Places For Families to Walk on Sundays in Cape Town

Family Walks

There is some­thing about Sunday after­noons and the need to get out of doors with little ones. Gone are the days of lie-ins and read­ing nov­els on the couch. And this fact will be made all the more palp­able the more you try and relive them, so get­ting out is a good idea. Even without little ones, you'll find these rel­at­ively easy walks a ser­i­ously lovely way to exper­i­ence the won­der­ful sum­mer, autumn and spring months in Cape Town. Continued

10 Superb Things to Do When Next in Stellenbosch

Superb Stellenbosch

You may or may not know that Stellenbosch is the second old­est town in South Africa and is fondly referred to as 'Eikestad' or city of oaks. While vis­it­ing this town your eyes will be drawn to the gor­geous examples of Victorian, Cape Dutch and Georgian archi­tec­ture that line the streets. Take you time and walk down Dorp Street which is a national monu­ment and a real treasure.

Stellenbosch isn't only a wine region it is also home to the University of Stellenbosch and so on any given day you'll find plenty of stu­dents mak­ing their way to and from cam­pus, which also means that the town has an act­ive night­life — so be sure you're ready for a jol! Because it is only an hour away from Cape Town this means you can eas­ily pop into an event, per­haps one of the Oude Libertas Summer Season Concerts or take in a film or two at the Cape Winelands Film Festival. If you're stay­ing for more than a day we've come up with 10 won­der­ful sug­ges­tions of things you can busy your­self with in this his­tor­ical town ... Continued

I ♥ Highlands Estate Because ...

I ♥ Highlands Estate

Hi, I’m Kerstin Fritz from House Fritz in Highlands Estate.

Highlands Estate IS BEST KNOWN FOR being a Green Belt; the sub­urb lies on the lower slopes of Table Mountain, between Vredehoek and Oranjezicht.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the foot of Table Mountain because from here you can walk right to the top of this fam­ous landmark.

THE BEST sun­set PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the ter­race of Unit 1 of House Fritz.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT the pool of House Fritz. Continued

Gorgeous A Bubbly Bar by Graham Beck Opens at Steenberg estate

Gorgeous at Steenberg

Who doesn't love the first sip of a glass of bub­bly, or the whole glass for that mat­ter. If you like me are a huge fan of bub­bly (the fond term used to describe Méthode Cap Classique — South Africa’s own ver­sion of cham­pagne pro­duced in the tra­di­tional French method) you will be jump­ing around when you hear this news. A brand new (and exclus­ive) bub­bly bar is open­ing it's doors in Cape Town at the Steenberg Estate in Constantia.

I know I'll be vis­it­ing this excit­ing new thing to do in Cape Town and I hope I'll be see­ing lots of you there as well. Not only can you enjoy splen­did Méthode Cap Classique, but you will also be filling your bel­lies with delect­able eats pre­pared by the exectutive chef at Catharina's. I'm excited .... are you? Continued

10 Fabulous Things To Do When Next in Franschhoek

Fabulous Franschhoek

The gor­geous French corner of the Cape, Franschhoek, lies in one of the most beau­ti­ful wine val­leys not only in South Africa, but also the world. You may know of Franschhoek as the culin­ary cap­ital of South Africa with so many award win­ning res­taur­ants we are slightly spoiled for choice. However food and wine is not all that Franschhoek has to offer.

You may already have vis­ited this lovely town for on of the many fest­ivals that take place. If you're here in March make a plan to visit the Franschhoek  Oesfees, the Franschhoek Literary Festival in May, the Franschhoek Bastille Day in July or one of my favour­ites the Cap Classique & Champagne Festival in November. If you're not vis­it­ing for a fest­ival and would like some other ideas of what to do we've come up with a few sug­ges­tions of things to do when you're next in Franschhoek ... Continued

You'll Need More Than a Couple of Days to Explore Ladismith

Explore Ladismith

Ladismith is in the Klein Karoo on Route 62 between Barrydale and Calitzdorp at the base of the Klein Swartberg moun­tain range.

