Cape Country Routes Amazing Race - Experiencing travel at its best.

After watching the sun rising over the ocean during breakfast, it was time for our first detour, where one team member would enjoy E-Biking through the town (with Wow E Bikes), while the other two would be heading out onto the ocean, for sea-kayaking (with Kayak Paternoster)! Naturally, being a thrill-seeker myself, I decided to head out onto the ocean! Making the kayak go the right way, was slightly challenging in the wind, but meeting the Cape Cormorant colony, and some of the local penguins, out in the boulders of the open ocean, was definitely worth the sore arm muscles! Heading back to shore, we awaited the E-Bike group before departing to Darling Lodge, a beautiful little gem of a guesthouse set in beautiful Gardens, in the town of Darling.

The setting offers unrivalled tranquillity for ultimate relaxation. After taking a drive through the town, and up to an expansive viewpoint above the town, we bid the owner’s fairwell and headed on to Darling Breweries! We enjoyed a detailed tour of the brewery and learnt the process of their beer-making in detail, before tasting their beers, paired with delicious snack platters of fine cheeses and meats, in the brewery’s restaurant. Once again, being well-watered and fed, Stellenbosch was calling, because, what better way to follow up some beer, than with some wine! On the detour that awaited us at Adventure Shop Stellenbosch, the race really started to heat up! Being told to locate Lanzerac Wine Estate on a map, and to then “follow the river” on our E-Bikes proved to be a difficult task. At every turn, we were going the wrong way eventually, we found the long, tree-lined entrance to the estate, and were rewarded with an amazing chocolate and wine-pairing! The chocolates were beyond amazing, I have never tasted more amazing creations!

It was now time to locate our accommodations for the night, which were two hotels in central Stellenbosch: Evergreen Manor & Spa and Eendracht Hotel. We freshened up and took a stroll through the city, to our dinner location; a restaurant called ‘The Wine Glass’, where all wines are served by the glass, without exception – yes, MORE wine tasting! By the time dinner was served, we had enjoyed a tasting of 6 different Rose’s of the region. Dinner was delicious and we fell into our beds quite late, considering we had an early morning ahead, with lots more excitement!

Having decided on who will do which detour during dinner the previous night, our team split up once again, with my team-mates taking the ‘Silver Springbok’ for a ride to Cape Canopy Tours, for a ziplining experience, followed by snacks and more wine tasting at South Hill Vineyards, whilst I made my way to Marine Dynamics in Gansbaai! Due to our busy schedule and limited time, we could not join one of the actual tours, which takes a number of hours, hence we got the ‘VIP- experience’, with the company’s founder as our skipper, on a smaller rubber boat. We zoomed across the high waves, sometimes flying through the air (my favourite part!), watching birds, penguins and seals enjoying their time in the waves. While circling in on the Marine Dynamics Shark Cage Diving boat and learning about their policies of protecting the marine wildlife of the area (including no feeding of the sharks, so as not to interfere with the natural order of things), we realized that a shark fin was doing the same, just a few meters from us!

Excited to see more, we headed out to Dyer Island, where we learned of the efforts the company makes, towards preserving the penguin population of the region. After all the excitement out in the waves and the sea breeze, we headed back to shore, to enjoy a delicious seafood lunch at the restaurant. On our way back to our teams, we visited the Penguin rehabilitation centre! Here I fell in love with a soft and fluffy replica of the beautiful sea birds, who joined my team’s travels as our new mascot! “Mr Fluff” – a grey penguin, who forthwith sat on the dashboard of the ‘Silver Springbok’, enjoying the road and our onward drive to Cape Agulhas, where he proudly joined our photo-shoot, at the southernmost tip of Africa! A further delicious wine tasting, paired with snack platters, awaited us at Agulhas Country Lodge.

We were on the road again soon after, heading to Arniston Spa Hotel for lunch, with an exceptional view of the warm Indian Ocean! After seeing the stunning rooms of the hotel, and the even more stunning spa, we learned about their passion for children and families! At lunch, another detour awaited us, to a lovely little gem within Arniston. The race was on, to find “Mien’s Tea Garden”, located in the local community, which offers special meals, for those spending a little more time in the region and wanting to immerse themselves in the local community! We continued or journey, with our destination being the De Hoop Nature Reserve Airstrip! Here we met the De Hoop team, who handed us our next detour! Some were assigned to a nature drive through the beautiful reserve, whilst I was enlisted to join an eco-boat cruise on the waterways of the reserve. We boarded a barge-type boat, on which we enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine and snacks, while learning more about how the waterways and it’s abundant bird-life and small mammal residents came to call this their home! Upon check-in, I greeted the Zebras and Bontebok on my doorstep, before freshening up for a delicious dinner in the restaurant, with, you guessed it, even more wine! Another eventful day came to an end thereafter! But not before we made plans, for a detour of our own, for 05h45 the next morning!

I joined my team at 05h45, for a 14km drive, in our trusty little Jimnys, down to the oceanside! We enjoyed expansive views of the ocean at sunrise, where, during whale season, the whales would be frolicking in the waters! After a walk in the dunes, we headed back to breakfast and learned, that we would be enjoying an Amazing Race themed site-inspection of the different accommodations offered! We received a map of the reserve, and were handed our first clue. On it, we found cryptic descriptions of various animals, after which the varying cottages and suites of the reserve are named. Finding the location of each clue, led us from the Equipped Cottages, to the Opstal Suites and the Vlei Cottages.

After saying a heartfelt thank you and goodbye to the wonderful staff at De Hoop, we departed the coastal area and headed inland and up into the mountains! In Barrydale, a chalkboard sign, outside the quirky Karoo Art Hotel read “Welcome CCR Amazing Race!" We were set to run through all of the hotel rooms, until we found the one, which contained a name sign with our name on it! Luck was on our side, as it was the first one we entered! The looks of my room however, made me curious to see all of the others, and I joined my fellow races in a walk-about of all the individually decorated rooms, that all had their own special touch! The race then continued, to find a special treat for us, with a hint leading us to stairs when we finally discovered a hidden cinema in the roof of a concert hall, which one could reach via the stairs behind the stage!

There was a long banquet table with delicious snacks set up on the way there, and we watched a short British comedy movie, that had us giggling our way to our rooms, to freshen up for what still lay ahead! Before dinner, the fascinating and artsy locals of the town gathered in the hotel’s bar area, to tell us about the incredible things they do, while the background music was provided by a singer with his guitar. We sipped on the local gin distillery’s finest gin, and listened to the varied and interesting offerings that this little town in the mountains has! The passionate residents offer spectacular crafts, woven goods, historic photography and various nature activities. There is wine making, gin-distilling and, of course, much art, that goes on in this town! The most exciting activity however, I will save for the following morning’s reporting! Dinner was a further lavish affair, with the town’s people and us, enjoying a wonderful meal and, of course, the locally- made wines!