Innholdsfortegnelse for Autumn 2023 i Cape Etc

AUTUMN, IT SEEMS, IS THE ‘FOR GOTTEN SEASON’. IT’S NOT QUITE HOT, NOR HAVE DARK AND COLD DAYS FULLY SET IN. It's a bit awkward, really, and if it were a person, it might best be described as a teenager going through puberty - you never know what you're going to get. But that's what makes this season so exciting! It's a time to celebrate the beauty of transformation… and you get to wear at least three different outfits a day. This is a time of in-betweens, perfect for adventure, I say. You can hike without melting and hit the beach without being uncomfortably cold (except if you decide to swim, but we're not blaming autumn for that). It's also your last chance to really get out there before the…

NOURISH / Hidden Gems Loved By Locals THESE PLACES MIGHT BE HARDER TO FIND, BUT DINERS MAKE A MISSION OF COMING BACK FOR MORE FINALLY HALAAL Chef Anwar Abdullatief changes the face of fine dining in Cape Town with a small halaal restaurant that celebrates culture and community through cuisine. Kate Walker discovers the story behind the food The Happy Uncles, a 20-seat restaurant in the heart of Cape Town’s Salt River district, is living proof that word of mouth and community still have the power to create something out of nothing. Only seven months after opening, The Happy Uncles has Cape Town foodies and influences cooing over its reputation as the city’s only current halaal fine dining restaurant. But before the buzz, the restaurant was a production kitchen in a…

CHILD’S PLAY YOUNG & FREE FROM OUTDOORSY FARMYARD FUN-IN- THE-SUN JAUNTS TO INDOOR PURSUITS FOR WHEN THE WEATHER REFUSES TO PLAY ALONG We circled the tree for the third time, looking in every crevice and crack of the bark, up into the branches, down in the exposed roots. “Youre sure it’s this tree,’asks my son, for the third time. “It says “Accuracy 3 metres”,’ I reply. “It has to be this tree… I think.' 'Well someone must have taken it because… wait a minute,’ says my wife, reaching up into the tree. ‘Got it!’ She pulls a small greenybrown plastic container down from the V of the branch. 'For crying in a blue bucket!' I shout, sending the kids into fits of giggles. That’s 3-0 to my wife, today. And…

ETC / Worth Travelling For ETC LIFE IS SHORT, BUT YOUR TRAVEL BUCKET LIST DOESN'T HAVE TO BE. SLOW DOWN AND TAKE THE LONG ROAD - THIS ONE LEADS TO MAGIC Ancient, wild and mysterious, the kingdom of Mapungubwe has fascinated South Africans since its rediscovery in the 1930s, when, among other things, a tiny gold rhino was exhumed from an extensive burial chamber, unlocking a long-forgotten kingdom. Mapungubwe has intrigued me since I first came across stories of the Kingdom in my primary school textbooks. A complex society, a kingdom on a hill, ivory traders who worked with merchants from the East, talented goldsmiths, sophisticated farmers, peasants, soldiers, kings. At university, I wrote essays on Mapungubwe, read endless papers written by professors of history, but even my wildest imagination…

CHECK IN GREAT BED? CHECK. TOP-SHELF VIEWS? CHECK. A SIZZLING SETTING? CHECK. BUT HOW ABOUT THAT X-FACTOR? WE GIVE YOU THE LOWDOWN ON EXCEPTIONAL AND UNEXPECTED PLACES TO LAY YOUR HEAD - IN CAPE TOWN AND BEYOND GOOD TO KNOW The last little stretch of road up to the cabin is testing for a simple 4x2. My wife's little Honda Civic handled it but there were some nasty noises that she wouldn't be thrilled to hear about. Price: From R2 100 pn weekdays, R2 500 pn on weekends Visit stonewoodmountaincabin.com or contact info@stonewoodmountaincabin.com STONEWOOD MOUNTAIN CABIN, BAINSKLOOF A combination of an evening run that was a lot tougher than expected and a wonderfully comfortable bed made it incredibly tough to get up in the morning at Stonewood Forget 'people watching’, this was…

