As soon as you touch down in Cape Town and peer up at Table Mountain, more than likely shrouded in clouds, you know you're in for a treat. But it wasn't until we spent our first full day in the city that I truly felt fortunate to be in this thriving cultural mecca at the southernmost point of the African continent. Lisa and I took the sage advice of one of our clients, a South African art collector, and hired Stephen Long as our guide for the day. Stephen is well known in the Cape Town arts community (and to the shaman of the Eastern Cape) as one of the most renowned bead dealers in the region. He took us on a tour to see some of his favorite artisans in the city.

 

African Image, near the corner of Church and Burg Streets, is a gem of a small store selling colorfully beaded jewelry, sculpture, wall hangings, pillowcases, and more. It's hard not to purchase all

the whimsical beaded animals at Monkeybiz, created by impoverished women, most of whom are HIV-positive. It was wonderful to walk upstairs and see all these women now trained as artists sitting together and laughing while creating art. Just as alluring was the work at Streetwires, where sculpture of all sizes is created by wire and bead. Like Monkeybiz, you can walk upstairs to see the large group of artists at work. Carrying all our

bags of all the goods we

purchased, we visited the colorful houses and mosques found in the Bo-Kaap neighborhood still home to a large Cape Malay population.That evening, we were back in the center of town for First Thursday Art Walk, a great opportunity to see all the art galleries on Church Street with a glass of Stellenbosch pinotage in hand.

 

There were so many highlights to our weeklong stay in the region that it's hard to touch on everything. We loved the small plates at Pot Luck atop a former silo in the trendy neighborhood of Woodstock. Tea at the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel is a must, taking you back to the Teddy Roosevelt era. Three locals all

suggested the best biltong in the city is at Continental Butchery on Kloof Street and who am I to disagree. I wish I were digging into a bag of this tender dried beef right now. The protea in bloom at Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden were amazing as were the grounds. We also enjoyed visiting the century-old synagogue on the Company Gardens and the gift shop afterwards, which merges African beadwork with Judaica.

We finally made it to the 3,562-foot shelf atop Table Mountain on our last day in the city, when the clouds around the peak finally lifted. Ascending by cable car, we saw the entirety of the city and the ocean below us, bathed in a landscape that can easily match Sydney, San Francisco, and Rio for its sheer beauty. Realize that Cape Town is just the entrance point to a spectacular region. A short drive away is the exquisite beaches of Clifton and Camps Bay, the drive along the precipitous cliffs of Chapman's Peak, and, of course, the Cape of Good Hope. An hour to the north of the city is the award-winning wines in Stellenbosch and other Winelands' towns like charming Franschhoek.

           

We could have rented a car to visit the vineyards, but the thought of driving on the left-hand-side of the road while downing glasses of wine did not thrill me. It was a good move to hire a driver, especially when we realized that the drive is exquisitely beautiful with vineyards rolling to the base of jagged mountain peaks dotted with the distinctive white Cape Dutch style architecture. Our driver, Malcolm, picked us up in his comfy VW Van and off we went.

 

Ou r first stop, Meerlust, is a sixth-generation Dutch farm estate known for its award-winning Rubicon wine. Next up was the more commercial Spier Wine Farm, where we tasted a sublime chenin blanc. The opulent Delaire Graff Estate is owned by the diamond dealer, Laurence Graff, and is now a Relais and Chateau property housing mega-sized portraits and sculptures by South African artist Lionel Smit and a diamond store that will make you weep with envy. Thankfully, the vista of the breathtaking mountainous pass was free. My favorite winery, Delheim, was where we had lunch. Lost in the vineyards at the base of a mountain, Delheim was the antithesis of Delaire Graff, simple, authentic, one of the first wineries to open in Stellenbosch over 50 years ago. We dined on wild mushroom lasagna and lamb shank, so juicy it fell off the bone, washed down with a wild fermented chenin blanc.

 

Malcolm dropped us off at our lodging for the night, La Residence, located in the hillside outside of Franschhoek. Our room in this bucolic paradise

overlooked a pond where a black swan swam. Peacocks were found on the branches of a tree nestled on the shores. Beyond the pond were springboks running, and surrounding our spacious suite was a valley of tightly woven vineyards ringed by mountains. The town of Franschhoek was also

lovely, lined with restaurants and boutique artisanal shops. We were there on a Saturday morning, when the local Farmer's Market was in full swing. We made the mistake of having Malcolm pick us up after only one night in Franschhoek. Next time, I'll book La Residence for at least two nights to relax and savor the scenery.

To slow down and really see the Cape of Good Hope, we went on a guided bike tour with Mark Lawson, owner of Cycle the Cape. The sun was out and it was about 65 degrees Fahrenheit, a perfect day for biking in September. For the next 5 hours and 44 kilometers later, we would bike the entirety of the park. We biked past zebra, ostriches, and large antelopes called elands. We would pedal along the pounding waves of the Atlantic to take the requisite photo at the Cape of Good Hope sign. Then we proceeded uphill to the Cape Point Lighthouse,

where the magnificent vista of high peaks and sandy beaches reached all the way to Table Mountain. After an exhilarating downhill run where the ocean waters were a blur to the left and the right, we had lunch at a relatively new surfer and biker hangout in Scarborough, The Village Hub. It was the perfect day ride for us, but Mark can custom-design the itinerary to fit your biking ability and he provides road bikes, helmets, and lodging for overnight rides.

We've already designed itineraries similar to our trip for clients headed to Cape Town in December and are happy to help design a trip for you to southern Africa. Top it off in style with a 3 or 4-night safari at a lodge in Kruger National Park or combine with a weeklong safari in Botswana, ending in Victoria Falls. The combination of food, art, scenery, and wildlife is hard to top.