We were lucky to visit the famous wine lands around Cape Town in the town of Stellenbosch. The atmosphere in Stellenbosch is very different from Cape Town. It is a much smaller, slow-paced, college town with historic buildings and streets. But it was a great contrast compared to Cape Town. The various wine and tea tastings began around 10 am…it’s 5 o’clock somewhere. We tried a variety of red and white wines, along with rosé. There were a couple types of beef jerky to snack on as well. Between tastings we went on a walking tour of the city. Making our way down Dorp we passed by old churches, the seminary, while learning some Afrikaans’ lingo from our tour guide. We also walked through one of the oldest homes in Stellenbosch, and saw what life was like back then. One of the most interesting things I thought was how families always kept a coffin in storage in case of sudden death. Once a coffin was used, it was a long trip to Cape Town to buy another.
Later that night we went to Moyo’s, a restaurant that made it seem you were in the African heartland. We had our faces painted and ate traditional African food, from kudu, springbok and impala. One thing we learned later was the food we did not eat most likely did not go to waste. The waiters/waitresses took our uneaten food home to their families. This made me realize that the American way of living is very wasteful and we take many things for granted.
