Eating and Drinking The World With Lisa

Plettenberg Bay

December 29 – January 1, 2006
Plettenberg Bay, South Africa

“The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for.” – Louis L’Amour

Plettenberg Bay is a place I was totally unfamiliar with before planning this trip. One of Josh’s students told him it was just like paradise. Paradise had a nice ring to it so that’s where we decided to end our one-month of travel togetherness.

Plettenberg Bay is located towards the eastern region of the “Garden Route” and runs parallel to the southern coast of South Africa. My favorite company, Imagine Africa, booked the hotel so for obvious reasons I was a wee bit worried that they weren’t going to pull through. Mallard River Lodge had a name that could have gone either way. They did good this time. Don’t pay any mind to their super cheesy website, www.mallardlodge.com. It’s atrocious. Owners Simon and Diane Valentine and son, Mark Valentine, have finer taste than the previous owners who put the site together. They’re supposedly changing the name to Harvey Mallard’s River Lodge or something like that and doing a brand and identity overhaul but I just checked the site and no changes to date.

The Valentine family assumed ownership early 2005 and remodeled several of the rooms and restaurant completing the project before Holidays 2005. They opened for prime time in September 2005. Mark is an avid traveler and collector of African and India furnishings. Sophisticated and artful decorations adorn the rooms, pool area and restaurant giving it an ethnic and homey feel. They have already built three new rooms and remodeled the cottages. We stayed in one of the remodeled rooms. It was lovely. The decor reminded me of a “poor-man’s” version of Diane Keaton’s home in the Hamptons in Something’s Gotta Give. A much smaller version, of course, and hardly a poor version but comparatively speaking, that is.

Mallard River Lodge is slightly off the beat and path from the beach but still easy proximity to sand and waves. The hotel is situated on the Bitou River overlooking a bird estuary. You could sit on your private back porch and pass the time slowly bird watching or if you’re into Polo there’s a field adjacent to the estuary. Polo is very big in South Africa. We just missed the finals between South Africa and England.

I had a hit of nirvana on a hike through Robberg Nature Reserve. Actually, I wasn’t even in the mood to go for the little two-hour hike and after about 45 minutes into it and much inner dialog about wanting to quit I suggested turning back. Boy am I glad we went a little further or else I never would have discovered Whitsand Beach. What a precious find! Beautiful crystal clear water drew in my sunburned body. It was slightly chilly but after the initial shock I was wide-awake and enthusiastic!

Plettenberg Bay is known as the Oyster Capital of the World so naturally we had a mission to be the judge of that claim. OK but nothing to write home about. (They didn’t come close to the Rock Oysters I ate later on in Sydney, Australia!)

A few more days of Plettenberg Bay’s Whitsand Beach, Robberg Beach and poolside at Mallard River Lodge would have been nice. Wanting to stay longer in a place is always a good sign and after all, all good things must come to an end.

Winding Down with South Africa

December 28, 2005 – December 30, 2005
Winelands of South Africa

After one month of non-stop traveling and 19 flights later the plan for South Africa was to chill out. Wine tasting and laying by the beach in Plettenberg Bay. We were ready for five days of deep relaxation before Josh went back to work and I went to India.

I had been curious about South African wines for many years. They're the world's seventh largest producer of wine but they don't get much exposure in the Bay Area since we're California, Oregon and Washington focused. I knew they produce a unique grape varietal, Pinotage. It grows on a bush vine and like Zinfandel is to California, Pinotage is to South Africa. Basically we only had one day and one night to get a taste of this region. With over 400 wineries in more than ten regions we didn't even skim the surface but what little I did taste I absolutely loved.

The winelands are incredibly picturesque. I enjoyed drinking up the views as much as I did the wine. It's easy to find your way around. Most wineries are happy to have you drop in for a taste unless, of course, it's one of those appointment-only wineries. A girlfriend of mine from San Francisco, Jen Herman, happened to be in nearby Cape Town the same time we were in Franschhoek. Jen was with two of her friends, Gabe and Jason. Lucky for us, Gabe volunteered to be the designated driver so we poured into his car and went on our wine tasting way. I arranged three winery visits but should have known better from extensive past experience.  Two's enough! We wound up canceling the last appointment.  It's too bad. I've heard great things about Ken Forrester Wines and his restaurant, 96 Winery Road. I MUST come back and visit more wineries and restaurants.

Our first (and favorite) tasting was right outside Franschhoek at a small boutique producer, Lynx Winery. (www.lynxwines.co.za). We emailed and called ahead to arrange an appointment. The owner/winemaker, Dieter Sellmeyer, opened the winery seven years ago and is only on his third or maybe fourth vintage. The winery yields about 90 tons of grapes of which approximately10 tons are put aside for Lynx Wines and the rest sold to other wineries. Up until last year he only produced red wine. In 2005 he started making a Rose. It must have been great because it was sold out so we didn't sample any. We tasted their John Platter award winning 2003 Shiraz, 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2003 Xanache, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. All fantastic! They also have nightly accommodations on the farm where Lynx Wines are grown. I would consider staying there next time. They have a huge gourmet kitchen onsite and a braai (African word for BBQ).

Dieter and his wife Diana joined us for lunch at Ruben's in the main town of Franschhoek. Franschhoek has the reputation for being the “food and wine capital” of the winelands region. Ruben’s rivaled that of any restaurant I've been to in Yountville or Napa or Sonoma. SOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!!!! The food was so good we couldn't help but photograph everyone's dishes. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I was one of the happiest tourists in the world ! Like I said, we didn't even skim the surface of the winelands and I have a thirst for future trips to this delicious part of the world.