Food - Travels with Verne and Roy

Cape Town with the Campbells Part Three: The City and Constantia, 1-2 February

Summer in the city; activist art in Parliament Lane; MCC and munchies at the Mount Nelly; exquisite Italian at Villa 47; beach babes at Table View; vineyard lunch at Chef’s Warehouse Beau Constantia

Another flawless morning dawned in Cape Town – how lucky we were with the weather this whole time! From our holiday apartment at 27 Leeuwen Street, it was only a short walk to Greenmarket Square.

Not having visited the CBD for some years, it was initially a shock to see refugees encamped against the walls of venerable St George’s Cathedral.

The character of the market, too, seemed to have changed considerably. I remembered a more eclectic selection of wares; now it was mainly African crafts and curios.

As the sign in the photo above reflects, the foreigners fear for their lives in the townships – or “the community”- where it seems that the tougher life becomes, the worse the zenophobia.

Ellie, the shopping machine, in Greenmarket Square

Cape Town with the Campbells Part Two: Wine Tour, 31 January

Delaire Graff for delish wine-tasting and decadent diamonds; Boschendal for Dutch-gabled perfection; Franschhoek for a fabulous lunch and a motor museum

Accommodation agent Stay Amazing – through which we’d booked the Cape Town apartment (see Part One) – also operates wine tours.

Over dinner the previous night at La Perla – our first decent meal in Cape Town – our Capetonian foodie friend Karin Jenkins had suggested a one-day itinerary to introduce Californians Ellie and Steve to the Cape Winelands.

Cape Town with the Campbells Part One: 29-30 January

Staying Amazing in the Mother City; horrible hire-car from the Woodford wallies; dire dinner at the V&A Waterfront; Camps Bay, Llandudno and the 12 Apostles; seal-smooching at scenic Hout Bay; climbing Cape Point; Italian feast at La Perla, Seapoint

You would never visit South Africa for the first time and not go to Cape Town, the Mother City. So, after an equally unmissable safari escapade together at Nambiti Big 5 Game Reserve, Ellie, Steve, Roy and I boarded a two-hour afternoon flight to Cape Town from Durban’s King Shaka International Airport.

Through Stay Amazing, we’d booked a three-bedroom apartment at 27 Leeuwen Street. Level 16 is the penthouse level – look at our view of Table Mountain!

Incredibly, the sky stayed this blue for three days!

Nambiti Big 5 Game Reserve with the Campbells, 24-27 January

For our Californian friends Ellie and Steve Campbell’s first African adventure, going on safari was a must. Fortunately, KwaZulu-Natal province has some of the country’s best game reserves for spotting the Big 5* (leopard, lion, rhino, elephant and buffalo), and they’re all a 2.5 to 3 hour drive from our Umhlanga Rocks home.

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi is one we’ve visited occasionally over the years, and possibly the most popular; Phinda perhaps the most high-end; iSimangaliso (previously the St Lucia Wetland Park) is on the Elephant Coast near the Mozambique border; as a child, I went there with my parents.

Durban Curry Wars, January 2020

Sampling an authentic local curry is a must on the itinerary of any first-time visitor to Durban. With our Californian friends Ellie and Steve due to arrive in a couple of weeks, it behoved us to suss out the best place to take them.

First up, with daughter Wendy as the third member of the judging panel, we drove 20 minutes north from Umhlanga, Durban to the Sea Belle at Desainagar Beach, Tongaat, traditionally an Indian area. Mostly, the place came to mind because my sister Dale – also due to join us soon from London – had mentioned an ardent desire for its famous prawn curry.

KZN Midlands: Indigo Fields Bush Spa – 22-24 May

Just two hours from Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands is Indigo Fields Bush Spa, a unique and world-class destination that I would recommend to anyone who likes an idyllic natural environment, a lot of pampering and oodles of warm, discreet and personalised service.

Seriously, what do you give such a thoroughly spoilt man as Roy for his 68th birthday? Such men already have everything they need or want – or, at least, everything in my limited price range.

It can only be an experience, preferably one he hasn’t had before. So, having heard good things about Indigo Fields, I surprised my husband with a two-night mid-week stay there. (Click here for spa and accommodation packages.)

Big 5 Nambiti Game Reserve, 18-21 November 2018

Going to “the bush” – meaning a game reserve or something similar – is a popular pastime for South Africans. How did Roy and I get so lucky as to crack the nod to Idwala Private Lodge in the Big 5 Nambiti Game Reserve?

Well, our friends Brigid and Clive have been coming here for more than ten years. They own a fractional share of the lodge, which they generally use to host family and close friends.

This time, when one of the five villas became available for the last few nights of their stay, they invited us to join them there.

Verne and Roy on Idwala Lodge’s viewing platform

Cape Road Trip: Part Four – The Garden Route, 31 October to 3 November 2018

Extreme hosting in Hermanus; kind cosseting in Knysna; hanging out in Uitenhage, Morgans Bay and Kokstad

From Cape Town it was a quick 120km drive to the lovely coastal town of Hermanus, famous for whale-spotting and for being the home of old friends Paddy and Zoe Probert.

Cape Trip Part Three: Cape Town and Franschhoek, 29-31 October 2018

Ghosts of Cape Town past and present; catching up with friends; side trip to Franschhoek

Within a couple of hours of our arrival in Cape Town from the scorching Karoo semi-desert, the wind came up, the weather turned cold and a foggy blanket covered Table Mountain. On cue, I developed a snotty head-cold.

To cheer things up, here are some memories of past trips to Cape Town, some even featuring sunshine.

Ghosts of Cape Town past

The classic view of Table Mountain from Bloubergstrand – Roy, 1992

Cape Road Trip Part Two: Prince Albert, 26-27 October 2018

It’s a 335km drive from Graaff-Reinet to Prince Albert in the Central Karoo, where we were to stay for two nights. Apart from it being famously karaktervol (full of character), the main attraction for us was my old school friend Linda and her husband André, who 14 years ago retired to a smallholding on the edge of Prince Albert.

“Do stop for lunch or tea at Sophie’s Choice in Willowmore,” Linda texted me, so we did. Below is Sophia with Roy, in the gorgeously eclectic antiques store and restaurant she’s been running for 13 years.