I’m thankful the Lord protected us on our journey and brought us all safely home to our families. I had to hit the ground running because the next day after my return, the family was flying to Las Vegas to celebrate Casey’s 21st birthday. That little girl some of you use to see running around Negril wanting to dive off the cliffs (no, not on my watch young lady) is still adventurous. I understand that while I was in South Africa she went Sky Diving. Smh. Anyway, we had a great time in Vegas with her. Mom, dad, grandparents, and friends were on hand to wish her well.
The last 2 things I wanted to share about South Africa was our experience in THE WINELANDS and in Cape Town at THE TEST KITCHEN. Our day in Stellenbosch was quite nice. We met the first black female winemaker there who makes wine for Stellakaya. Her name is Ntsiki Biyela. I definitely give the sista props with all she has accomplished, however, on a personal level, I felt something was missing. The warmth of M’hudi or even Mont Rochelle was not there. I had to call on my dear friend, the Professor, International Wine Broker, Jess Peters for some serious clarification. She is the niece of Jabulani, one of the first black South African winemakers who has a different perspective towards black wineries. Ms Biyela was not the first black to get a degree in Enology but she is the first black female to be the head wine maker for a major winery. She had won several awards. My wine connaisseurs on this tour who had been drinking Pinotage since we landed were not particularly fond of Stellakaya’s Pinotage. M’hudi is the first owned and operated black vineyard and their wines are made at a nearby winery. New Beginnings was started by a handful of black farm laborers who were given a piece of land immediately after apartheid
Needless to say, we will not return to Stellakaya but one of my other favorites Our reservation at the highly acclaimed TEST KITCHEN had been in place for 8 months we had 11 courses and each was delightful You could choose wine paring, tea pairing or no pairing the chef did an amazing job on each course and the service was totally on point So my friends, that sums up this 2015 South Africa tour. On a scale of 1 to 10, it was a 10. If you want to join next year, yes we are going back to celebrate Dana Terry’s birthday. There are so many things South African that I miss already and dream about. For 1, SHEPHERD’S TREE GAME LODGE IT IS TOP OF THE LINE. #2 MAXIMILLIENS RESTAURANT. In a word “Excellent”. We have a few spaces available for 2016 so if it’s your dream to visit the Motherland…….Make it South Africa.
On another note: ATTENTION SHOPPERS, LOVERS OF BROADWAY PLAYS AND THE BIG APPLE. We are working on a package that will include R/t air from SFO and shuttle, 3 nights hotel accommodations and play tickets PLUS you will have plenty of time to Christmas shop til you drop in Manhattan. The play is the revival of THE GIN GAME starring JAMES EARL JONES AND CICELY TYSON Interested? Inbox me at rivoli98@yahoo.com