Kirstenbosch and Franschhoek

On our final morning in Cape Town (after one last bountiful breakfast at Cape Grace) Jerome took us to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens.  Because we were headed to Franschhoek at mid-day, we only had a short time, to visit, but it was worthy of at least a half day of wandering around (next time).

 

 

 

 

 

Sitting at the foot of Table Mountain, this 100-year old garden was built to preserve the unique flowers and plants of South Africa.

 

 

 

We enjoyed several areas of Kirstenbosch such as the Fragrance Garden, the Useful Plants display, the protea grove and the tree canopy tour.

 

And the views of Table Mountain in the background were excellent as well.

 

 

After Jerome picked us up, we drove back to Cape Grace, grabbed our things and set off towards Franschhoek.  Colin was our driver, and like many South Africans that we met, he was open and engaging about his life story and the changing dynamics of life in the country.  He shared the history of the different areas that we drove through and gave us some great wine and food recommendations. 

 

We arrived at the wine country estate known as Mont Rochelle.  After checking in, we had lunch in their country kitchen and sampled several of their estate-labeled wines.  Because it was already so late in the day, we decided that we'd stick to local Franschhoek (French Corner in Dutch) wineries.

 

Views from our suite at Mont Rochelle



 

 

After lunch we headed to the lovely Grande Provence estate and experienced tasting their wines in their elaborate wine tasting room.  We really enjoyed both their red and white blends.

 

From Grand Provence, we visited our last winery called Rickety Bridge.  While it was much less fancy than Mont Rochelle and Grande Provence, we found their wines to be easy-drinking and approachable and the staff was very friendly.

 

We headed back to Mont Rochelle after the 3rd winery and rested up before dinner at Miko, the signature restaurant of the estate.  Over excellent local wines, Devon enjoyed white fish and Rob had roast impala.  After dessert, we rolled ourselves back into the room and got ready for bed.  The next day would be our final day in South Africa and we wanted to make sure that we made the most of it.