Day 1 Cape Town: National Lampoon's South African Vacation #omg

After graduating from the University of Iowa, my friends and I pretty much took 3 moving paths: some stayed in Iowa, others moved to Chicago, and the rest moved to Denver, Colorado. Although Chicago and Iowa are nice, there is a reason why people go to Colorado and never come back – it’s just awesome. You are blessed with incredible weather, beautiful scenery, active people, good jobs, and just an all-around great vibe. This is really the only way I can think to describe Cape Town for those of you who have never been. Although different from Denver, Cape Town has an overall great feeling. It’s a city town, a beach town, a mountain town, a vineyard town, and a farm town.

Cape Town is one of those cities that has it all and is probably in my Top 3 favorite cities on earth next to Vienna and Salzburg. As the plane lands, you break through the clouds with just enough time to see the beautiful blue of the ocean. The blue creates a stark contrast next to the shanty towns that surround the airport. Table Mountain and the 12 Apostles (mtns) peak through the thick clouds.

My colleagues and I needed a break from the hustle and bustle of Joburg and decided that 48 hrs in Cape Town would be a perfect getaway. We decided on a day in wine country and a day on the Cape. But nothing could have prepared us for what happened next. We were referred to a tour guide through a contact in Joburg who met us at the airport. He seemed great, and then came the handoff. He walked us out to our car and introduced us to our driver, Andele. In the first 3 minutes together, Andele stalled the car, ran over the curb as we were pulling out, and then pulled over in the gas station to hit the ATM. Silly me, I figured he was getting money out for the tour. I was wrong. He got back in the car and off we went. I assumed we were heading to wine country. Afterall, we were on a wine tour, but instead we ended up in an "interesting" neighborhood at a shoe store where Andele needed to pick up his new kicks. #omg

He parked the car, hopped out quickly and ran into the store. Picture a strip mall on the South Side of Chicago. Tons of people out and about, bars on the windows, and we definitely did not fit in there. He parked the woman in front of us in, which immediately resulted in a verbal lashing from her to us (well mainly Laura because she was sitting in the front seat) and there was nothing we could do. I kid you not. It was like a scene out of National Lampoon’s European vacation. Andele must have heard the commotion because he ran out of the store to calm the woman down, but instead of getting back in the car so we could leave, he went back in the shoe store to finish his purchase. After his shopping trip, he got back in the car and asked us where we wanted to go next. Wait...weren't we suppose to be on a wine tour?!

We finally made it to the first vineyard, Groot Constantia, after asking directions 2x - one time from a man selling flags in the middle of the street and the 2nd at a gas station. The vineyard was wonderful. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and the wine was great. Marcelo, Laura, Hemang and I had a great tasting. I recommend the Governor's Reserve. The Chard, not so much.

Groot Constantia is the oldest vineyard in South Africa and sits just outside of Cape Town underneath Table Mountain. Constantia wine region was a part of the country I had never been to before so I was actually delighted that we ended up on this strange wine tour. After GC, we took over the tour and told our driver where to take us next. Did I mention that we were paying him? With Hemang behind his GPS, we successfully made it to Stellenbosch where we enjoyed a perfect lunch at Ernie Els winery and snapped a few SAP pix. Ernie is one of SAP’s Global Sponsorship ambassadors. Our company logo is plastered all over his winery. My description of this place won’t do it justice so I hope you enjoy the pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After arriving safely at our hotel in Cape Town, I had a few choice words with our tour planner and I cancelled our tour for the next day. I'm not sure we would have survived a 2nd day with Andele.

Something new every day…