{"id":3419,"date":"2020-05-27T04:01:18","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T04:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/?p=3419"},"modified":"2022-05-11T07:03:30","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T07:03:30","slug":"south-africa-golf-and-more-a-golfers-travelogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/south-africa-golf-and-more-a-golfers-travelogue\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Town and beyond \u2013 A Golfer\u2019s Travelogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Normally, the name South Africa brings to mind the glorious wild life, and some great wines.\u00a0 However, the lesser known fact is that it is home to some of the best Golf courses that most golfers would love to play in.\u00a0 So, my golfer friend Ravi and I, chose to venture and play in, what turned out to be an amazing experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

To begin with, we chose a new and untested route to get there.\u00a0 We chose to fly Ethiopian Airlines, to Addis Ababa and from there on to Cape Town.\u00a0 Turned out to be an excellent decision since the airline was efficient, minimal layovers and cut down the total flying time significantly.\u00a0 The Addis Ababa airport is going through a face lift and may be in a few years will become a good transit hub.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the joys of travel is to meet and talk to people from various countries.\u00a0 During our layover at Addis Ababa airport, in the coffee shop, we shared a table with two colleagues (one man and one woman) who were heading back to their home in Somalia.\u00a0 What was really amazing was that they offered us the food they were eating since apparently it is a customer in their country to share food to people around the table!!!<\/span><\/p>\n

Ethiopian airlines staff were very friendly and the aircrafts were reasonably new.\u00a0 We flew a Dreamliner from Addis Ababa to Cape Town and I must admit the seat pitch was pretty decent even for a tall person like me.<\/span><\/p>\n

We made friends with a Norwegian couple (Per and Kari) sitting next to us in the flight from Addis Ababa to Cape Town.\u00a0 This becomes relevant as our story unfolds into a few days later.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/p>\n

Cape Town airport is a modern airport and we had no issues getting out of immigration and baggage clearance quickly.\u00a0 We then headed to the Hertz Rental counter which was quite some distance walking from the airport arrivals.\u00a0 We picked up our SUV which we would keep for the entire duration of our trip, which was two weeks.<\/p>\n

South Africa has the same driving rules as in most of the Commonwealth, which is driving on the left (with the steering on the right of the car).\u00a0 Which made it easier.\u00a0 We picked up our SUV and drove into city to our hotel. The drive from the airport to city was a real breeze and we were at our hotel in less than 20 minutes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hotel Cape Milner is a small boutique hotel just outside the CBD or newer part of Cape town.\u00a0 As we checked in, we noticed that we had amazing views of the Table Mountain, from our rooms.\u00a0 Given the fact it was just about late afternoon, we decided to head out to the see the famous Table Mountain.\u00a0 We took an Uber since it was really close and the hotel advised us so, since parking could be an issue in a major tourist attraction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Table Mountain was an absolute delight.\u00a0 We got our tickets for the cable car which winches you in a matter of minutes.\u00a0 And the cable car itself rotates, giving everyone a 360 degree view of the ocean and the surroundings.\u00a0 Walking around the Table mountain inspires awe in the visitor since it is a matter of wonder how these mountains formed thousands of years ago. Table mountain provided several great photo opportunities, as does, actually, all of the South African countryside.\u00a0 One thoughtful implementation was availability of wifi at the taxi stand upon return enabling visitors to call an uber, even if they didn\u2019t have data roaming or mobile data.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Table<\/p>\n

Back after an exhilarating evening on Table Mountain, the hotel informed us that it is not a smart move to walk around after sunset, in fact to even venture out, The only part of the trip that we felt could have been better was the ability to visit some of the cafes\/bars at night and mingle with the locals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Next morning, bright and early, we headed out to our first round of golf at the De Zalze Golf club.\u00a0 Even though it was over 50 km away, we could reach in about 40 minutes.\u00a0 Completing the check in formalities, we teed off, excited into our first round of the trip.\u00a0 The course itself was an absolute delight.\u00a0 Offering a combination of some tough approaches and well maintained greens.\u00a0 I must particularly mention the 18<\/span>th<\/span> hole, where we tee off from the highest point from a mountain and play downhill. With a lone tree in the middle playing spoil sport, along with a small rivulet behind it, it was indeed an exciting end to a great outing at the De Zalze Golf Club.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"dezalze<\/p>\n

As I mentioned earlier, one of the other attraction in SA are their wineries, and alongside the golf course, was the delightful and quaint Klein Zalze winery.\u00a0 The wineries offer an amazing wine tasting experience, and though I am no expert on wines, it was truly worth it.\u00a0 Post the tasting, we purchased a couple of bottles to enjoy later on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Headed out of the winery we offered to drop an employee of the club house up to her transport pick up point.\u00a0 The background here being that transport facilities outside of the city are very meagre\/non-existent and all workers are forced to walk long distance to hail a minibus, or ask for a lift.\u00a0 Therefore, it is a common sight on the highways to see people asking for a lift and even offering money to truckers etc to drop them to their destinations.\u00a0 There are signs on the highway asking drivers not to offer a ride to the hitchhikers.<\/span><\/p>\n

