Cape Town Day 5: Cape Winelands + Zeitz MOCAA
Wine tasting with mom and dad at some of South Africa's world-famous wineries. PLUS: Breakfast in De Waterkant, a trip to the art museum, and dinner and show in City Centre.
I need to spend more Valentine’s Days abroad. It’s my type of carrying on.
Watch the Cape Winelands vlog on TikTok and Instagram.
Read the Cape Town Day 4 blog here.
Breakfast at The Charles
I’m lowkey still solo on this trip because my parents had errands to run Wednesday morning—getting newly purchased African clothes tailored and wigs installed. So I grabbed my Kindle and took myself to breakfast in De Waterkant, the trendy neighborhood where my first Cape Town hotel was.
The Charles is a cute corner café and guesthouse. I sat outside. I don’t think I made a reservation. My breakfast was pretty standard—scrambled eggs, bacon, sautéed mushrooms, toast, and juice. I ordered a croissant too, because why not?
I did meet another Black woman dining solo at breakfast. She’s visiting from Chicago and has been in South Africa since December. Once the Visa is up, she’s out. That’s what I need to be doing.
Cost of breakfast: $11.69
Zeitz MOCAA
I was supposed to go to the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa on my first day in Cape Town. I was delusional enough to believe after 30 hours of travel, I would check into my hotel, take a quick shower, and head out immediately to look at art. Ha!
I had time between breakfast and wine tasting. My parents were still out and about, so I went to the Zeitz. It was right next to my hotel in the Silo District anyway. Luckily, the museum front desk honored the ticket I purchased in advance for Saturday. I would’ve purchased another ticket, but I’m glad I had the audacity.
The inside of the museum felt like I was in Barcelona. Serious Antoni Gaudí-Modernisme vibes. I started from the top floor and worked my way to the bottom. Amazing visual art and archives from all over the continent.
My favorite parts of the museum were Mame Diarra Niang’s Self as Forgotten Monuments solo exhibition, meeting Unathi Mkonto and touring his workshop (He’s the museum’s current artist-in-residence.), and the permanent collection. There are free art prints to take home sitting on the floor in the middle of the latter. I grabbed two prints for my basement bathroom AND got more art in the gift shop.
Cost of admission: $13.35
When I purchased my ticket: 1 week prior
Cost of art (one poster, two postcards and four greeting cards): $26.69
Wine Tasting in the Cape Winelands
It’s well-documented I don’t like wine. But when you’re in South Africa, you go to the Cape Winelands. It’s just something you do.
This Half-Day Cape Winelands Tour was one of three tours (more when we get to Johannesburg) I booked with MoAfrika Tours for this vacation. There are just certain things I wanted to leave to the professionals. If you actually enjoy wine and want to experience the world-famous hop-on-and-off Franschhoek Wine Tram, go for a full-day or multi-day tour.
We were picked up from our V&A Waterfront hotel around 1 pm. Luckily, it was just me, my parents, and our driver/guide. The drive to the Winelands—the Boland region of the Western Cape province where Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Franschhoek are located—was about 40 minutes.
Our first stop was Spier Wine Farm, one of South Africa’s oldest wineries. We all did the wine and chocolate tasting. My parents aren’t wine drinkers either. Great charcuterie board too! The property is beautiful. Lots of artwork, a lush garden, and a lake.
Next, we went to Tokara Wine Estate, which is also in Stellenbosch. The grounds and the views from the winery took my breath away. We each ordered a different tasting. Again, I wish I could appreciate wine the way y’all do. The pepper jelly on that charcuterie board though!
We were dropped off at our hotel a little after 6 pm.
Cost of tour (roundtrip transportation from the hotel and wine tastings at two wineries): $64.07 per person ($96.10 for single travelers)
When I booked: 1 month, 4 days prior
Dinner at Mama Africa
An Uber driver told my parents about Mama Africa, so I made a reservation.
Mama Africa is located in Cape Town’s City Centre. The street it was on reminded me of Ybor City in Tampa and Decatur Street in New Orleans.
I’d describe Mama Africa as a pan-African restaurant that caters to tourists who say they’ve been to Africa as if Africa isn’t a continent with 54 countries and, therefore 54 distinct cultures and cuisines. Does that make sense?
Every seat had a different flag painted on its back. Patrons were getting their faces painted with I don’t know what. It wasn’t clear which country’s culture served as inspiration. Listen: run these tourists’ pockets, but I don’t think I would’ve gone if I was still traveling solo.
The live band covered songs like Guantanamera and Hey Baby and the dancers were nice.
I got the prawns. They were good. Nice and big. You can’t mess up shrimp. I don’t remember if I ordered anything else.
Cost of dinner: I don’t know. My parents got the bill.
When I booked a reservation: 13 hours prior
Thank you for sharing ❤️