by Pete Barba

After 30 days of amazing safaris through Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, some roughing it, others in luxury, we finished our African Adventure in Cape Town, joined by my Mom and Bob.  A huge thank you to both of them for joining us on these last two adventures!  Cape Town lies on the south-western tip of Africa and seems like a world away from the animals and scrub bush of our safaris.  Modern Cape Town is known for their scenery, food culture and wine region, and it more than lived up to that reputation.  (Please note the links below are for information only and are not affiliated with Vivid Travelers.)

Stellenbosch

We rented a ridiculously beautiful AirBnb overlooking wine country. The entire back wall was glass, with 180 degree views of vineyards, mountains and the sea in the distance. Gone was the wintertime brown drab of the safari, replaced by lush green fields with vines poised to burst into leaf. The AirBnb was the heightof luxury, withheated bathroom floors, marble everywhere, works of art on the walls (Picasso!) and a kitchen to rival a restaurant. All this for less than a hotel room in San Francisco!!! (Did I mention South Africa is cheap?!?!)

The first day we explored the nearby wine country.  We started with a fabulous lunch at a new winery called Deux Lions.  The house-made charcuterie and cheeses were delicious, the spring pea risotto was fresh and seasonal, and the oxtail polenta made Drew a convert to the richness of braised meat.  What a great find by my mom!  Afterwards we went wine tasting  in the mountains overlooking thousands of acres of vineyards.

The Fledglings

Keeping with the theme of stuffing ourselves and overindulgence, that night Kate and I had a life changing meal.  I don’t use that term lightly.  For background, there is a restaurant called The Test Kitchen in Cape Town that has been listed as one of the top restaurants in the world.  It’s one of those fancy restaurants where it is impossible to get a table unless you book months in advance, promise them your first born child (sorry Drew), AND you are famous.  Probably some exaggeration there, but you get the point.  For those of you who are foodies, it’s Africa’s version of The French Laundry.

Initially, I was sad that I couldn’t get a reservation at The Test Kitchen, but it turns out we found something markedly better: The Test Kitchen’s sister restaurant, The Fledglings.  The owners of The Test Kitchen wanted to do something bigger than be one of the best restaurants in the world (I love how they think big).  They wanted to give back to the underserved in their community.  Unfortunately, like most big cities, Cape Town has many who are undereducated, underserved or have no escape from the situation they were born into.  The recent history of apartheid, makes it worse for many people.  There are still massive “townships”, which are basically shanty towns, left over from aparteid 30 years ago.  Not to diminish the life saving efforts of food banks, soup kitchens and other social programs, but those programs are band aids.  As the saying goes, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime”.  The Fledglings program takes underserved young men and women and teaches them how to work in a fine dining restaurant.  They start out as dishwashers and work their way through all parts of the restaurant, both the front of the house and the kitchen.  Each area is overseen by one of the professionals from The Test Kitchen, who mentors the trainees.  The trainees get an education, an income, life experience and invaluable knowledge.  For many, it is their lifeboat out of poverty and lack of education.

Our amazing server, Lwando, is a charismatic young man who grew up in the “townships” and always wanted to be an actor/artist.  Thankfully he kept out of trouble and never got into drugs or gangs.  9 months ago, he was “found” by one of the managers of The Fledglings and was given the opportunity to start his culinary education.  He started as a dishwasher, quickly working his way up to server just 2 short weeks before we were fortunate enough to meet him..  It was truly impressive that after less than 10 days as a server, he was already highly skilled in his role.  Not only was he easy to talk to, attentive, knowledgeable and polite, he also passed the “Pete Test”.  I guess each of us have our own expectations when it comes to fine dining; mine is I like my water glass to never run dry.  I know, it’s a stupid, entitled, first world expectation, I’m not even going to try to justify it.  Nevertheless, Lwando was one of a few servers who earned a perfect score on that test.  At first, I thought he was just lucky that he was there each time my glass got low, so I started to try to trick him by chugging my water when he was in the kitchen or had his back turned.  But like some magical, all knowing, omnipresent server, he was always there to fill the glass back up before it got drained.  It reached the point of ridiculous when I had to use the bathroom 4 times during the course of the meal because I drank so much water.  

