A Honeymoon without Boundaries Awaits You in Cape Winelands

On July 26, 2010, In Cape Winelands, Honeymoon Safaris, By Sandy Salle

Tahiti, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and Fiji. All popular places to enjoy a luxurious, romantic honeymoon. But what these destinations lack in their famous reputations is the pure energy that is unique to only one continent in the world: Africa. Although famous for their reputation as honeymoon destinations, these tropical paradises lack some of the greatest elements that only Africa has to offer.

Because Africa is comprised of various countries, all with differing characteristics and cultures, experiencing variety

on your honeymoon is a constant. Whether you want to enjoy a combination of safari tour adventures, spa treatments,

scuba diving, beach lounging, wine tasting, historical insight, or cultural tours, Africa boasts the best of it all.

For newly-weds looking to experience everything Africa has to offer, a three to five night stay in Cape Winelands, South Africa is an itinerary staple. Catering to budding chefs, art admirers, history buffs, food lovers, cheese enthusiasts, and wine connoisseurs, Cape Winelands’ various regions have something unique and exclusive to offer each of its visitors.

So, whether you prefer to taste the white wines of Paarl or the delectable olive oils of Franschhoek, or observe old-world architecture in Stellenbosch, your specific tastes and desires dictate where you go while on your honeymoon. There are no set boundaries.

Below are a few highlights of Cape Winelands to set the scene for your future honeymoon:

Romantic Accommodations

Nothing is more rejuvenating after a long day wine tasting or walking through local villages than spending romantic evenings in one of Cape Winelands’ most exclusive and lavish accommodations, overlooking rolling vineyards, profound mountains, and lush countryside.

Enjoy peaceful nighttime strolls through the winding paths that surround your hotel, or reminisce about the day’s events over a cocktail in the bar area or in the privacy of your own terrace.

And when it’s time for a good night’s rest, retire to your plush bedding in the comfort of a lavish suite.

Delectable Local Fare

Indulge in culinary riches at some of Cape Winelands’ most renowned cafes and charming bistros. Ranging everywhere from contemporary cool to rustic Italian, Cuban to Indian, seafood to tapas, and South African to French, Cape Winelands is a haven for international culinary delights.

On wine tasting afternoons, enjoy a pleasant picnic among the vineyards or oak-filled forests, as you delight in a fresh salad or sandwich, accompanied by a crisp bottle of Pinot Grigio.

Horseback Wine Tasting Tour

Begin your marriage with a romantic adventure through the rolling foothills and sprawling vineyards of Cape Winelands. As you ride side by side, the sensual aroma of the earth, the surrounding lush scenery, and the Dutch-inspired estates combine to emit an indescribable energy that is unlike any other feeling in the world.

As you ride upon charming dirt paths, stop by strategically chosen local estates for a VIP wine tasting or private wine cellar tour. Each of the wine estates you visit will be chosen based on your specific tastes and preferences. Therefore, if you prefer to only taste velvety Merlots for the day, you will only be taken to estates known for their Merlots.

Perfect for: Couples who are adventurous, active, and who love wine tastings, and horses.

Wine Tasting Tours

Aside from horseback wine tasting tours, Cape Winelands is also home to intricate walking and hiking trails, and bike paths. You may choose to explore these paths on your own or take part in a personal wine tasting tour via bike or by foot.

When you partake in a wine tasting tour, no matter your source of transportation, you will experience various wine tastings, wine cellar tours, and VIP tours at some of Cape Winelands’ oldest and most prestigious estates. In addition to wine tastings, many estates also offer brandy, olive oil, and cheese tastings.

Perfect for: Couples who enjoy the outdoors, who love wine tastings, and who want to take in the beauty of Cape Winelands. It’s important to note that wine tasting tours, whether by foot or bicycle, do not require any vigorous physical prerequisites, as you decide how much walking you partake in.

Village Tours

As you walk past century-old Cape Dutch, Victorian, Edwardian, and Art Deco architecture, through quaint, winding streets, and past local bakeries and bistros, indulge your senses with the many sights, sounds, and aromas of Cape Winelands.

You may explore the many culturally and historically rich villages of Cape Winelands on your own or on a customized walking tour, where you will travel off the beaten path to learn about the intricate history of the buildings, streets, and people of Cape Winelands.