'Oh, you should be here dur­ing February / March', the tour­ism inform­a­tion lady, whose name we never do get to know, remarks at my obvi­ous hot and bothered state and nods emphat­ic­ally whilst the elec­tric fan, in front of which I've sta­tioned myself, lazily con­tin­ues on its cycle in the large church interior.

We're stand­ing in one of the old­est build­ings in Ladismith, hav­ing only just arrived in the vil­lage. We've lost the details of our B&B and know little more than its name at this stage. The gor­geous Neo-Gothic Otto Hager Church built in 1874 is unique in the sense that it no longer func­tions as a church — the con­greg­a­tion hav­ing long left its sup­posed instabil­ity for a new church in Queen Street. Continued

I ♥ Simondium Because ...

I ♥ Simondium

Hi, I’m Janene from Paddabult Country House in Simondium, the upper point of a tri­angle with Franschhoek and Stellenbosch.

Simondium IS BEST KNOWN FOR its beau­ti­ful Wine Estates & Wedding Venues.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S GOOD, I LIKE TO play golf at Pearl Valley.
WHEN THE WEATHER'S BAD, I LIKE TO visit the 'Screening Room' for a cinema exper­i­ence with a difference.

I THINK THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT IS Spring, BECAUSE in sum­mer it gets extremely hot. Continued

I ♥ Britannia Bay Because ...

I ♥ Britannia Bay

Hi, I’m Lucille Byrnes from Dolphin B&B+S/C in Britannia Bay a sub­urb of the town St Helena Bay up South Africa’s Cape West Coast.

Britannia Bay IS BEST KNOWN FOR long stretches of pristine beaches, “heaven” and “hell” surfer’s corners and the wreck after which the bay is named.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the deck of my house (where do you get sea and surf in the fore­ground and back­drop of the Winterberge in one pho­to­graph?). From Britannica Heights one can see north to Baboon Point at Elandsbaai, a nat­ural her­it­age site, and south to the first work­ing light­house after you cross the equator at Cape Columbine near Paternoster.

THE BEST wed­ding PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Sea Trader, the ideal spot to get mar­ried on the rocks. Continued

I ♥ Beaufort West Because ...

I ♥ Beaufort West

Hi, I’m Elsolique from Old House Guesthouse in Beaufort West.

Beaufort West IS BEST KNOWN FOR its unique Karoo hospitality.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the Chris Barnard Museum; Chris Barnard was the fam­ous heart sur­geon who per­formed the worlds first heart transplant.

THE BEST Karoo PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the Karoo National Park.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT our beau­ti­ful pear trees on the Main Road.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S GOOD, I LIKE TO be out­side in the fresh Karoo air.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S BAD, I LIKE TO visit friends.

I THINK THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT IS in the winter, BECAUSE our sum­mers have extreme heat. Continued

Escape to the West Coast and the Berg River Region

West Coast Beach

Think West Coast, think sand, heat, sea and little fresh water. And you wouldn't be far off the mark. The West Coast is arid, wild and windswept, but it does have water.

And one of the major sources of water avail­able that makes farm­ing pos­sible, in the arid Sandveld and undu­lat­ing hills of the Swartland, is the Berg River — its source in the Drakenstein Mountains just south of Franschhoek and its mouth at Laaiplek on the Atlantic Ocean.

In the pres­ence of the Berg River (more com­monly known amongst loc­als as the Bergrivier – one word) the towns of the West Coast between Velddrif and Elands Bay and their inland coun­ter­parts – Aurora, Redelingshuys, Goedverwacht, Eendekuil, Piketberg, Porterville and Wittewater — are awash with beau­ti­ful moun­tains, lush vine­yards, wheat fields and pic­tur­esque vil­lages; a com­plete con­trast to the pic­ture one holds of the West Coast and its accom­pa­ny­ing sand­scapes. Continued

A Long Lunch and Celebration in Fairtrade at the Bosman Family Vineyard

Harvest Festival

If you are look­ing for a fant­astic exper­i­ence on the week­end of 17 and 18 March 2012 why not take a drive to Wellington for their annual Wellington Harvest Festival. Purchase your access pass at your first port of call or at the Wellington Tourism Office. Your pass allows you free wine tast­ing at par­ti­cip­at­ing cel­lars oth­er­wise it is a pay-as-you-go system.

