I wish someone had told me about the joys of road tripping in the Western Cape

“I wish someone had told me” is a series of posts that feed into our inquisitive nature at CN&CO. Each week we hear from someone in our network about something interesting or surprising that’s recently happened or occurred to them – or lessons they learnt. These blogs are a way to pay it forward and form part of CN&CO’s belief that the world can be a better place – and we all have a responsibility to make it so. This week’s post is by Colin Ford.

Gregory and I are a couple of lucky fellas. We were recently gifted flights and accommodation at a few fabulous places in the Western Cape, which means we got to go on a wonderful road trip in a beautiful part of our country.

The first stop was Clanwilliam, where we stayed at the Clanwilliam Hotel. It doesn’t take long to work out that you’re in the heart of Rooibos country in this quaint little town. Every shop has Rooibos tea bags, hand lotion, sweets, baby products, and pills and tinctures for all sorts of ailments. There’s even a Rooibos museum!

The hotel was very centrally located, within walking distance of shops, restaurants and bars. We had dinner at De Kelder restaurant-cum-sports bar. Burgers and ribs don’t get much better than this! Gregory declared his burger the perfect bun-to-patty ratio. And all the while staring out over the Cederberg Mountains (and a Shell garage) at sunset.

On day two we took a “road trip within a road trip” and headed to the nearby harbour town of Lambert’s Bay – mostly because we wanted to go for a walk along the beach. From the 39°C heat of Clanwilliam, Lambert’s Bay was enjoying a cool onshore breeze, which made for a very comfortable, if not a bit chilly, 18°C.

Our lunch venue of choice was Isabella’s, a shanty type restaurant on the harbour, right near the bird sanctuary. We enjoyed a delicious seafood repast, with the prawns being a definite highlight of the meal. They’re a lot bigger and a lot cheaper than you’ll find in Gauteng.

On day three we headed to Franschhoek via the Wilgerbosdrift Stud Farm, which is owned by horseracing industry doyenne Mary Slack. We were welcomed like old friends and given a tour of the farm, which is home to such famous stallions as Hawwaam, Flower Alley, Buffalo Bill Cody and Fire Away. Gregory was in his element talking to the farm managers as well as a visiting breeder from Kentucky in the US.

In Franschhoek we stayed at the super-stylish Le Ballon Rouge, the town’s oldest guest house, just off the main drag. Here we were spoilt for choice when it came to dinner, being right in the heart of the massive clump of restaurants on the R45. We opted for sushi at the Yama Sushi Emporium. What an indulgence! Afterwards we went for a stroll up and down the street, which reminded us of 4^th Avenue in Parkhurst.  

Our final stop was in Gordon’s Bay, which was a lot busier than the other two towns we had come from. The town – technically it’s a suburb of Cape Town – lies on the eastern side of False Bay, about an hour’s drive from the Mother City. We stayed at the Krystal Beach Hotel, a stunning resort hotel (ironically not on the beach, but near enough) close to shops and restaurants and a short drive from the Strand promenade.

We took beach walk number two at the Strand as the sun set over False Bay. Feeling the sand between our toes was such a treat for us two Vaalies, who only ever go for walks around our suburb – and never barefoot!

After a jam-packed few days of a stunning holiday, we boarded our Lift flight back to Joburg and home to our dogs, who (of course) missed us terribly!

Big thanks to The Fine Collection of hotels for the accommodation and to Lift for the flights, which were super-smooth and, most delightfully, came with wine!

Also a big shout-out to Woodford Car Hire for excellent service and to PSP Valet Parking, who looked after our car at the airport while we were away. The valet service is a miracle! It saves so much schlep. The owners of PSP, Willem and Engela, are lovely people. They’re super-hands-on and obviously very passionate about what they do. Well worth trying out.

If you haven’t yet made all your holiday travel plans, check out The Fine Collection, Lift, Clanwilliam Hotel, Le Ballon Rouge, Krystal Beach, Woodford Car Hire, PSP Parking. All are highly recommended and contributed perfectly to an amazing mid-week break.

P.S. We drifted through Citrusdal on our way to Wilgerbosdrift and couldn’t resist going into Die Slap Snoek, a little grab-and-go that does delicious snoek and chips. A #kakselfie was definitely called for.