Perfect for: Couples who enjoy leisurely strolls, photography, art, history, and architecture, and for those who have a natural curiosity.

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Top 3 Ways to Experience the Best of Cape Winelands

On June 21, 2010, In African Safari Tours, Honeymoon Safaris, South Africa, By Sandy Salle

Add a new and exciting element to your wine tasting experience when you visit Cape Winelands in South Africa, and embark on a journey through wildflower-covered rolling hills and winding vineyards. Instead of spending the day in your car as you visit one or two vineyards, connect with nature while you enjoy a variety of wine tastings at various estates throughout Cape Winelands.

Whether on a bicycle, by foot, or via horseback, experiencing Cape Winelands involves much more excitement than simply enjoying a few wine tastings. On intimate tours through Cape Winelands, you will be able to visit some of the region’s most prestigious wine and olive estates, and try delicious wines, brandies, olive oils, and olives.

Below are some highlights associated with three types of wine tasting tours:

Wine tasting via bicycle:

Travel off the beaten path on a bicycle tour through the sprawling countryside of Cape Winelands and absorb the subtle aromas of budding grapes and fresh earth. As you leisurely cycle through lush vineyards and century-old wine estates, you’ll be able to see and experience as much of the world’s longest wine route as you wish.

When you take a bicycle tour through Cape Winelands, you’ll stop at various wine estates for a taste of world-renowned Cabernet, Pinot Noirs, and Shiraz. But that’s not all. When en route to these charming country estates, savor the sweet smell and vibrant sights of cultivating roses and wildflowers along the way.

For a break from cycling, enjoy a savory picnic among the Cape Dutch-inspired estates and vineyards, or enjoy a light lunch at one of the region’s renowned cafés.

Wine tasting by foot:

Walk or hike along the many winding trails of Cape Winelands’ quaint city, Franschhoek, and take in the scenic beauty and serenity of the countryside. Whether you’re looking to delight in a peaceful evening stroll or a hike to some of the region’s most fantastic vineyards, the surrounding trails are there for your pleasure and convenience.

As you walk past charming, century-old estates, stop by for a few wine tastings or olive oil tastings at your leisure and experience Cape Winelands on your time.

Some of the local villages you can visit by foot include Franschhoek’s historic French Huguenot Village, Paarl, and Stellenbosch. As you walk through these quaint cities you will observe all-encompassing, classic Cape Dutch style architecture and spectacular sight-seeing. You can also enjoy a variety of personalized one day wine tasting and olive tasting walking tours for an even deeper insight into the region’s history and cultural roots.

Wine tasting on horseback:

Connect with nature in more ways than one when you partake on a Cape Winelands horseback tour. The ultimate in romance and luxury, a horseback wine tasting tour embodies every aspect of peace and serenity with its slow-pace, natural surroundings, and personalized itinerary.

Whether you want to enjoy a multiday tour or a one-day tour, an intimate wine tasting tour through the prestigious wine vineyards of Franschhoek on horseback is an indescribable experience. Enjoy frequent stops at some of the region’s most exceptional vineyards and relax on the rolling countryside for a delectable picnic. Visiting only the vineyards you want to see, you can be certain you’ll experience the most personal, accommodating, and exceptional wine tasting tour you’ve ever had.

Which of these wine tasting tours would you love to experience? Let us know in our comments section.

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5 Unique Ways to Make Your African Safari Vacation Last a Lifetime

On March 3, 2010, In Uncategorized, By Sandy Salle

An African safari vacation is something you will remember for the rest of your life. But wouldn’t it be nice to have tangible memories of everything you experienced while on your African safari vacation?

Here are a few unique projects you can do to help preserve all of your African safari memories—no matter how small they may seem at the time:

Lunch at La Colombe Restaurant

1. The written word: Prior to your African safari vacation, you’ll already have your perfectly planned safari itinerary prepared, outlining each day’s activities and destinations. Before leaving for Africa, purchase a journal and breakdown your itinerary into categories. You could break them down into countries you will be visiting, lodges or camps you’ll be staying in, or types of destinations you’re headed to—whether it’s urban or rural, historical or cultural, or on the coast. There’s no right or wrong way to create your journal. It’s yours.