COUNTRY ESCAPE UNDER 90 MINUTES FROM CAPE TOWN, THE BREEDEKLOOF VALLEY FLIES BELOW THE RADAR, YET IS SURPRISINGLY INUNDATED WITH COOL PLACES TO VISIT. START AT BOSJES, THEN HEAD ACROSS THE RIVER WHERE YOU'LL FIND EVEN MORE TO EXPLORE Your soul instantly lightens when you set eyes on the billowing roof of Bosjes Chapel, an architectural marvel that seems to hover above the gardens of a generations-old wine-and-fruit farm that in recent years has drawn considerable attention to the Breedekloof Valley, a vast rural region between the large towns of Worcester and Ceres. This is big sky country, where vast tracts of flattish countryside are broken by prepossessing mountains and defined by the presence of the Breede River. Call it the Goldilocks Effect. A place not so close to Cape…

Wine Country/ Constantia Valley A VERY GOOD PLACE TO START There are about 90512ha under wine vine in South Africa, of which a tiny 421 hectares (0.4%) are in Constantia. But to be fair, the peninsula is a small slice of land, clinging to a spine of mountains running down the centre, ocean on both sides. These 421 hectares produce some of the finest wines in the country, from the oldest farms. Handily, they also run roughly in a line from Steenberg to Silvermist, with a detour to the interesting Constantia Royale at Nova Zonnestraal, which has a different aspect to its vineyards. But the Constantia Valley is not only about wine farms. There are plenty of other things to do. Start at the beginning: Steenberg Vineyards, the Cape’s first…

THE HOOD / Bo-Kaap A few of the Bo-Kaap's steepest cobblestone streets might remind you of Telegraph Hill, that San Francisco neigbourhood known for its vertigoinducing roads. Situated on the lower slopes of Signal Hill and rising up to just before the Noon Gun, Bo-Kaap’s uphills are daunting - a decent calf workout for pedestrians, absolute hell on your car’s clutch. Not that its inclines are likely to faze the majority of tourists who visit. Most visitors to this historic CBD-adjacent neighbourhood end up on and around perfectly flat Rose Street where they hop out to pose for pictures with a few of the candy-coloured houses, perhaps pausing to peruse the shelves at the neighbourhood’s legendary family-run spice shop, Adas. More intrepid visitors might take the time to have a…

NOURISH / New To Try NEW TO TRY FRESH VIEWS, FLAVOURS AND VIDES. TUCK INTO SOMETHING DIFFERENT THIS SEASON TO THE MANOR BORN There is a place in the corner of the vineyards, looking over the vines and the quiet hills, that lures you with its promise of discoveries within: the Bistro and Tasting Room at Brookdale Estate is a draw Lorraine Kearney could not resist The Paarl Winelands, although not exacdy the poor cousin, has been the shrinking violet to Franschhoek’s belle of the ball and Stellenbosch’s handsome prince, but the thing about shrinking violets is that when they step out of the shadows, they really shine. Opening her dance card is Brookdale Estate, showing exactly how beguiling Paarl can be. The Manor House, set against the moody backdrop of…

NOURISH / Harvest Tables AUTUMN'S BOUNTY A BIT OF THIS, A BIT OF THAT. AT THESE FINE PLACES, YOU CAN PICK AND CHOOSE WHAT GOES ON YOUR PLATE FRESH OFF THE FARM Round up your favourite people, pop them in the car and go day rural for the day The Table at De Meye follows the seasons - everything on the menu is made fresh each morning, which means only what is available is used. It makes for delicious, seasonally conscious dishes. As far as possible, ingredients are sourced locally, too, and the restaurant supports local suppliers, small-scale farmers and delis, and buys organic where possible. Meals are set three-course affairs that change weekly - think 15-hour braised free-range lamb shoulder, tempting jewel-bright vegetables, salted caramel churros. Most dishes are served…