This lady whom we dropped to her taxi stand, was from Zimbabwe and works in and around Cape Town.\u00a0 The problems of poverty and migration, are global issues and was interesting to hear perspectives of people moving from one African nation to another in search of a better life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Day 3, and our second round of golf was at the Pearl Valley Golf Club, designed by the legendary Jack Nicklaus.\u00a0 The signature holes of this course are the 4<\/span>th<\/span> and 13<\/span>th<\/span> holes.\u00a0 The fourth hole is a tricky par 5, where you need to cross the water three times to get to the green.\u00a0 And the 13<\/span>th<\/span> holes is a delightful par 3, with water cutting in from the right and a green side bunker lying in wait to make the shot really interesting.\u00a0 Overall excellent day out, and it was a bit hot given that it was an afternoon round.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"pearl<\/p>\n

Next day, we set out west of Cape Town and headed to the Arabella Golf course.\u00a0 As you may have realized by now, each day our experiences were growing headier than the previous one.\u00a0 Arabella is a superb course. With fabulous views of the coast, the signature holes, 4,\u00a0 7 and 8 afforded breathtaking views and challenges.\u00a0 Up to this point we found Arabella an amazing and probably the best experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having finished our round at Arabella at around 2 pm and after a quick bite, we decided to take a chance at watching a live cricket match at the Newlands Cricket stadium.\u00a0 England vs SA. Aided just by Google maps we drove to the stadium and were circling around the stadium looking for parking.\u00a0 We then spotted a person with a parking sign on the road.\u00a0 He directed us to a lane which was tucked away and at the end of the lane was a parking area.\u00a0 The parking attendant earned all our respect and praise when he told us he would refund the parking fees if we did not get tickets to the match.\u00a0 Talk about honesty!! Kudos.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having parked we walked up to the ticket counter and surprise, surprise, he had two tickets in the west stand.\u00a0 Chairs with numbers et al.\u00a0 And the tickets were a real steal, with the prices being equivalent to our INR 1200 per head.\u00a0 We were headed towards our west stand when we noticed the grassy picnic area where people were relaxing on the grassy knoll watching the match.\u00a0 We decided not to go to our stand and stay back and enjoy the match from the grassy knoll itself.\u00a0 People were enjoying themselves with a glass of beer and basking in the afternoon sun, watching SA playing a fabulous game to beat England.\u00a0 The Newlands stadium also affords viewers a magnificent view of the Table Mountain, apart from the sporting action.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is SA without some wildlife sightings?\u00a0 So on day 5, we headed out to Gondwana Game reserve from Cape town.\u00a0 Situated about 387 km from Cape Town it took us about 4.5 hours to get there.\u00a0 The Garden route (as the highway is called) gives you magnificent views with beautiful pot hole free highways with a permissible speed limit of 120 kmph.<\/span><\/p>\n

We reached Gondwana (after a bit of getting lost), in the afternoon at about 1 pm and headed straight for lunch.\u00a0 Each room or huts as they called it, had a fabulous view of the grasslands with top class amenities.\u00a0 After a bit of rest, we set off on our first safari into the jungles.\u00a0 The vehicles were in top condition, and our guide Haney was young, knowledgeable and enthusiastic.\u00a0 In our very first outing Haney managed to show us Rhinos, Lions, zebras and Wildebeests.\u00a0 That exceeded our wildest expectations.\u00a0 Also here I must mention, we met up before the safari with Per and Kardi, who were on our flight with us from Addis Ababa to Cape Town.\u00a0 Small world indeed.\u00a0 What was even more amazing was having a drink in the designated areas inside the forest.\u00a0 Haney set up a bar and served wine, beers and distilled spirits right in the middle of the forest.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"wld<\/p>\n

Being in the middle of the jungle, dinner was also at the reserve, but due to rains we couldn\u2019t have the evening barbeque. Instead it was indeed an amazing experience to meet so many people from so many countries having fun (some birthdays too).\u00a0 We did a total of 4 safaris, each one distinct from the other but each one enabling all of us to enjoy watching the big 4 (we didn\u2019t spot the leopard).\u00a0 Another amazing example of making friends during travel was the fact that Per and Kari from Norway are now considering India for their next holiday (of course, this was pre-corona).<\/span><\/p>\n

Having spent an amazing two days at the Gondwana reserve, we bade goodbye to our friends and fellow travellers and headed out past the quaint town of George.\u00a0 Past that town, not far away, lay the Fancourt Hotel.\u00a0 Fancourt is a luxury hotel and plays host to four amazing golf courses, of which we played two.\u00a0 Having checked into the hotel, we set off to play at the Fancourt Montagu course.\u00a0 For some reason we opted to walk the course, which did make it a bit tiring since the distances between two holes was quite a lot, and full of ups and downs, but overall extremely enjoyable.\u00a0 Well maintained course, in good shape since it was hosting the SA Amateur tournament, the next week.\u00a0 We rounded off an amazing day, with a great bottle of wine and amazing pizza at the La Cantina restaurant at the Fancourt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our 8<\/span>th<\/span> day turned out to be one of the best days, from a golfing standpoint.\u00a0 We played at Pinnacle Point, which provided some unbelievably stunning view of the coast line and therefore some very challenging golf too.\u00a0 In fact the name of the 4<\/span>th<\/span> hole was just called \u201cWow\u201d, and the 10<\/span>th<\/span> (enough to chill the amateurs) was called Impossible. We were paired up as a 4 ball with a couple from Sweden, Jorgen and Jette Hanson and had a wonderful time.\u00a0 Sidebar:\u00a0 Apart from wines, SA also makes some amazing Gin.\u00a0 The Inverroche, in particular needs a special mention, if you happen to be in SA.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pinnacle<\/p>\n