Then, create detailed sections within each category. For example, if you’re going to Cape Winelands for three days, designate three separate sections of your journal for each day you spend in Cape Winelands. Within each section, create your very own subcategories such as Where I had breakfast, Most exciting adventure of the day, Most beautiful thing I saw today, Favorite wine I tasted today, Favorite food I tasted today, etc. The possibilities are endless!

This allows you to leisurely capture every moment of your day without having to struggle through all the day’s events, trying to get them down into words. This also ensures you don’t forget to write down some of the greatest parts of the day.

African safari vacation2. The perfect coffee table book: Scrap booking is a wonderful way to capture your adventures into a fun-filled read after returning home from your African safari vacation. While you are in Africa, collect tourist pamphlets and hotel cards, save your itineraries, and keep two or three money bills to put into your scrap book. Any authentic keepsakes you can find that would fit into a scrap book are perfect.

When you return home, purchase stickers related to your adventures, construction paper to use as the background of your scrap book pages, write small notes or funny quotes you remember from your trip and paste them next to photos you took, use different shaped scissors to cut your photo edges with, and paste photos throughout the book. Burn the edges of paper that you write mini notes on or burn the edges of construction paper to give your scrap book a worn look. Have fun!

Once you are finished with your scrap book, you can place it on your living room coffee table and present it to guests. This form of memory preservation is not only fun to create, but it’s also an engaging work of art.

3. Preservation of individual moments in time: Although photographing is an obvious form of memory preservation, there are a variety of unique ways to organize your photos and share them with others. You could create an album for each country you visited, make animal and bird albums, or create a slideshow that you can put onto a CD and send to family and friends. Remember to write up notes associated with each photograph and paste them into the album.

4. Split seconds of excitement: In order to simultaneously capture the sounds and sights of Africa, you’ll need to invest in a mini video camera. A Flip video is a small, handheld video camera with excellent picture and sound, that enables you to take it anywhere and everywhere during your African safari vacation. Its sleek build makes it easily accessible for those split second captures of a lion killing a zebra, or a hyena stalking its prey.

And when you go back to edit your video, you can select single images to make into photos.

5. Artistic interpretations: This may not be appealing to some, which is completely understandable, but drawing allows you to express the emotions you feel at that particular moment. Drawings don’t have to be the work of artistic masterminds such as Monet or Michelangelo, they are your own personal feelings toward what you are experiencing or seeing that day. Perhaps a drawing means more to you than a photographic image, because they are your own interpretation of what you see and feel. If you are going to be drawing on your trip, don’t forget to pack all of your artistic materials. Don’t get crazy though. Some pencils and paper will do just fine. Maybe even some soft pastels.

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Raats Family Wines: Tickle Your Senses with Internationally-Renowned Wines of Cape Winelands

On June 3, 2009, In African Safari Tours, Cape Winelands, Honeymoon Safaris, South Africa, By Sandy Salle

No one knows Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc quite like the Raats family. Their internationally-acclaimed wines have been reviewed by several prestigious critics, who would strongly agree that the Raats family is extremely talented when it comes to fine wine production.

Located in the Polkadraai Hills of South Stellenbosch, the Raats Family Wine farm has received much appraisal for its splendid wines. Raats Family Wines was featured in a March 2007 issue of the New York Times as creating the top rated South African Chenin Blanc. Raats’ 2004 Cabernet Blanc was rated as one of the top 12 international Cabernet Francs in Wine & Sprit’s February 2007 issue. And the list doesn’t stop there—Raats’ wines have been featured in over seven prestigious publications across the world.

What gives these wines so much body, flavor, and life? Careful analysis of soil, land elevation, vine age, and great attention to detail are just a few elements that helped the Raats family create such a spectacular variety of wines.

There are three types of wine the Raats family and farm owner, Bruwer Raats, makes: Raats Original Chenin Blanc, Raats Chenin Blanc, and Raat Cabernet Franc. Raats Family Wines offers a large plethora of vintage wines, as well as, their current wines.

Raats Family Wines include:

• Raats Original Chenin Blanc 2008: Boasting a delicious blend of fresh, vibrant flavors, this award-winning wine is one of Raats’ most prized creations. A savory fusion of crisp apple, pineapple, citrus, and ginger gives this wine its unique kick. The vines yielding the scrumptious grapes that make up the Chenin Blanc 2008 are grown in decomposed granite and Table Mountain sandstone soils. Raats suggests pairing this dry white wine with curry, spicy dishes, sushi, or oysters.