Wondering where your first stop should be, why not stop at the Bosman Family Vinerard as they have joined together with Fairtrade Label South Africa and hope to show vis­it­ors to the fest­ival the true mean­ing of Fairtrade. Lunch will be a deli­ciously long affair and you will find out all of the details below ...

Bosman Family Vineyards prom­ises a Celebration in Fairtrade at their Long Lunch dur­ing the annual Wellington Harvest Festival on 17 & 18 March 2012.  Kick off your work­ing shoes and enjoy a leis­urely, fest­ive sum­mer lunch set against the back­drop of eleg­ant Cape Dutch build­ings, spread­ing oaks and soar­ing moun­tains. Continued

The Cape Leopard Trust — small cats with big problems

Dr Quinton Martins, the man behind The Cape Leopard Trust, has seen only seven ad hoc sight­ings of wild leo­pards in the Cederberg where his research takes place in eight years. Even with col­lars, he sees but a few each year. The Cape Leopard is a vul­ner­able, isol­ated pop­u­la­tion that occurs at low dens­ity in the moun­tains of the Northern, Eastern and Western Cape. Due to the influ­ence of European set­tlers over the past 350 years, it has already been made extinct in many areas where it used to roam. As the trust head­lines in its adverts to raise aware­ness: Leopards of the Cape are small cats with BIG prob­lems ... Continued

I did it Five Bays!

Five Bay Trail

It is just as well that when first read­ing the email invit­ing us to join one of the Cape West Coast Biosphere Trails that the rather obvi­ous fact that I was going to have to actu­ally walk the 28 km didn't register. Or I prob­ably would have chickened out and sent my other half without me.

My eye, instead, homes into the word 'gentle' (used to describe the hik­ing trail) and the fact that we will not have to carry heavy packs, will have our food laid on for us, and be put up in a B&B in Paternoster. I need no fur­ther persuasion.

The Five Bay Trail is described as a walk­ing trail. And for those who are seasoned hikers, it is pos­sibly a walk in the park, although you'll more than get your exer­cise in. For those of you, like me, who walk occa­sion­ally and do not count yourselves as fit, you will man­age, only just... Continued

Being a tourist in your own town — 10 unusual things to do in Cape Town

The Cape in a side car

There are a lot of things I've not done in Cape Town that the aver­age tour­ist has. Exploring Cape Town through the eyes of a tour­ist can be as good as going on hol­i­day else­where, a lot cheaper, and will earn you greenie points for sav­ing on car­bon emis­sions and for con­trib­ut­ing to the local economy.

So this year over the Festive Season, why not try to explore the city as a tour­ist. Here is my choice list of things we'd like to do – not all of them fall in the Top 10 Things to do in Cape Town, but then they've also got to appeal to those who have lived here a while ... Continued

I ♥ Yzerfontein Because...

I ♥ Yzerfontein

Hi, I’m Myrna from the White House Beach Villa in Yzerfontein.

Yzerfontein IS BEST KNOWN FOR white sandy beaches, relaxed sea­side liv­ing, whale spot­ting, bird­life, the September flower sea­son, unfor­get­table golden sun­sets, surf­ing and boating.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT Pearl Bay, on the beach, a stone’s throw from the White House Beach Villa.

THE BEST mid­day PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN lying in a field of Spring flowers.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S GOOD, I LIKE TO take a long leis­urely walk along the 16 mile beach or simply soak up the sun and enjoy the sound and smell of the ocean. Continued