be doing a radio show from Africa! I began doing segments for the Dining and Travel Guide with Pierre Wolfe, a famous chef here in the states who broadcasts every Sunday 3-5pmEST and can be heard in 60 syndicated markets on Business Talk Radio.

Anyway, before I left I did his show and when my publicist told him I was going to be in Africa the following week, he wanted to broadcast from Africa!

We were already scheduled to dine at Azure, the restaurant in the Twilve Apostles Hotel during broadcast time, so this was all perfect.

Once the restaurant and hotel happily agreed to be on the show, they made all kinds of lovely arrangments with us.

They sent a car to the Cape Grace to pick us up and upon arrival a team of managers greeted us at the door to welcome us. It was quite the scene.

We started off having drinks with the General Manager of the hotel, Jeremy Flowerday and then were quickly joined by the executive chef, Roberto Cavalho and the award winning sommelier, Luvo Nteso. We had a ball sitting around sipping elegant South Africa wines.

The Twelve Apostles is quite the hotel. Had it not been our first time in Cape Town where we wanted to be a bit closer to the city, we would have stayed here. Not that anything is to be taken away from the Cape Grace. We loved it there. Just after seeing the 12 Apostles, it is also our kind of hotel, it was just too far from the center of things for a first time visit we felt. It was a great mixture of funkiness, warmth and a dramatic setting afronting the sea.

After enjoying our drinks we were ushered to a fabulous table to have dinner. The meal was incredible. We started with a crab cocktail served in a martini glass and then shared their infamous seafood platter,: an assortment of clams, mussels, calamari, kingklip and all sorts of vegetables with the crowing achievement: a hanging disply of prawns. The prawns were skewered onto a hanging metal rod that towered over the seafood resting on a large platter below. Roberto Explained this is the typical Portuguese preparation; his background is as such.

We enjoyed a flourless chocolate tart with rooibos ice cream and a luscious cheesecake. All washed downed with wines Luvo selected for us and forgive me DH is out at the moment and he kept track of the wiens we had and I will ask him when he returns from the gym.

Wrapping up dinner with fabulous service, we were then brought upstairs to a private room to do the show.

The show started with me describing my first impressions of Cape Town and South Africa and then going into our meal at Azure. Pierre was so gracious as to really give a nice plug to the Tweleve Apostles Hotel and Azure, he kept repeating it all throughout the show.

Then we took a little break and then Roberto and Luvo came on to describe more n depth all about the menu and ines and trends in todays South African dining scene.

Everyone had so much fun and Jeremy was most pleased.

Alas, we are not done yet... more drinking in the bar again. After dinner drinks for all! We spent more time with Jeremy and Roberto( Luvo had to go) . We discuss everything from politics to food to our families and our travels. As it happened we somehow got onto a discussion of American football and Jeremy was so intrigued as to understand it. So DH spent about the next 45 minutes discussing how football works. Both Roberto and Jeremy were glued to DH's every word ( I don't know if it was out of courtesy or that they were generally interested!)

Anyway, a most delightful evening and we were indeed treated like rock stars. They insisted on picking up the tab for everythng and as much as we even tried to leave a generous tip, they would not hear of it. I'm going to be sending a little bit of Virginia to them: I'm planning on a basket filled with native Virginia foods and wine and perhaps I will enclose a football magazine or two!!!

It's nice to have some new friends in the culinary world. Roberto and I have exchanged e mails since.

I'd highly reocmmed a dinner at Azure as it is so relaxing and the scenery can't be beat. Or at the least have a drink in their funky bar, its decorated so wildly, but tastefully and is much fun.

The driver is ready for us and off we go back to the Cape Grace having just spent a fabulous evening of fun, new friends, and indulging in the best food and wine.

I later caught up with another Fodorite, a gal from Atlanta, Lisa, who I met my very last day at Singita ( they were coming in and we were leaving). We had arranged to meet each other before both of us left. When we met, she was with 3 other friends and her husband and she told me she heard the show and commented how fun it was to listen knowing that she was going to meet me later in the trip!

Next up:

June 2nd: A Day of Thoughts and bit of Tradition: District Six Museum and Witnessing the Current Xenophobic Situation: A demonstration in front of Parliament, PLUS Tea at the Mount Nelson.

chacheetah

Hi Tripgirl, just catching up with your trip report and I love your enthusiasm. I remember when you were in the planning stages!
Your time in Capetown sounded sublime; and to broadcast from there is awesome.
Can't wait for the remainder!

Chacheetah

althom1122

I am enjoying your trip report very much - but I had to laugh at what was presumably an unintentional pun: you ordered wheelchairs for all legs of the trip...

Keep it coming!

Karen

jbella

Very good catch, Karen!
You are quick.

Danielle

Thanks for everything you have written so far! Thanks to you I have decided to make SA my trip for next May. Your itinerary looks exactly like what I would do. My husband and I are interested in safari, wine, culture etc. and would like a blend of all in Botswana to boot!

This will be our first time to Africa and I was thinking about Micato but I am really interested in how you planned it and was it personalized? If so, would you please disclose the contact information for who you used, etc.? Thanks much in advance! Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

In addition, if anyone has flown in business class from the East Coast to Capetown - could you let me know if it is worth the purchase? I am assuming yes. Thanks again!

tripgirl

Danielle,

So glad I was able to inspire you!

