2010 South Africa – Franschhoek
We checked out of our hotel and made our way to the wine-growing area of Franschhoek. We were concerned about the temperatures as it was already 37 degrees and the forecast was that it would get hotter but a few clouds appeared and kept the temperature manageable. It was only the day before that the temperature rose to 47 degrees which would have been far too much for me. Most people go to Stellenbosh for wine tasting but we were told Franschhoek was better. It was well known for its good food and we certainly had an excellent lunch before going to one of the many vineyards in the area. We paid a small fee for a tour of the vineyard where the wine-making process was explained to us and then for another fee we got to taste six of their wines. We were given a wine list to choose from so one of our selections was of course the most expensive wine although it was not the wine we liked the most. 
Also in Franschhoek, we went on a chocolate-making tour. We were shown into a room where for the first few minutes I found the sweet, sickly smell of chocolate overpowering but we soon got used to it. It was very interesting but quite disturbing as we are both registered chocoholics. We never realised that white chocolate was made from the pure fat of the cocoa bean so the darker the chocolate, the less fat it contained. I would never be able to eat white chocolate again.
24th January 2010
Back in Betty’s Bay, we had seen most of the local tourist attractions so went to Hermanus which was quite a big resort, 50 kilometres from Betty’s Bay. There were quite a few stalls selling arts and crafts where we bought a few bits to put in our terrace in Croatia. We have a parrot from Peru hanging in the trees so one from Africa made of beads will keep it company. We went to a museum which was memorable for its lack of exhibits. There were a few interesting things about whaling but the six fish tanks contained a total of one fish which didn’t move, so either it was stuffed and glued to a rock or it was on Prozac. On our way back to Betty’s Bay we saw a family of Baboons in the middle of the road. They looked so cute but I resisted the temptation to get out and give them a cuddle as I was told they had a tendency to rip your throat out if they thought they were under threat. They rarely bothered humans but people fed them so when they discovered it was easier to get food from humans rather than to go hunting, they could become aggressive if they didn’t get fed. Once a baboon was known to be aggressive the rangers had no choice but to shoot it so there were a lot of signs saying “Feeding a baboon is handing it a death sentence.” It was strictly forbidden to feed baboons or any other wild animals but there are always people who think that laws don’t apply to them.
2010 South Africa
