Day Tour to Stellenbosch - Cape Town.

Princess Cruises-Tour to Stellenbosch-Cape Town.

Today we are going on a ½ day tour to Stellenbosch - which is a very picturesque town in the famous wine growing area about 50 klms outside Cape Town. This area was named after Governor Simon van der Stele who discovered the broad fertile valley of the Eerste River in 1680.

The journey to Stellenbosch takes us through the out skirts of Cape Town with its vast expanse of suburbs and then out into the country area that has many dairy and cattle farms as well as citrus orchards and finally vast expanses of vines. This valley is full of grape vines and it is surrounded by a large mountain range - most of the large vineyard have very elegant, white Cape Dutch-style architecture farm houses. Scattered on the outskirts of these grand estates are poor shanty townships – these are the dwellings for the Africans, who provide most of the labour required to operate the vineyards, as all work in the South African wine areas is done by hand.

The University at Stellenbosch.

Stellenbosch is a major university town with thousands of young - mainly white Africans attending. Since Nelson Mandela became President many more dark Africans have been given the opportunity to attend university. One of the first places we visit is the enrolment centre of the university and it is a hive of activity because the start of the new-year is just about to commence.  It is a grand old building with beautiful lawns and gardens and many very old established oak trees. Stellenbosch is noted for its oak trees that line every street and some are so old that they have been declared national monuments.

Cape Dutch style house in Stellenbosch.

Our tour bus takes us on an orientation tour of the town before we have free time to roam the streets of Stellenbosch, observing the Cape Dutch architecture that the town is noted for and visiting the many interesting shops that sell a great variety of speciality items. Most of the buildings in this town are now classified and their façades are to be protected. We visit a lovely old Dutch Church with beautiful newly replaced stainless windows.

After our visit to Stellenbosch we stop at one of the traditional wine estates to walk around the property to observe their gardens with their huge oak trees and where again we can admire the wonderful white buildings and the architecture of times pasted. We also have the opportunity to partake in a wine tasting and we get to try 3 whites and 3 red wines. South African wines are world famous - but to our taste we think Australian wines are far superior - however most passengers on this tour come back with at least two bottles of wine in their bags.


The Winery we visited with it wonderful Dutch Architecture.

Some of the red grapes ripe on the vine.

 

Allan gives the old wine press a workout.

We really enjoy the vineyard we visit and the time we spend looking at the vines and the buildings. Unfortunately it is right in the middle of the harvest, so for safety reasons we cannot see through the cellars.



These shanty towns go for miles along the highway.

Our return journey takes us along the N2 which is the national highway. Along this road we see mile upon mile of derelict villages. These villages provide housing to many unemployed or low paid Africans and they are made out of corrugated iron and packed very closely together. In 1994 the Government under Nelson Mandela, promised to provide all people living in South Africa with reasonable housing and education. If this is any indication I think that they have a very long way to go before this promise will be met.