We used Timeless Africa. E mail: [email protected]. At the end of this report( when I finally get to the end!) I will go over how all was planned. Contact; Julian Asher. If you want to e mail me for specifics before I am able to get to the end of this report, please let em know, I'd be happy to assist.
We always fly on FF tickets and use them to pay for economy fares so the price is completely free. But business class would be delightful as the flight is long. DH and I are small thin people so we can scrunch into seats with no worries. I've flown business class when bumped as gratis by AA, but have never paid outright or used miles to upgrade. If you can do it, do it, you'll most likely really enjoy it! We spend our $ on lux hotels, fab dining,wonderful guides and beautiful gifts to take home. Getting there for us is never a problem as we experience little if any jet lag as well.

June 2nd:

A Day of Thoughts and Tea:

Today we are without Andrew for a day on our own.

Andrew shares with us that the District 6 museum is very worth it and tells us to ask for Noor, the creator of the museum, if he is there, to give us a tour.

So first on the agenda this day is District 6 museum and indeed Noor is there!

Noor who is coloured( now for North Americans Coloured is NOT derogatory word, in fact is a quite acceptable term to use for people of mixed race as used in S. Africa), he is Muslim, greets us so warmly and I am glad he is there to show us around.

Noor was a district 6 dweller along with his family. And if you do not know the story of District 6 during aparteid, it was a vibrant community where many blacks and coloureds lived. Their neighborhood was bulldozed to make way for white dwellers and then they are removed to outlying areas.

The museum traces all of this history and is very human and touching in the stories of those who lived in District 6.

I highly recommend a visit and ask for Noor if he is there. The museum is not big, but packed with such history ( and more tears for me!). Just go.

After the district 6 museum we go off to the Jewish Museum which is in the Company Gardens area. Being Jewish I always like to visit something of my own heritage whenever I am overseas.

The museum is very nicely done showing the settlement of Jews into S. Africa and also mixing in the horrors of the Holocaust.

Another one to go to, very moving. Nice gift shop as well; bought a few things here.

Then we made our way down the street just to walk further down and came upon a demonstration of Somalians in front of Parliament.

As many of you know there has been xenophobic violence in Joburg and Cape Town and we came upon a vocal, but not violent demonstration of Somalians protesting that they are not being protected by the police. We watched them for about 20 minutes and moved on.

The next day, the one gentleman we remembered the most as he as the most vocal had his picture on the front page of the newspaper.

The car service from the hotel, picked us up and took us back to the hotel for a bit of freshening up and lunch.

We had a voucher to dine at Bascule, the whisky bar in our hotel that serves lunch. It was lovely to sit outside right next the yachts. I had a terrific chicken and couscous salad and I can't remember what DH had though.

About 3pm the car service waiting for us again drives us to the Mount Nelson or as known the Nellie, for high tea.

I was glad to have had the opportunity to see the Nellie, but in all honesty was glad we did not stay there. Although I am one for formality in many situations, the hotel seemed a bit too stiff for us. And a bit worn around the edges. I did not see the rooms, so not fair of me to really judge.

Anyway, if you love your sweets, this is sweets central. A huge oval table is crammed full of every kind of delicious pastry you can imagine and some savouries as well.

We chose a few and nibbled mostly as we both could not possibly down cake after cake. Service is cordial, but we do not stay long. Glad we did it though. Price is cheap enough at $30 for two.

When we return to the hotel, we are now moved to the top floor renovated rooms and WOW! Fabulous, fabulous!

The color scheme has now gone from an English and elegant look, to a rich grey toned color and a slightly funky decor. Our floor has a subtle nautical theme and there are funky chandeliers in the hallways with hanging dinner plates atached to them ( sounds strange,but it actually works).

Our room is again quite large and this time we have a complete seating area and a patio with furniture and we are up higher so the views of Table Mountain are even more dramatic. The room is exquisite. The 4th floor rooms are first to be done. They are working on the 3rd floor now and then the 2nd, 1st and lobby. Once done, it should be magnificent.

Thgouh it is a rare hotel that actually the way it is right now, is perfectly wonderful. The renovation I guess they felt would put them over the top and indeed, it will have such a WOW factor.

So the 4th floor is home for the remainder of the stay.

In for a short nap and out for dinner at 8;30

Dinner: The Showroom: Bruce Robertson temple of gastronomy!

Bruce Robertson used to be creative genius behing one waterfront, Cape Grace's restaurant and now he has his own restaurant not too far from the Cape Grace.

What a cool place. It's called the Showroom as it overlooks a luxury car dealershp through its glass wall for all the diners to view.

The menu is so creative, but forgive me, I have misplaced some of my dining notes, so I forgot what we had, but it was creative.

The sommelier is terrific, but he was almost too terrific in the fact he was so passionate about the wines and food that he kind of went on and on about everything that I even got a little glazed over.

Anyway, the place is small, all white with Phillipe Starck ghost chairs. The service is excellent and they even put the lambourgini( sp?) car on the menu for sale: only about $700,000!

Go for the fun of it and to experience some complex flavors and excellent wines.

It's another pick up from the drivers, now I think we have had 4 of the 7 drivers and each time it is so pleasant to be with them.

Off to Bascule Whisky Bar for nightcaps. The bar situated below in the hotel, is a warm friendly place with a choice of about 400 diferent whikies. I settle in on just a cranberry club, but DH indulges a bit. We like the place as we meet some local people and the vibe is laid back relaxed.

Off to night night as we make our way upstairs..

Next up:

Hello Atlantic, Hello Indian: The meeting of two oceans and my cute little penguins!