Back to reality and seriousness, Lwando, if you read this, please know that you are truly a special young man.  You are easy to talk to, very smart, attentive and just a really great guy.  You will go far in life with the opportunity that you currently have and down the road, even better opportunities will present themselves.  Grab those opportunities when they arise.  I wish we lived closer, I would hire you in a second to work as my assistant.  Without a doubt you would bring a smile to my patients and would help keep me going in the office.  You are a gifted individual. 

Cape Peninsula

We spent the next few days exploring the beautiful natural sights of Cape Town and the surrounding peninsula.  It reminded me very much of the California coast.  Tall rugged cliffs that drop into the sea, with roads clinging to the steeps.  Mediterranean vegetation (sages, pines, grapes, lavender), cool sea breezes, sunsets to make your heart smile while you hug your loved ones.  

The one thing that makes the area different from the California coast is a tuxedoed mascot, the African penguin. These cute little animals nest along the coast and waddle through the sand, boulders and sometimes even neighborhoods as they journey to and from the sea to feed. We saw hundreds of them on Boulders Beach, as they made their harrowing trek through the surf and shark infested waters to catch food each day to feed their hatchlings. We watched these endangered birds for hours as they paraded around like James Bond in a bird’s body. So cute (and smelly!)

Faeeza’s Home Kitchen

Our final culinary adventure in South Africa was a Cape Malay cooking class.  If you don’t watch the Netflix show, Feed Phil, you really should.  His goofy, fun and uplifting food and travel show will bring joy to your life.  In his Cape Town episode, he takes a cooking class with Faeeza, a gregarious and loving soul.  Faeeza comes from a diverse background of cultures and worked her way up in the Bo-Kaap community by feeding people wonderful and nutritious food, and now she shares her culture and story with others by teaching cooking classes in her home kitchen.

Under her tutelage, we learned how to make a warm and delicious chicken curry, spiced corn and cheese samosas, homemade quick bread with layers of butter (called Roti) and pea flour fritters (called Dhaltjies).  Faeeza was a kind and patient teacher, who shared her knowledge and culture with us.  We got an education that will stick with us as we journey not only on this trip but through our lives.

Take Home Messages

One of our goals for this trip was to show Gwyn and Drew that a majority of the people in the world are like us.  They are good souls who love their families, don’t want violence, care about their culture and friends, and who appreciate the world and its glorious wonders.  The first month of our journey met that goal.  Whether in the Middle East, the rural Okavango Delta or the cosmopolitan Cape Town, people of diverse cultures and appearances embraced us with smiles, love and openness and shared parts of their culture, hearts and sometimes even their homes with us.  

Pete’s parting thought – when you watch the news and hear about war, politics, immigration or other polarizing topics, remember that 99% of people in the world are good people, who are more similar to you than the news makes them out to be. The other 1% – politicians, fanatics, criminals and extremists screw it up for everyone else. So when you see on your screen a woman in a hijab, someone with a different skin tone, an immigrant crossing the Mediterranean on a raft, someone with different political beliefs than you, someone without hair from chemotherapy or the homeless person camping on the sidewalk, remember that they are probably more like you than they appear. We are all one medical illness, one politician, one war, one financial crisis, one weather disaster away from being that person that we look down upon or fear. Life is fragile and our status in the world is even more fragile. We need more tolerance and less judgement, We need to view the world with more open eyes.

Thanks for reading to the end!  Next up: Switzerland! Don’t forget to check out our past stories and subscribe for future articles as well.  Find us on Facebook and Instagram for bonus content!  As always, if you are planning a trip to any location we visit we are happy to provide more details and opinions, so feel free to contact us.