Day 9, and we had our golf round at the immaculate Fancourt Links course, which as they like to call it, the Links in SA (considered the best course in SA).\u00a0 As always, the golf course was truly breathtaking and challenging.\u00a0 They don\u2019t allow buggies here, and therefore we set off on the walking course, aided by two caddies to help us with the lay of the course.\u00a0 In a move that makes a small difference, the course provided us with water bottles which had the Links branding with drinking water provided at various holes to fill chilled water.\u00a0 A nice touch indeed.<\/span><\/p>\n

After lunch, we checked out of the Fancourt, and headed to Knysna, a small quay town with some amazing sights to look out for.\u00a0 Walked round the Quay which was quite deserted at that time of the evening.\u00a0 The Protea Hotel by the Marriot was situated right on the quay making it convenient to walk and enjoy the small town delights.<\/span><\/p>\n

Day 10, we headed out to the Pezula course.\u00a0 The Pezula is truly scenic (they claim one of the most scenic in the world), and offers a great golfing experience, with great views of the fairways rolling through the landscape of the Southern Cape.\u00a0 Though I must admit the club house changing rooms facilities were a tad disappointing compared to the others that we had been thus far.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pezula<\/p>\n

Next day, we had our final round of golf at the Simola Golf course.\u00a0 As always we really enjoyed our round of golf and played with Ozzie, a Golf tour organizer from cape town.\u00a0 We had to complete our round, grab a quick bite and hit the road, since we were planning to drive back to Cape Town the same afternoon.\u00a0 The distance from Knysna to Cape Town was almost 500 km which we covered in a superb time of 5 hours and 20 minutes thanks to some amazing driving (within speed limits) by Ravi and some truly spectacular road and views, the Garden route.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back in Cape Town, we checked into the Cape Hollow Boutique hotel.\u00a0 Located very centrally it was a nice place but did not have its own parking which means we had to shell out more money each day for parking.\u00a0 Also in a bizarre design, the rooms were spacious but the bathrooms were really small and uncomfortable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next morning, we requested the hotel to hire us a driver to take us around to show us the sights around Cape Town.\u00a0 Best decision ever.\u00a0 Our driver\u2019s name was Blessing (which he truly was).\u00a0 We proceeded to Sam\u2019s bay (a delightful little beach), Nordhook, Chapman\u2019s Drive (spectacular views), and then on to Hout bay.\u00a0 At hout bay, we took the cruise which took us to view the seals in their natural habitat in a nearby island.\u00a0 The cruise lasted about an hour and provided for some magnificent views of the Lion Mountain and of course, hundreds and hundreds of seals.\u00a0 Having had our fill there, we headed to Cape Point.\u00a0 One of the southern most points the attraction was a lighthouse, 203 meters above sea level.\u00a0 Built in 1860 the climb to the light house can be a walking trail or a quick cable car ride.\u00a0 Truly breathtaking to imagine its working so many hundreds of years ago.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pinnacle<\/p>\n

From Cape Point, we drove to the Cape of Good Hope, which we had studied in school as a place where Bartholomew Diaz, the explorer first went around.\u00a0 Today it stands as the south-western most point of the African Continent.\u00a0 Delightful way to spend the day, taking in all the good sights around Cape Town.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the penultimate day of our trip, we walked around the nearby market square, called the Mandela-Rhodes square meant for shopping for souvenirs and the like.\u00a0 After a recon, we decided to drive to Cape Point Vineyard for some wine and some lunch.\u00a0 One cannot imagine a better end to an amazing vacation with the views, the service, the wine and the outstanding food.\u00a0 Truly a great way to spend the last day our stay at Cape Town.<\/span><\/p>\n

We bade farewell to some of our most amazing memories boarding the Ethiopian airlines flight to Addis Ababa and then back to Bangalore.\u00a0 Cape Town, you shall remain in our memories forever.\u00a0 Thank you for the great experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Normally, the name South Africa brings to mind the glorious wild life, and some great wines.\u00a0 However, the lesser known fact is that it is home to some of the best Golf courses that most golfers would love to play in.\u00a0 So, my golfer friend Ravi and I, chose to venture and play in, what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[458],"tags":[459],"class_list":["post-3419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travelogues","tag-capetown","has-thumb"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3419"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4114,"href":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3419\/revisions\/4114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golftripz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}