Table Mountain
Today was a mix of tour and wine tasting. We headed out at 8:30 am for Table Mountain. Being early and a Monday we thought the queue would be shorter, and having pre-purchased tickets online we we thinking this would be easy, but we still waited 50 minutes to go up on the tram. The floor of the tram rotates so there is no bad view during the ride up as it goes a full 360 degrees. The tram ascends about 700 meters, starting around 300 meters above sea level you dock at over 1000 meters. Once on top the views were beautiful. It was a clear day so we could see everything. There is an easy walk at the top that gives you views from all sides of the mountain. When we descended and exited the queue was far worse. Note: buy online and go very early. The first tram ascends at 8:00 a.m.
On to wine tasting. Our first stop was Antonij Rupert for a noon appt. We were a little late due to the queue at Table Mountain, the cow crossing the road and a stalled tour bus, but we made it around 12:20 pm. It was a private tasting where we got to each have our own flight. I had 4 different white wines while everyone else had different reds. They were all very good. Next up was Fairview where we stopped first at their restaurant, “The Goatshed.” The food was quite delicious, but the service was extremely slow taking up a good portion of our afternoon so we didn’t have time to taste any more wines. So we decided to go to a wine store (Caroline’s) in town. While we were able to find some wines for the trip, the drive back to the house was a nightmare. Our very skillful driver Troy got us through it unscathed. Upon return to the house I only wished we could stay home, but I had booked us on a Jazz Safari. So out again we went.
The driving gods continued to be against us when Troy’s phone stopped working and we didn’t know where we were going, but somehow the Garmin got it right and we were only 10 minutes late. We were driven to a Jazz musician’s house, Hilton Schilder, where his wife served up a very delicious meal of curry chicken, dal and rice. We listened to him and his friend play several instruments and sing. We learned of how certain music was influenced by and even banned due to apartheid. Hilton was in a rock band in the eighties who were deemed very influential, but their music was also banned. One of the jazz movements in S. Africa is influenced by Goema, which forms the music structure in a framework of a very hypnotic backbeat rhythm that is deeply rooted in S. African culture. After Hilton’s place it was then off to a Jazz bar where we listened to some very good jazz music. Hilton decided to accompany us and by the first song he was up on stage with the other musicians. It was a late night, but a very worthwhile and fun experience.