VIP wine-tasting with Hempies du Toit

Posted on November 26, 2011 by admin

I’m a garagiste’, I enjoy wine and I guide many wine tours in the Cape Winelands. Without a doubt my favourite winery is Annandale. Many people ask why I am so enthusiastic about this cellar. Well for a start, it is housed in an old historic buildi

ng that was built in the late 1600′s. It is beautiful and peaceful here and it as a very small intimate destination. Theses days it seems to me that many of the wineries are status symbols of wealthy individuals and corporations. The tasting rooms are enormous, opulent and ostentatious and cost so much to build and maintain that the owners can never honestly hope to make a return on their investment. Annandale is about wine, honesty and character.

And when I talk of character, I am not only referring to the heritage and aesthetic of Annandale but also to the wines produced here and mostly to the owner and winemaker – Hempies du Toit. Hempies in a down-to-earth man with a real passion for making superb wine. His focus is on superb quality wines made in the traditional way without compromise or short-cuts. For this reason he limits his range to a few single-cultivar wines and two blends. You won’t find flash and glitz here to seduce you or distract you from the wine. Tastings are done in a small old cellar. In the summer swallows fly in through the windows to tend their chicks. Hempies’s giant Boerbul dog (Bliksem) or his miniature horse may stroll in to greet you while you taste wines that demand your attention and no one cares how you dress. Hempies believes that good wine deserves long periods of maturation on wood and his Cabernet Sauvignon spends a minimum of 6 years at the farm before he deigns it ready for release. His Shiraz spends a minimum of 4 years in barrel and is so famous that much of it is normally sold before it is bottled.

Hempies recently hosted me and a group of VIP’s for a private wine tasting. I consider all my guests to be VIPs but let me know whether you can recognise any of these . . .

THE WOLFBERG CRACKS

Posted on October 4, 2010 by admin

In my opinion, the walk through The Wolfberg Cracks in the Cederberg must be one of the most spectacular one-day walks in South Africa. It certainly involves the most fun. I never tire of doing this walk and I was fortunate to lead the route again re

cently on a perfect day.

The approach can look a little daunting, but provided one gets started before the day becomes too hot it is actually a pleasant approach to the cracks.

Once the cracks are reached one has a choice between the easy or the exciting routes. We chose the exciting route and the caving and scrambling began immediately. A torch makes it much easier to negotiate the darker sections.

After some more scrambling and getting through a few caves we emerged into the chamber which, with its massive arches always reminds me of a magnificent cathedral.

Thereafter the crack narrows and the fun really begins, with climbs over boulders and crawls through holes.

And once we emerged on the top the views were wonderful. Down below we could see the expanse of the Cederberg Wilderness as well as the farm “Dwarsrivier”, where David Nieuwoudt crafts his delicious Cederberg Wines .

We descended via the easy crack. Most conveniently the Driehoeks River runs right along the end of the walk and we dived-in for a very refreshing swim.

On top of the clouds

Posted on June 24, 2010 by admin

Yesterday a family from San Francisco joined me for a walk up Table Mountain. They couldn’t have chosen a better day! It was one of those magical, crystal-clear winter days. We ascended in sunshine and when we arrived at the summit and looked westward, we discovered that we were above the clouds. I always get a thrill when looking down onto clouds from a mountain top.

he day was made extra special for me by the presence of a dear friend and one of southern Africa ’s truly great wildlife guides. Alan McSmith came along to learn a little about fynbos and it was wonderful to have a little time with him.

We work regularly with Alan and can highly recommend him as an affiliate guide for wildlife safaris in the Greater Kruger and Botswana.

Follow that hat

Posted on June 2, 2010 by admin

Yesterday we did a final dress rehearsal of the first of our Cape Town City Walks and had nine participants. In spite of too little sleep, Dean was in fine form and everyone seems to have enjoyed the tour immensely.

We received valuable feedback whic

h has allowed us to improve an excellent tour and make it even better.

Please let us know when you would like to accompany on of our Sex & Slaves in The City Tours.

Photos From Our Mountains In The Sea

Posted on May 19, 2010 by admin

Here are some lovely photos taken on our popular Mountains In The Sea walk.

Ces Books And Plays

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THE MALTESE CONNECTION

Posted on February 26, 2010 by admin

There’s a first time for everything. In decades of guiding I have never had guests from Malta – until this week. I am currently escorting the Zammit (extended) family around Cape Town. Yesterday we travelled along The Atlantic Seaboard, over Chapman’s Peak . . .

. . . to The Cape Point Nature Reserve. We were extremely lucky with wonderful weather and I think everyone enjoyed it (even Amanda who was not feeling 100% healthy).

We stopped above Smitswinkelbaai to enjoy the views across False Bay and learn a little about this incredible Nature Reserve.

From here we went over to The Atlantic Ocean side

We saw some wildlife – a couple of angulate tortoises, a distant Bontebok and this Rock Kestrel enjoying the coast.

We could not resist a last stop to enjoy the dramatic scenery before leaving.

