South
Africa - Day 21
Wednesday 11th February 2026
Participants: Kev & Tam
Going home day, never particularly fun. We also have nearly all day before our flight at 8.35 pm. We pack and load up the car before Jan arrives to say farewell. We've had a great time at Bleu Cobalt Cottage and Jan has been an incredibly welcoming host, I would thorougly recommend it to anyone.
We drive to Stellenbosch for a look around. It's a university town and very different from Franschhoek. It's much bigger with many shops and restaurants, but it just doesn't appeal to us. I guess if you want more to do, especially in the evening, this might be the place for you, but it's not for us.
As we leave Franschhoek we stop for the wine tram. Whenever the tram crosses a road 2 guards with red flags jump out and stop the traffic.
I'd looked at where we could get lunch and we'd decided to try Mont Marie wine estate. It's a short drive out of Stellenbosch and is every bit as pretty a location as everywhere else we've been. We're shown to the patio and a table a little back from the front. When I ask the server says she'll try and move us when a table becomes free. Of course they always say this and it rarely happens, but this lady is good to her word and we move to a table looking out over the lake to the mountains. Perfect for our last meal in South Africa.
We start with salmon carpaccio and then both have the special of monkfish with risotto and prawns accompanied by a last glass of Chardonnay. All are lovely and an excellent way to end our holiday.
Salmon carpaccio.
We drive to the airport and drop the car
off at 4.35 pm. You always read scare stories of car hire abroad,
but this was very easy. The luggage is dropped off swiftly and I
have a small beer in a bar where we experience the only really
grumpy server all trip. Still, the beer was still less than £2.
We are through security fairly quickly and then there's a huge
queue at passport control for some reason and it takes nearly an
hour to get through. Maybe it's a sign that they don't want us to
leave? It doesn't matter as we still have a couple of hours until
the flight. When we eventually get onboard we settle into our
seats at the back of the plane as we've paid for the row with 2
seats in, so it's a little more private and comfortable than the
way out.
So, what are our thoughts on South Africa?
In a word 'marvellous'. There is so little
not to like. The food is excellent and so cheap, the wine as
well. The scenery rivals anywhere else we've ever been. They
drive on the left (as all civilised nations should) and the roads
are mostly very good. The service is friendly and efficient and
the expected gratuity is 10%.
Most people that we've talked to since we've returned have voiced
concerns about safety. Obviously there are areas to be avoided
and you need to practice diligence and be aware of your
surroundings particularly when driving. If you do your research
and take a few precautions then it's not too different to
anywhere else in the world. We never really felt threatened
anywhere although we took Ubers back to our accommodation at
night everywhere except Franschhoek. Oh yeah, Ubers are cheap
too!