The next day was warm and sunny, so my parents decided it was a great day to drive up the coast and do a little winetasting – yuk, not for me! (most of this particular blog post is written by my parents).

Tons of History in the South African Wine Farms

In one winery a fun woman, named Melissa, gave very descriptive details of every type of wine my parents were tasting.

The next winery, called Altydgedacht Estate was homey with a blazing fire and a wooden roof.  I enjoyed snuggling up to a fire and reading my books!

Established in 1698, Altydgedacht Estate is a family wine farm.  We talked to Oliver Parker, one of the owners for a while.  He actually came to Sacramento and took a special course in Viticulture and Oenology at UC Davis!

Okay, a little game time, too!

On another rainy day we went to a humungous museum, The National Museum of South Africa.

The museum was so big we didn’t get to see the whole thing!  We also saw a marine section with dolphins and sharks. We did see some of my favorites, including the whales!

The part we we did get to see had all the native animals stuffed, so it looked like they were standing right there!  Most of them are huge; and, we look forward to seeing them live during our upcoming safari.  This museum was really awesome! The next day we moved to another beachside condo – on the 11th floor.  Anke and Tyl , and their manager, Boyson, helped us move. Anke and Tyl have a Kombi or VW Bus and they helped us transfer our luggage to our new place.

Thanks for All Your Help, Boyson!

Relaxing View from the 11th Floor Helps me Chill and Write My Two Books and the Blog!

Our host family, Anke and Tyl,  treated us to a fantastic South African Welcome Braai – which in America means barbecue; and, Australia, means barbie.  Anke is from Germany, and Tyl is a native South African, originally from Johannesburg.  Both of them moved to Cape Town about 6 months ago.

Anke and Tyl are fantastic Hosts and now are our new friends!

Sometimes South Africans are shy people, so sharing the food (and drink) during a braai can help build a friendship.  A braai is a big part of South African heritage.  You can have a braai for any occasion.  Birthday braai, Christmas braai, housewarming braii, Wednesday night braai, etc. A braai revolves around the fire, and the food. The food is cooked on (as the name of the gathering would suggest) a braai, which is basically a grill. But you won’t find gas on this grill. A major difference between the two types of cooking is that South African’s use wood or briquettes (charcoal) when they braai. This means it takes significantly longer to get a fire going and cook the food, but that’s the point. A braai is all about the experience, the company, and the quality of the food. It’s something to be savored, which we definitely did with Anke and Tyl.

It was fantastic as you can see in the photos – we have enjoyed so much local cuisine all around the world!  Makenna loved the “Iron Brew” Soda and the traditional South African Milk Tart for dessert too……let’s not forget the “Wonder Bars,” in the original and mint flavors!

Wir haben viel spass! Viel Dank to Anke and Tyl.

Tyl has also been teaching me some of the native slang, like “Lekker,”  (which means awesome/right on/very cool, all in one);  “Just Now,” (which can mean I’ll tend to it sometime in the future, maybe near future, but not sure exactly when).  We learned other fun things…….like load shedding, OMG!

Load shedding is when an area of Cape Town goes dark, in other words, no electricity for 2-2.5 hours.  You have to have candles and flashlights (or torches, as they call them).  Businesses, like restaurants all have big generators to run during load shedding.  They do this because they don’t have enough electricity to go around.  Load shedding happened to us four times during our stay in Cape Town! It’s actually kind of fun, but I don’t think the grownups think so.  Another funny thing is that they go to a gas station or convenience store to buy electricity for their house! More with Anke and Tyl in coming posts.

P.S.  We do have to find time on the road to do things like laundry and haircuts.

Look for More Lekker Posts from Your Junior WorldTrek Reporter

Keep Calm and Travel Around the World