• Raats Chenin Blanc 2007: If you’re looking to taste a critically-acclaimed wine with hints of sweetness and scrumptious flavors, Raats Chenin Blanc 2007can not be missed. One sip of the rich honeyed pear, butterscotch, citrusy, and spicy edged Raats Chenin Blanc 2007 will create a blissful frenzy in your mouth. This wine is created from three particular vineyards in Stellenbosch. Grown in decomposed granite and Table Mountain sandstone, this wine offers a firm minerality bite. Some of Raats’ food pairing suggestions include duck l’orange, oysters, and game fish.

• Raats Cabernet Franc: Arguably South Africa’s finest Cabernet Franc, this elegant wine lives up to its award-winning reputation. The carefully crafted blend of blackberry, black cherry, plum, tobacco, cinnamon, spice, and a hint of dark chocolate create a delightful frenzy on the palette. Grown in decomposed granite soil, this red wooded wine is best paired with succulent, rich meat dishes. Raats suggests the best foods to pair with this bold flavored wine are beef fillet with peppercorn sauce, game bird with red wine sauce, and venison dishes.

Interested in experiencing what the Raat wine frenzy is all about? Take a trip to Cape Winelands and stop by the Raats Family Wines’ tasting room for an out-of-this-world experience. Explore the rich flavors of the Raats’ internationally-renowned wines and speak with the wine maker himself, Bruwer Raats. Let Hills of Africa Travel create a personalized itinerary for you, tailored around your every preference. We make appointments at prestigious wine estates for our clients and ensure their experience goes above and beyond what they could have ever dreamed. Contact us today at (877) 845-4802.  We’re looking forward to making your dreams come true . . .

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Wine Lover’s Retreat: Cape Winelands

On May 15, 2009, In African Safari Tours, Cape Winelands, Honeymoon Safaris, South Africa, By Sandy Salle

capewinehomestead

Cape Winelands is wine lovers paradise. Exploding with the scent of plump grapes and fertile earth, this unique region produces some of the world’s greatest wines on family owned vineyards.

If the sight of dramatic mountains and sprawling valleys and vineyards isn’t enough to have your mouth watering, the wine, brandies, and olive oil tastings will certainly do the trick.

On a Cape Winelands tour with Hills of Africa Travel, expect  . . .

• Personal tours given by expert guide, Pam McOnie of Cape Fusion Tours. Pam is a spectacular tour guide, equipped with an infinite knowledge of Cape Winelands and is a treat to anyone’s itinerary. With an obvious passion for food, wine, and Cape Winelands, Pam ensures her tours are culinary affairs, which are often the highlight of our clients’ itineraries.

• VIP access to some of the Winelands’ most prestigious estates including: Rust en Vrede, Bruwer Raats, Le Riche, Thelema, De Torin, and many others. The De Torin estate—open by appointment only—is a rare treat, which Hills of Africa Travel guests are able to enjoy. Visitors on their African safari trip are able to meet De Toren’s winemaker and enjoy a private tour and tasting. De Toren is no ordinary winemaking estate. They use the traditional way of making wine—using basket presses instead of pumping the wine.

• An invite to the Morgenster estate to enjoy world-renowned olive oil and wine tasting. The estate is one of the best examples of Cape Dutch Architecture in Cape Winelands, and it is a delightful treat to observe such a spectacular work of art.

• A gourmet feast at a picnic in Vergelegen’s Forest. The land owners spread white cloth decorated tables throughout the forest and serve a mouth-watering lunch to guests as they soak in the peaceful serenity of nature.

2008 SPRING JOOSTENBERG VINEYARD TOUR 2 (Medium)

• Tailored services around your every individual preference. For example, if you fall in love with a delicious wine you tasted at dinner in Cape Winelands, you can expect Pam to book an appointment the very next day with the winemaker of that particular wine. Interested in visiting the top Cabernet Sauvignon producers in South Africa? We can make it happen. Whatever your desire, Hills of Africa Travel will accommodate.

Rejoice in the flowing wines of Cape Winelands while on an African honeymoon safari or family safari. Hills of Africa Travel strives to ensure each guest has a life-altering wine tasting trip, which is why all of our itineraries are crafted around your personal tastes and preferences. Contact us today at (877) 845-4802.  We’re looking forward to making your dreams come true . . .

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