Sipping Wine in Stellenbosch

Tea and sweets with Ronel and Bessie at the Blue Orange in Stellenbosch

Mulderbosch Winery

Vitners at Mulderbosch and Our Private Wine Tasting

Hand-labeling the bottles at Mulderbosch

After my stay in Stellenbosch, I've decided that I need to have some kind of special designation for places that I really love and places that I would highly encourage any of you to visit. Stellenbosch is such a place, and therefore, I've decided that it should win the first "Becky Must-See Award." I'm still working on names, but for now, you get the point...Stellenbosch is fantastic.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Stellenbosch is a combination of a beautiful historical Dutch university town surrounded by the South African winelands. All of the buildings are gleaming white, and old trees border the buildings to create shady streets and sidewalks, which is especially appreciated given how hot it has been here. The few blocks around the city center have a wide variety of great restaurants and shops, and it's been fun strolling through the streets, stopping along the way in galleries and curios.

Yesterday, I met two of my mom's colleagues, Ronel and Bessie, after I arrived in town. My mom met both Ronel and Bessie a few years ago when they were in NC for work, and she suggested contacting them if I was to visit Stellenbosch. After trading several emails from back home, I finally had the opportunity to meet both of them yesterday, and we enjoyed some great desserts and ice tea at an outside table of a local restaurant. They were so kind to meet me, and our time together is one of my favorite memories on the trip. Thanks to both of you for your warm hospitality, and I hope to host you in Chicago if you ever pass that way.

Today I went on a wine tour with a local wine company. The wine country here is very stunning, with vineyards covering the hillsides, surrounded by mountains in the distance, and I thought the wine was very good - although I must admit I'm not very discriminating...as Kate P. knows, I like almost every wine to be found! My favorite vineyard was Mulderbosch, a small winery where we had a private tasting with one of the vitners who took us through nine different wines and spent almost two hours with us, answering our questions and describing the wine process. We sat in part of an old house overlooking the valley and watching the grape pickers out in the fields. Beforehand, we witnessed some employees hand-placing the labels on the bottles in the warehouse. I certainly have a new appreciation for the South African wines and look forward to searching out this vineyard at the stores back home.

After this tasting, we had lunch in a breezy courtyard at a local restaurant, here I had probably the best meal since I've arrived here in South Africa. We wrapped up the day with another tasting, at which time I hit my max at consumption. I took one last walk through town and now and getting ready to do my final packing for my departure tomorrow.

I fly out at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning on the first of my three flights to take me up to Kilimanjaro. I first fly to Johannesburg, where I catch a connecting flight to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. I then have to take a short flight onward to the Kilimanjaro airport, where I will be met with someone from the tour company that has organized the climb to take me to my hotel. It will be a long day of traveling, and I am hoping that a) I make all of my connections, and b) my bag makes all of my connections. I especially need my bag for this leg, as it has all of my gear for the climb. Any extra prayers or finger crossing would be appreciated.

I don't know how much ability I will have once I arrive in Tanzania to check messages and update the blog, so I anticipate that my next posting will include some great pictures and stories from the climb! We'll be up on the mountain for about 5-6 days and should be back down by next weekend. I am hoping that I acclimate well to the altitude and that we're fortunate to have a good group and some great guides to see us to the summit. Have a great weekend!