August 5 2007
Our home for the next 3 days is The Cellars-Hohenort in Constantia on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. We’re here because the manager is Bailli Délégué of the SA Chaîne des Rôtisseurs and a friend of Josée’s. We’ve made the right choice as the place is spectacular and the food divine. Every day, we are treated to flights of Western Cape wine that just seem to appear on our table complinents of the house. Love traveling with my wife.
August 6 2007
The weather today is horrible. The climate here is Mediterranean and there are 4 well-defined seasons. Days like today are common in winter with cold fronts sweeping across the Atlantic and slamming the Cape peninsula with rain and the north-westerly gales. This explains why early explorers referred to it as the Cape of Storms.
In spite of the bad weather, we decide to drive down to Cape Point and the very famous Cape of Good Hope (Kaap die Goeie Hoop in Afrikaans). Cape of Good Hope is often mistaken as being the southern most tip of Africa and the place where the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans meet. It is neither of these as this geographical distinction goes to Cape Agulhas about 150km to the southwest. This does not, however, diminish the historical importance of this point of land. Rounding the Cape for past and present mariners has always meant passing Cape of Good Hope, a treacherous and dramatic affair especially in the days of old. Philippe and Alex were especially thrilled to visit a place they had heard so much about in their studies.
The area around The Cape is a nature preserve. The landscape is rocky and the vegetation sparse. In spite of this, there is quite a variety of fauna including ostriches, antelopes and baboons. Regarding the last of these, there are warnings everywhere about the sometimes aggressive and always devious nature of these cousins of ours. They will steal and destroy anything they can get their hands of and will attack viciously when teased or threatened.
August 7 2007
We’re not happy. Try as we might, we are unsuccessful at getting passage to Robben Island where Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years. This has become a must-see for visitors to Cape Town and our agent has forgotten to tell us that advance booking is essential. Nelson Mandela is referred to as Madiba here in South Africa. This is a reverential term of address reserved for tribal elders and also means Father of our Nation.
After a visit of the Waterfront, we made our way to Table Mountain. Unfortunately, most of this 1,086 m landmark was in the clouds today so visibility was nil to poor. The cable car ride to the top is well worth is. The mountain can also be hiked or climbed but we had already ruled this out as a young American doctor had fallen to his death doing just this 24 hours previously.
Have you ever heard the expression “Cape Malay”? We had not either. It refers to a people, their culture and their cuisine unique to the Western Cape and The Cellars has one of the best Cape Malay restaurants in the region.
In the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company started bringing in slaves from India and Malaysia. Mostly Muslim, the Malays settled in the Western Cape region and now form a distinct and thriving ethnic community here. Cape Malay cuisine is noted for its mild spice and gentle aromatic character. The food is aromatic and flavorful and incorporates the full pallet of Indonesian spices including cardamom, coriander, cumin, cloves, nutmeg, mace, tumeric and chillies. This is the low season for tourism here and so we got the chef’s full attention as we were the only table in the restaurant.
Chef Martha Willams is an expert in Cape Malay cuisine having studied under Cass Abrahams, the foremost authority on Cape Malay cuisine. Here is some of what we ate: Smoor Snoek, a braised local fish (Smoor means braised) The photo of fresh snoek helps explain the local expression, “Slat my dood met ‘n pap snoek!” Translation: “Hit me dead with a flabby snoek!”
This was followed by tomato bredie (Afrikaans for stew and consisting of lamb knuckles slowly cooked in tomato with flavors of cardamom), mild Cape Malay chicken currie (seasoned with cumin, tumeric, fennel seads and finished with natural yoghurt), Vegetable breyani, Dhall curry with 3 types of lentils. Dessert: Boeber (a warm milk and lockshen pudding with almonds, cinnamon and rosewater), malva pudding, caramel baked meringue and finally Koeksisters (sweet braided donut).
August 8 2007
SHARK!!
Today, we cage dive with the Great White Shark and we’re all a bit apprehensive. The guide picks us up in Cape Town early in the morning and we are driven 2 hours south to Ganasbaai just past Hermanus. After a safety briefing, we boat out to an area called “Shark Alley”. This is where the Great White hangs out waiting for a seal from the neighboring breeding ground to have a lapse of attention….or for a dumb tourist to stick out a pale white limb.
The deckhands start chumming. They repeatedly cast out a tuna head. The dinner bell has rung and it’s time to present the main course…us! The water is cold. Some us shiver but that’s before going in. We don wetsuits and we wonder if it’s ok to pee in them. The cage is lowered over the side and the first pair step inside. That would be Alex and Phil. A 2 meter monster makes his presence known and the kids submerge. They’re thrilled! The Great White brushes the cage and lunges at the tuna head. I’m not sure if I’m more scared about my 2 kids being in there or that my turn is next.
The video that follows was shot by Phil while Josée and I were in the cage. I’m the one with no hood on and Josée is to my right with a hood on. The Great White you see is 3 meters long. Notice my hands grasping the cage until the dive master tells me to pull them in. (Note: The video may take a little while to download but it’s well worth it. Double click on the image to start the video.)
Josée has already stated that she may not have the guts to get into the cage. However, when the time comes, she hops right in with no hesitation whatsoever. I’m right there beside her and the adrenalin starts flowing as the largest beast of the day, a 3 meter Great White swims right for the cage only to veer off at the last moment. That’s when I felt someone tap me on the head. It was the dive-master pointing out that I am grasping the cage bars and that I should pull my hands in NOW. Gulp! Back on deck, we four hug and congratulate each other for having done it.
We get back to our hotel at 9PM exhausted.
August 9 2007
Today, we’ve made our way to Franschhoek nestled in the heart of the wine region. We’ll be spending 2 nights at a boutique hotel called Mont Rochelle before heading off to our first safari. Mont Rochelle is a working vineyard; grapes have been growing on the property since the early 1700s. The hotel has 22 bedrooms. The entire property underwent extensive renovations after a major fire destroyed much of the hotel and restaurant 18 months ago. The interiors are jaw-dropping. The service is impeccable. Unfortunately, the weather is miserable so we’re taking the opportunity to…well…do some more eating and drinking.
Joseph Froncioni
Hi Doc,
I am glad to know that you enjoyed your first trip to Africa and hope it is not your last. Definitely South Africa is a lovely country but there is a lot more of territory, culture and beauty in such a vast continent.
I read your take on the abject poverty that you saw and the other side of extreme luxury, the politics, history and geography of which I would love to sit with you and discuss sometime.
Amazing how Mandela has handled the transition of that society from apartheid but there is still a lot to be done.
I know how you enjoy conversation over some good wine and food. I am preparing an arsenal of good latin delights for you next time I visit Bermuda.
Read the End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs
Posted by: Sylvanus Nawab | August 14, 2007 at 09:49 PM
Hi Doc,
I am glad to know that you enjoyed your first trip to Africa and hope it is not your last. Definitely South Africa is a lovely country but there is a lot more of territory, culture and beauty in such a vast continent.
I read your take on the abject poverty that you saw and the other side of extreme luxury, the politics, history and geography of which I would love to sit with you and discuss sometime.
Amazing how Mandela has handled the transition of that society from apartheid but there is still a lot to be done.
I know how you enjoy conversation over some good wine and food. I am preparing an arsenal of good latin delights for you next time I visit Bermuda.
Read the End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs
Posted by: Sylvanus Nawab | August 14, 2007 at 09:41 PM