On the return journey some of the party got “up-close-and-personal” with an African Penguin.

Then Caroline managed to squeeze in some retail negotiation before we headed off to Canal Walk.

Check-in with us tomorrow to see what we get up to at Kirstenbosch, Green Market Square and The Lion.

If you are interested in our walking holidays visit our affiliated website at www.walkinafrica.blogspot.com

The ultimate day

Posted on February 25, 2010 by admin

There is ongoing debate as to whether day 4 or day 5 of The Mountains in The Sea is the more breathtaking. It’s a tough call. Have a look at this photo taken on day 5, and formulate your own opinion.

We started the trail above “Patience Bay” with views onto – and memories of – yesterday’s descent.

In spite of the (very easy) ascent Ken still had a smile, and so did everyone else.

Perhaps the smiles had something to do with the views that greeted us at every turn.

We eventually made it back down to sea-level – and a very beautiful sea-level it was.

But we weren’t the only Simians walking on the beach that day.

I love this photo of an “inter-specific inter-section”. It seems artistically staged, with the two groups representing different primate families going in opposite directions and metaphorically separated by a sinuous line of kelp.

I like this photo too. It’s amazing that none of the players in this scene acknowledges the existence of the other species. It’s as if they are denying that the other exists! Do we deny the ape in ourselves? Yes, I think we do.

Enough esoteric philosophizing . . . Soon we were on the rocky shores headed for a very special ascent.

This is what it looked like on the way up.

And this is what it looked like from the top.

Then it was just the small matter of getting up and over the never-ending hill.

And finally we could enjoy the bubbly.

Stunning….continued

Posted on February 22, 2010 by admin

My apologies for the long hiatus in the blog of the epic trail of Ken, Linda, Gordon and Judy. I have been away training San (bushman) youngsters aspiring to become guides. Yes – the irony of a white man of Eastern European ancestry training bushmen how to track animals is not lost on me. This is simply another indictment on our species . . . but the story of the training is material for a separate posting. So, back to the epic walk. You will recall that everyone had been spelling very badly in semaphores and we captured some fine portraits. Then Kili found the cutest little baby Angulate Tortoise.

After that it was time to tackle the most spectacular descent imaginable. As we started, a light mist, formed from moist air rising off False Bay, was lifted up the knife-edge and condensed.

But then the mist cleared, revealing unbelievably beautiful scenery.

In the distance our final destination was visible . . . but that is a story for our next posting.

S stunning

Posted on February 12, 2010 by admin

What a day! I’m not sure how I can limit this posting to just a few pictures . . . so I may have to do two postings for the one walk. It was just too much fun and too beautiful to fit into one short post.

Kili was determined to look handsome and so assumed a pose on every prominent rock.

The ascent from Simonstown was much easier than everyone had been led to believe. And once at the top, the views improved all day. Here the Atlantic Ocean and False Bay (influenced by the Indian Ocean) are both clearly visible on either side of the Peninsula.

And then the ascent did become a little steep. At this point we are more than 1,875 feet above the sea.

The team decided it was time to send a semaphore message – and as you can see they quite clearly spelled “RUY” and then Linda requested annulment of this “word”. It was time that we overcame differences in accent and tried communicating verbally because I didn’t understand “RUY” and anyway Linda was determined (symbolically – that is) that the message should be cancelled.

Eventually it was explained to me that they were copying the Beatles off their immortal (unlike poor John) album called “HELP”. Well if you are not too young, you will probably be aware that on that album cover The Beatles were desperately signalling the word “NUJV”!
It is really not surprising that Linda, Ken, Judy & Gordon didn’t receive any HELP. In fact it is not surprising that John, Paul, George & Ringo didn’t receive any either!

Tomorrow we will be having spelling lessons instead of walking.

We did get some smashing (they use that word in Rutland – don’t they?) portraits:

A rainy day

Posted on February 11, 2010 by admin

Cape Town is known for it’s unpredictable and changing weather and we certainly experienced it today. Yesterday we walked in 30C weather (86F for those of you still stuck in the 19th century) with cloudless skies. We (most of us) were awoken at 04h30 by a very loud electric storm. By the time we started walking across the gorgeous Noordhoek Beach, the rain had abated but the weather was cool.

We continued to the wreck of the Kakopo and beyond. Ken was so happy that he threw all his collected feathers into the air and grinned like a child! In the picture below, the wreck is visible in the background . . . and so is Chapman’s Peak (covered in cloud).

Not much later the sun emerged and the temperature soared, tempting insects into activity. We found this beautiful, but dangerous, Blister Beetle feeding on a Roella flower. When disturbed these beetles produce a nasty defensive secretion which causes skin blistering.

By the time we stopped for lunch the sun had been replaced by thick mist and a chill wind, and fleeces appeared miraculously. Soon thereafter rain begin to fall and the colourful apparel followed . . .

Our last surprise before descending into the historical town of Simonstown, was a Golden Orb Spider on her web. These beautiful spiders produce an extremely strong silk – as strong as Kevlar.

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