Today we woke up in the beautiful town of Franschhoek. Wine country has a much different vibe than the other parts of the country we have visited. While South Africa was colonized by the British and the Dutch as a whole, this wine country had an unmistakable French influence. Our hotel, the Franschhoek Country House was absolutely stunning. Watching the morning mist rise off of the mountains, I knew that our last day in Africa is going to be a memorable one.
On the agenda was a full day of wine tasting! We arrived in the city center early and get our tickets for the wine train. We stopped at four wineries throughout the day. Each winery had a different vibe, a different character. The wines were all delicious and the staff were so kind and professional. We couldn’t drink wine without also enjoying a cheese pairing – yum! We were particularly impressed with a white wine, the Chenin Blanc, which is only available in South Africa. It is similar to a Sauvignon Blanc but it is more buttery on the pallet.
There are dozens of wineries to visit, but the tram only stops at certain wineries each day. There are a total of three different schedules each with it’s own list of wineries that you can visit on any given day. There was no way we could have possibly visited each winery on the schedule, and we had not done research, so we decided to just go with the flow. The wine country is absolutely stunning. It is not only what I pictured when I thought of Africa, or even South Africa. The more I learn about this country, the more I learn how ignorant I am to the entire continent and how much I have to learn.
We headed back to the hotel in time for a beautiful dinner, which we enjoyed in a gorgeous private setting. We then headed back to our room, grateful for the time we had, but also sad knowing this was our last day in Africa.
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
5 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
6 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
1 week ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.