Wineries and Whales

Just arrived at Strand Beach, a rather uninspiring and soulless beach town about an hour west of Cape Town, after a quick trip through the winelands of Stellenbosch and on to Hermanus on the south coast. Although the beach is superb, a howling cold wind makes it all a bit unwelcoming though some brave souls were in the water yesterday.

In Stellenbosch we had a night on a ‘boutique’ (ie: very small, in plain English) wine estate called Lovane where they only have 2 ha of vines but make a variety of red wines on site from those grapes, plus a white with purchased fruit. We did the obligatory wine tasting on arrival - paired with home-made chocolates - which was all very nice, though not a tour of the winery itself, and nothing I hadn’t done multiple times in Switzerland/France/Australia. Some excellent wines at very reasonable prices, though inevitably we didn’t buy. Set in stunning surroundings nevertheless and it was very comfortable accommodation: https://lovane.co.za/  including a free bottle of their wine in each of our rooms.

And then yesterday on to Hermanus for a night, to try and see the whales that come into the bay to breed and raise their young. We were advised that mid-afternoon and early morning were the ideal times, and during the afternoon/early evening yesterday we saw a good number - perhaps 12 to 15 though it’s hard to know - right up close to the rocky outcrops where we could stand. Difficult to identify the species; there are three which frequent the area (Southern Rights, Humpbacks and Bryde’s whales), but I guess the labels came off in the water. Most likely they were the first of these, because of the white marks on the heads and the V-shaped plume (see fifth picture below): https://www.whaletrail.co.za/southern-right-whale.html.  We were quite lucky, firstly because we saw them at all, and secondly because they were so close; this morning we saw nothing at all. But certainly these sightings from the cliff tops right outside the hotel were a far better option than spending cash on one of the numerous advertised boat tours. 

This morning, we persuaded the taxi driver, somewhat reluctantly, to take us from Hermanus to Strand Beach via the scenic route on the coastal road, with superb views across the bay of Table Mountain all the way south to the Cape of Good Hope (and Antarctica some way beyond!)

So we struggle on. The food is excellent and well-priced, with unusual and very tasty options (kudu and ostrich, for example), the beers are varied, and the wines are cheap. It could be a bit warmer (for my liking), but it’s closer to 40 degrees C at the next stop so I can manage till then.

   

   

Cape Town

As we approached Cape Town on Tuesday evening, the sun was setting behind Table Mountain silhouetting it against a dark red sky. The view in the morning from the front room of the airbnb was equally stunning - Table Mountain was ‘right there’, not something expected when the place was booked. We took advantage of the superb clear and sunny weather that morning to walk up to the top (though ‘walk’ is perhaps not the right word) - the 779m ascent took about two hours over a distance of about 2kms (according the the app), but the track was popular for those who didn’t want to wait 90 minutes to get the cable car. Beautiful views of the city below and down the coast to the Cape were the rewards - as well as a very welcome cold beer at the top. We took the easy way down but were pleased with the morning’s exertions. 

Everyone we spoke to warned us off public transport (usually saying there wasn’t any in the city) and that Uber was the way to go, but later we took a Metro train out to the west to visit an old friend (Chris) for a quick visit in the afternoon, and then back into town for a nice meal in a harbour-side restaurant with other friends (Debbie and Paul) from London. 

Cape Town is a great destination - despite the traffic. This has to be the nicest city on the continent of Africa - it’s clean and organised, there are some excellent cafés and restaurants, stunning scenery. Aside from being on the water, the sudden contrast from Maputo is stunning, and most of the places to come are either inland and/or considerably less attractive than CT. Last time I was here was 1976: after my volunteer year in Durban, our trip home was on an old merchant steamship, the Clan Matheson, as a working passage. We spent ten days in the port while they unloaded and reloaded the ship - we were largely free to do what we wanted during the days in port, though I remember little of it except the mountain! We then sailed to Walvis Bay in Namibia for a further week, before the long haul north to Hull, arriving in the fog and driving rain on a late September day. The crew happily told us the old ship was overweight and top-heavy as they had added a load of shipping containers on the deck, which the ship was never designed to carry, but we got there anyway, and our ‘work’ on board was extremely light. Beats a plane anytime.

