Having boarded a bus to the winelands, courtesy of the Cape Winelands District Municipality, expecting to taste my days away, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered a ‘thousand other things to do’ and discover — before even a drop of wine had been poured.

Having already visited the Witzenberg Meander (see right), which encompasses Ceres, Tulbagh, and Wolseley, I made my way to the ‘other side’ of Wellington, Worcester, Paarl, and Breedekloof.

The perfect place to start

After arriving in Wellington we seemed to be a little lost — until I realised it was not Wellington we would be visiting — but Zwelethemba — a township just outside Wellington. Here Eunice Xaba greeted us with the biggest smile and the warmest African embrace.

Eunice owns and runs Xaba’s Homestay where guests come to experience township life and stay the night. Many dwellers within the townships in South Africa are capitalising on tourists’ enthusiasm to experience real African ‘cities’, which has opened up a world many South Africans have never ventured into before.

The table is laden with the most delectable food prepared lovingly by Eunice and the family. Eunice speaks in Xhosa while her daughter translates. She thanks us for coming and explains her new home business — her enthusiasm is captured in her face, and fittingly her apron sports a picture of a grinning Nelson Mandela.

A different kind of homestead

From Wellington on to Worcester I go, where I find a different kind of homestay — Kleinplasie; the town’s open-air museum ‘where history is alive’.

Here the lifestyle of the early Cape pioneer farmers is depicted in a real life outdoor setting allowing you to explore the different houses, visit the tobacco roller, see how candles were made, bread was baked, and even feed the pigs if it tickles your fancy… Oh and don’t forget to taste the infamous Witblits on your way out!

Extreme outdoors

Not far down the road, the wineries of Rawsonville, Slanghoek, Goudini and Breede River have come together to form the region known as Breedekloof. Although the area has fantastic wines the area is becoming equally famous for its outdoor adventure.

Perhaps the best time to visit for adventure is during the annual Breedekloof Outdoor Festival (12–14 October 2007) which is now in its fourth year.

This fun-filled weekend spans the entire Breedekloof region, with all events taking place at the wineries and cellars. There is the gruelling Breedekloof Outdoor Challenge which includes long and short adventure racing courses; the Deetlefs Night Run, which is a five or 10 kilometre run through the vineyards at Deetlefs Estate; and not forgetting the Mountain Bike Fun Ride hosted by Slanghoek Cellar.

A mere hour from Cape Town you can visit on any weekend for the wine of course, or you could try your hand at quad biking, paintball, archery, clay-pigeon shooting or wine-blending amongst other things.

There are a number of wonderful cellars in the area — which you can find on the Breedekloof website . On your way home I would suggest you pop into the Du Toitskloof Cellar situated just off the N1 on the R101 to Rawsonville. Visit their website for a sneak preview of their wines on offer.

Ethnic flavour

Time for dinner — in real African style. Chippa's Place is an ethnic restaurant with a butchery and indoor braai area situated in Mbekweni, a township between Paarl and Wellington. Here you can try real African dishes such as tripe, lamb stew, maize-meal bread, pap and more.

Chippa Mlata is somewhat of an entrepreneur who has seen the need for good food and entertainment in the area and, talking of entertainment, we were surprised on our visit to be graced by the presence of some extraordinary cultural singers.

The group’s leader was very engaging and after a few songs invited us up to join in the choir to sing ‘Shosholoza’. As I tried to keep in rhythm — making a real idiot of myself — I suddenly lost all inhibitions and felt a wave of sentimentality rush over me… I felt proud to be an African!

A touch of finesse

We then headed to Paarl where we would be staying at the boutique hotel — De Oude Paarl. The building dates back to the late 1700s, but has been revived and remade into a quirky, but luxurious complex of rooms, with each room individually decorated to reflect the rich tones of the Cape's Cape Dutch, Indian, Indonesian and Malay cultural heritage.

Attached to the hotel is a quaint chocolate deli with chocolates imported from Belgium. Also part of the hotel is Café Cuba where you can order tapas to go with with the wine purchased at their wine boutique. With a selection of more than 300 award-winning wines available at cellar prices you can’t go wrong!

Alas, it was time to leave and I had to literally be pulled away from the chocolate shop — but before leaving I saw the most intriguing picture on the wall of a lady in a red dress sitting at a table in the moonlight, wine in hand, while a gentleman played the violin. It turns out the picture was a copy of a painting by a local artist which depicts the annual Cultivaria festival.

The Cultivaria Festival is held in September (20 – 24 September 2007) and offers live music, food and wine and much more… in true Afrikaans tradition of course.

The picture that caught my eye alluded to Cultivaria’s exclusive outdoor black tie dinner which last year featured a 500 metre-long table which ran along the historical main street of Paarl… who could think of a better way to spend an evening in the winelands?

    For more info…
  • If you would like to stay the night at Xaba’s place you can give Eunice a call on +27 23 345 2710, or contact the Wellington Tourism Office on +27 21 873 4604.
  • Kleinplasie is open from Monday to Saturday. Give them a call on +27 23 342 2226, or visit Kleinplasie’s website.
  • Chippa’s place is at 4895 Mahojane Street, Mbekweni, but give him a call first on +27 21 868 4757, and don’t forget to ask him to book the entertainment.
  • You can find out more about De Oude Paarl on their website.