I've been multilingual since I was young, with three fluent (or nearly fluent) languages under my belt, like many Malaysians. I also self-studied Japanese from a young age.
Recently I delved into learning French after conversing with native speakers (in English). I was fascinated to understand why French-speakers articulated things the way they did in English, by matching the vocabulary and structure to their native French. I also learned about idioms and phrases through language podcasts.
I've only visited a few cities in France — however learning the culture through the language made me feel like I'm actually experiencing the country.
Does anyone else feel the same about language-based tourism?
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We are planning our first trip to Cape Town (August) and looking for tips. Writing about food travel as we do, our main focus is exploring SA food and wine followed by taking in a safari. We know about Stellenbosch and Franschhoek so more looking for tips on getting out there and getting around as well as accommodations. Although tips on wineries and restaurants are always welcomed. Same with regards to booking a safari. Ideally, we'll have two weeks in SA. Many thanks. Eric
I booked a safari at Madikwe game reserve. www.madikwe-game-reserve.co.za
This was back in 2012 so I'm sure prices have changed!
Cape Town was one of the stops during our honeymoon.
- Wine Flies Wine tours, really good storytellers, fun group (small) and some great wine farms (fav stop was Mitre's Edge). wineflies.co.za
- Accommodations, we stayed both in the city centre (near Long Street) as well as Camps Bay. Camps Bay obviously gorgeous. Booked both accommodations on Booking (both were apartment style stays and had excellent reviews and hosts).
- Transportation. Uber's are cheap and reliable to get around (we had t-mobile so it was free 3G which was perfect for Uber) except for our day trip where we found a driver service through tripadvisor and did a customized trip.
- Day Trips, we hired a driver guide. We could easily find someone for the day that took us down to Hout Bay, Cape of Good hope, Boulder Beach for the penguins. Had excellent Fish & Chips nearby Boulder Beach at www.seaforthrestaurant.co.za but I think in Simon's town there's tons of places for excellent Fish & Chips.
- Safari. We did a safari closer to Kruger National Park so we flew out to Johannesburg, then hired a driver to get us to www.nkorho.com bush lodge.
Isaac, I can't thank you enough for writing this out. Looks like I'll be busy doing some research over the next few days. Thanks again.
Stay near green point and sea point. Great views and easy location to move into the city and main attractions. Book a few dinners in advance. Belly of the beast, Emazulweni. Do a food tour with us www.eatlikealocal.co.za to get a city tour and window into how history impacted the current day food culture. The Banghoek Valley has some sensational wine with views to match. Blaine operates an epic wine experience where you visit private cellars. Hit me up for more recommendations.
I agree - green point is awesome.
Check out THE BIG 18 Thornhill road green point. Ull love that spot to stay
Hi Rupesh, thanks for sharing this. We'll certainly reach out about your food tour as we get closer.
Great, thanks.
Are you going to be only in Cape Town for two weeks?
There are so many options, I will gather some details and share them in another comment, breaking them down a bit as it also depends if you want to try some new things or would like specific types for your palette.
Thanks Fuad. Having never been to Cape Town it's all new. We are very big into eating and drinking what's local. We'll most likely be writing about our trip for our site so looking to including restaurants, tours, craft beer, wine, etc, etc. In terms of accommodations and overall expense of things, we are not looking for budget but not looking to break the bank. This is a postponed 20th anniversary trip so we are looking to spend a little bit more for certain things.
Howzit Eric ( typical South African greeting), not sure when you are planning to visit our shores, happy to help and offer advice where I can.
Rent a car to get around would be my best advice. The roads down here in the Western Cape are great and it will give you the freedom to move around. ( Public transport out of the City doesn't exist)
Stellenbosch and Franschhoek are known ( as you have pointed out)
You definitely need to include The Mullineuxs ( The only South African winery to be included in the prestigious American publication, Wine & Spirits Magazine‘s Top 100) And top performing Winery for the 5th year by Platters Wine Guide ( our local Bible) Their straw wine was also the first to receive 100pts www.mlfwines.com
In Franschhoek - Rubens ( A local chap who worked his way up to international stardom) www.reubens.co.za
For a safari ( The best would be to fly up to The Kruger National Park in the Bushveld or to Botswana or Namibia) but locally Inverdoon is fantastic inverdoorn.com in the Karoo ( Magical place)
Not sure if you know Wolfgat ( named best Restaurant in the World in 2019) up the West Coast www.wolfgat.co.za
For a taste of local you really need to pop into some of our Padstals ( Farm Stalls) on the side of the road . Here is one of my favourites weskusspenspadstal.co.za
Accommodation I would need to know your preference, luxury, quirky, self catering etc) Happy to recommend.
