March 14, 2023
After waking up to the stunning view from our room, we strolled through the sweet smelling rose garden of Montvliet, admiring the views of the mountains looming in the background. We were surprised to see some Egyptian geese up in a tree!
Before long we had arrived for breakfast. It was delicious. I had a short pancake stack topped with bacon and strawberries and drizzled with honey.
Then we drove off to see more of Stellenbosch and the surrounding wineries. The views of the landscape, town and elegant homes kept us entertained on our way to see the glass museum at the Glenelly wine estate.
The Glenelly estate was breathtaking with vine-covered walls and amazing gardens.
We headed downstairs to the glass museum. It was a private collection of the woman who owned the winery and has since been memorialized in a museum. There was glasswork from as early as the Roman empire up to present times. In the library, there were even several books featuring the glass of the Washingon artist, Dale Chihuly.
While some of our group tasted the Glenelly wines, I took the opportunity to look around outside and admire the views.
Next we drove down into the town of Stellenbosch. We passed by wineries, lakes, parks, and university buildings. Stellenbosch is a college town so there are also many businesses like pizza shops that appeal to the college students. While there we hunted down a butcher shop so we could sample biltung - a popular dried game meat unique to South Africa.
Our final stop was the Hidden Valley winery for wine and chocolate tasting. Again the grounds were beautiful. This time I did sample some wine, but my favorite by far were the chocolates - especially the golden mask chocolate which tasted like raspberries.
We left Stellenbosch and headed back to Cape Town. On the way we drove by a strawberry farm and more beautiful estates.
As we approached Cape Town, we passed by fast food restaurants, housing varying from luxury homes to neighborohoods of pastel homes and apartments to the shacks of the townships.
Finally we arrived in the city itself, passing by the famous Table Mountain on our way to the ship.
Back on the ship, we unpacked and then repacked for our early morning departure for our overland adventure in Namibia. Once packed, we relaxed on the verandah and enjoyed the views of Cape Town with Table Mountain in the background.
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