More trains the following day, down south to Simon’s Town and Boulders Beach to see penguins. The weather was much cooler and cloudier so we were lucky to have done the mountain climb the day before. We decided not to continue down to the Cape itself as it was cool and very windy, and we’d both been there before anyway. But some local travel advice: there ARE trains in Cape Town (and buses), and although it’s quite a limited network, we found them to be clean, on time, comfortable, and exceptionally good value. Ubers are definitely the next option, if the SIM card works!

Friday saw us heading out for a coffee to catch up with Jean & Len: Jean was former colleague from the publishing company I worked at briefly in Johannesburg (in around 1979 but some memory issues here), before the SA government told me to leave as I didn’t have the right visa. And then onwards - a train again, though an Uber at each end - to Stellenbosch and wine country for a night. More on that later.

Maputo, Mozambique

So here we are, Maputo. A city of more than a million people which gives the impression of definitely having seen better days .. though in fact these are probably the good times after its past history. When I first came to Southern Africa in September 1975, Mozambique had just, three months earlier, obtained its independence from Portugal after a long campaign led by the Frelimo party; there was great hope for its future. The optimism was short-lived: in 1977, a 15-year civil war kicked off, which stalled plans for national development. A more comprehensive history is available here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique

The Frelimo party has been in power since independence. I arrived on Thursday last week, a day after national and presidential elections, and was struck by the banners and flags and colours, principally the red of Frelimo, everywhere, but also by the fact that this vote has not figured in any of the recent news that I saw, indicating a peaceful event. People have apologised for having a ‘dirty’ index finger, caused by the indelible ink used to indicate they had voted. Results won’t be announced for another ten days, but there’s no obvious tension despite the opposition parties raising concerns about the election’s fairness. But let’s not go there.

I first came here in February 2007 after Cyclone Fabio had hit the coastline further north, causing massive damage and destruction in and around Beira and the hinterland; a full-on relief operation kicked off and I was here to coordinate emergency shelter operations for the United Nations and NGOs. The government in fact took charge - as they should - and did a good job of coordination overall, and beyond the input of materials, I am not sure that our presence here was greatly positive or helpful, not least because of the language challenge. I spent a month here but in fact remember little of that time beyond being struck how diverse but integrated the communities, certainly in this city, appeared to be, in contrast to many of the neighbouring countries at the time. 

We’ve spent the last days ambling around the downtown area of the city, visiting the main historic sites (you can look them up) and stopping for refreshments at numerous quayside watering holes. The streets are full of cars (except on Sundays when it’s dead), shops are well-stocked and restaurants are busy; everyone is friendly and many have some words or more of English. The city is spacious (certainly in the central area) with wide streets, lined with trees and greenery, although much has been hacked at in the name of pruning so they are not as attractive as they are meant to be. Streets are named after the inevitable Vladimir Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Mao Tse Tung and Karl Marx, as well as national heroes and other African luminaries of the past. Pavements are clearly something not considered important as they are mostly dug up or parked on; there is rubbish everywhere - though we did see a team of women valiantly trying to clean up in one place. The range of plants (and the rubbish and climate) are similar to Cambodia!  Socialist-styled blocks of flats, shabby in many cases with peeling paint, patched roofs, and ominously barred balconies even on the higher floors, are interspersed with newer blocks and more modern offices and hotels. Suddenly you’d come across a street with walls painted bright colours, or with mosaic-type designs of coloured tiles, reminiscent of Portugal itself. Wikipedia gives a comprehensive history of the city here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maputo 

All very pleasant and a nice start to the trip, despite it not really being on the itinerary of most tourists. So into the last couple of days here now: it’s hot and sunny, not too conducive to walking about during the day, but I guess we’ll venture out later to another part of town and find a nice restaurant for a meal. Next stop Cape Town, tomorrow evening.