@FuadPeters Chapter Leader of Cape Town Travel Massive will be able to help with some Cape Malay Food recommendations.
Feel free to message me and I'll give you my whatsap number ( Easier for me as I'm on the road most of the time)
Hope this helps.
Wow, Neil. Seriously thanks for this. As I mentioned before, we are not going budget but not blowing the bank. You've given me a lot to research, so thanks. We can't wait to get down there.
Please give me a shout when you're down and I'll show you a couple of my favourite spots in the city. Shout if you need more.
100%
I am quite impressed by these comments. When you follow the recommendations you are absolutely safe to get a great experience and will find enough to write about!!!! Let me add to the safari request. When you can make space in your pocket for more extraordinary nature-animal feeling, fly to Hoedspruit HDS- Greater Kruger, Gqeberha Eastern Cape area, Durban, up KZN and, and, and. Inverdoorn and the Aquila Collection working hard to give a glimps of Africa's wildlife, but the area is still a little bit too small to have a big feeling of the "bush". I dont want to down grade them, but it is not for everyone. Sanbona is not too far or Botlierskop (they getting very busy, well deserved. They are good. But maybe this is not for the exclusive small-place-personal-traveler. My preference. A question of your budget. Go there, yah, but plan next time a proper safari with 2x3 nights at a bigger wildlife reserve. It is life changing when you get to this places and some of the chefs a brilliantly incl. there wine selection:-) Enjoy
Howzit, Eric.
In addition to the recommendations already posted (@NeilJansson's tip for Inverdoorn is worthy - especially their bush camp), and even more options to come from @FaudPeters, here's my take to add to your growing list:
On arrival (or departure) consider spending a night at Hotel Verde (400m from Cape Town International Airport). Their Nuovo Restaurant offers sustainable (farm-to-fork) dining while their carbon-credit programme offsets your flights enviro impact (hotelverde.com).
Then, a short drive from The City (Greenpoint, etc), Durbanville Hills Winery offers amazing views, superb wine tastings, and excellent cuisine (durbanvillehills.co.za).
In Stellenbosch, Spier Wine Estate is worth a visit for Cape Dutch architecture, art, organic wine, and farm-to-table food or picnics (www.spier.co.za).
If visiting wine estates in Paarl, pop into Ashia Cheetah Sanctuary for a guided tour. Their restaurant is praiseworthy too.
Instead of flying off to visit the Kruger Park, hire a car and head for the Eastern Cape's Big-5 game reserves.
When leaving Cape Town, take the scenic Whale Coast Route along Clarence Drive (R44) towards Hermanus. Stop over at Grootbos (www.grootbos.com) to smell the fynbos and sample Forest Lodge's world-class cuisine (their wine cellar is good too). Near Port Elizabeth you'll find the Addo Elephant National Park, Shamwari, Lalibela, etc.
After digesting all of this post's tips, me thinks you'll need to extend your trip from two weeks to a year or two :-).
BTW, did you know that Cape Town is the best city for #digitalnomads?
Hi everyone ☀️
My name is Nick & I’m a Cape Town local.
While travelling last year, I really struggled to find authentic recommendations & things to do. So when I got back to Cape Town, I created an app that ranks the best local hidden-gem recs, experiences & events.
We’ve just launched our first version on the App Store & would REALLY appreciate any feedback.
APP Store Links: linktr.ee/localknowledge.com
Feedback: uo3z53sxj8u.typeform.com/to/Aq8c0f1Z
Thanks so much everyone! I hope this helps 😊
Cheers for now
It's official. June 29-July 9. A relatively short trip, but super excited nonetheless. Hope we can meet as many of you as possible.
Hi everyone, our CPT plans are coming together thanks in part to all the recommendations. Since our focus is on food, can anyone recommend where in CPT, Stellenbosch or Franschhoek we can experience a braai? As always, many thanks.
My house
But for the best seafood braai you'll need to head up the west coast strandloper.com
Make sure you book. It's also winter so limited time that it is open.
Be right over
Let us know when you're in town. It's a serious offer.
Do not miss Robben Island. The tours are given by ex-prisoners of this prison colony and was very, very impactful. History needs to be shared and remembered. For a completely different experience go to NOBU in the One & Only Hotel. You are unlikely to get reservations in NYC or London but you stand a better chance in Cape Town. It was a marvelous experience.
I realize those are two drastically different things to do but 14 years later, I still think about them.