On Tuesday 10 December, we were picked up by the delightful Ismail who then collected the third member of our party, Maleka, who turned out to be an educational researcher in Georgia (USA), visiting Cape Town for a friend’s wedding. After chatting with her during the day, it became obvious that she and Joy Allcock, a literacy consultant and very dear friend living locally, would have a great deal in common so I put them in touch and they have already started to exchange notes.

‘Ish’ was full of information and treated us to a very interesting day in Stellenbosch, an area internationally renowned for its beautiful environment, wine farms, street cafes, restaurants, historical buildings, and its family university. 

First of all, he took us to Fairview Winery, where their goats were obviously an attraction as well as their wines. This was soon borne out when we asked the way to the restrooms!

Fairview was beautifully set up both inside and out and Marli, our guide, looked after us beautifully. She presented us with six cheeses and we chose a menu of wines to taste with them. Although I had not thought that I liked either goat cheese or blue vein, all the cheeses, accompanied by all the wines, were delicious and it was a very pleasant experience. We had a brief look around the winery itself before setting off for our second destination, Marianne Winery.

The setting of this winery was truly spectacular with beautiful views on all sides. Our guide was equally helpful and knowledgeable. On this occasion we were treated to beef and springbok bitong to go with the various wines. I have to admit that it felt a bit weird to be eating the springbok having only been enjoying seeing them in the wild a few days earlier. Once again, this was a very leisurely and enjoyable experience and the four of us spent a pleasant time, enjoying the ambience and getting to know each other. It was a shame when we had to leave. 

There is still evidence of the effects of apartheid policies and we passed a coloured (the apartheid name for people of mixed descent) township. Mandela Park is a shanty town where there was a fire in 2017 and the Government is still trying to rehouse people from the shanty towns. 75% of people in South Africa are unemployed and we saw many standing on the roadside, trying to get casual work from those driving by. South Africa is called the Rainbow Nation because of the people of different colours. There are both black and coloured townships. They are separate, and there are areas only for white people. Originally the Cape Malay people came from Indonesia and Java and, although most Cape Coloureds practise Christianity, the Cape Malays are primarily Muslims.

This disheartening information didn’t diminish our next experience as Ish took us on a delightful tour of Stellenbosch township which is about 50 kilometres east of Cape Town. Here we saw the Schreuderhuis, the oldest house documented and restored town house in South Africa, built in 1709. The town became known as the City of Oaks due to the large number of oak trees that were planted by its founder to grace the streets and homesteads. Ish told us more about its famous university where, until recently, only Africaans was spoken although most post-graduate courses are presented in English. The university is in the process of introducing more English-centred undergraduate courses following mass protest by the student body. Since the campuses are situated in the Western Cape, the university has committed to introducing multilingualism by using the province’s three official languages, Afrikaans, English and Xhosa.

Ish left us to our own devices for an hour so that we could wander around and enjoy the truly beautiful city. The style of architecture is indigenous to South Africa and is characterised by thick whitewashed walls, small-paned windows and thatched roofs. The style originated from the 17th century Dutch architecture but was adapted to the Cape climate. The town is one of exceptional beauty and has been described as ‘a primarily Cape Dutch thatch roofed town with a sprinkling of stately Georgian and early Victorian buildings’.

All too soon we had to head back to Cape Town where we noticed a couple of road signs that amused us. One was a surprise, the other more run of the mil. We hadn’t got very close to Cape Town before we experienced the appalling daily traffic jam as people exited the city to escape to their homes. We had experienced the same thing with cars entering the city when we had set off in the morning and were grateful that we were going against the traffic on both occasions.

I vowed to leave early for the airport the following afternoon as rush hour apparently begins at 3.00 pm!