Adrian Ruchini - We embrace the world

On the way back, we stop at Whale Bay. We have not seen sea giants there, but we took with us in our minds incredible landscapes and impressions, because this is the only thing that you can take with you after death, this is our main asset: places we visited and meetings that enriched us.

We have climbed the highest hill and we are looking around, slowly and silently: the semi-circular bay is framed by sharp stones covered with multi-coloured moss. The colour of the water changes depending on the depth and the presence of rocks, from emerald green to deep blue. This unearthly beauty requires respect for itself, it does not tolerate fuss and noise. You cannot come here just for five days, or rather, if you come for a short time, then till you come back, this place will always call you. (By the way, we haven’t swum in the ocean yet. March in the southern hemisphere is the first month of autumn, and if the air temperature is high enough, the water is already cold). This time of the year the beaches are empty. It is not even the temperature, we are too busy to waste time on the beach.

We are going to a new meeting, a very unusual and long-awaited one. We are a bit in a hurry, because the road was not short, and those to whom we are going can fall asleep. Yes, here they are, coming home from work: a dozen of penguins are crossing the street in a neat row, arranged in pairs.

Not far from Cape Town, there is Simon’s town where a colony of penguins lives. People and penguins are so used to cohabiting in one location that now they have no idea how it can be different.

Not very big black-and-white birds swaying parade on the streets. On the shore there is their part of the city. There they dig their own burrows, lay their eggs, and live their own family life. They are used to the general attention of tourists, they do not pay attention to people with cameras, and even more, they are not afraid of them, but they do not let them get too close, they demand respect for private life. Another dream comes true.

In the evening, we have dinner in our magnificent hotel, or rather in the restaurant at the hotel. The tasting menu offers dishes divided by elements and prepared with local ingredients, and of course the wine is very good. We must say that South Africa has become a gastronomic discovery for us. In short, the cuisine here is international, mixed. There is no bright national flavour here or old culinary traditions, but what local restaurants offer is a very high-quality mix, the cuisine of Cape Town is cosmopolitan, but most importantly, the ingredients they use, whether it’s fish, meat, vegetables or cheese, everything is the top, everything is delicious!

Time to go to bed and prepare for our last day in Cape Town. We are moving to a new hotel, it is a pity, of course, to leave a beautiful palace with a vineyard, but new experiences and impressions call us.

This time we chose a small boutique hotel in the city centre with a huge, stylish room and a private garden with roses and lavender. It seems that this place will be a worthy completion of the African part of the world tour. But first of all, meeting with Jane, a former head of human resources at a large company, who is now a writer and speaker.

By the way, we have hardly seen the centre of Cape Town, we drive around all the time, so we asked Jane to show us the city, to which she replied: «What’s there so special to watch? All the most beautiful things in Cape Town are outside the city. But if you insist, of course, I will give you a quick tour, because in addition to the city centre, I want to show you a lot of interesting places.»

To be honest, Jane was right. Compared to what we’ve already seen here in South Africa, the city itself, doesn’t stop breathing from an emotional explosion, but we would definitely call it interesting and cute. What we remember most about the centre are the Victorian-style houses with carved wooden multicoloured balconies.

But Jane couldn’t wait to accompany us to her favourite vineyard, Cape Point Vineyard Estate on a hill near the city. The grape is almost mature, and the juice-filled bunches hung picturesquely from the large bushes. At the beginning of each row there is a rose bush. All the roses are yellow and suit perfectly the green of the grass and grape leaves. And the prosperity of roses indicates the health of the vineyard. What a beauty! We drive slowly along the road past the vineyards towards a large stylish building made of wood and glass. This is a winery and a restaurant. In front of the building there is a small artificial pond, the restaurant is located on the terrace, which offers a breathtaking view of the white sand beach and the emerald ocean below the hill. How can you make bad wine in a place like this?

After that we have been driving for a long time in the «Mercedes» (all successful people there have a Mercedes. It is a joke), and pass the places where we had already been the day before. Today they seem very different, but no less beautiful. The road we are driving on looks like a classic picture of a car ad: a winding, not very wide strip on one side that opens up a view on the ocean, on the other side there are the mountains, the sun-drenched sky, lapping azure waves – and it’s all yours. Even the strongest wind, blowing you off and ruffling your hair, is also for you, take it!

It is a little bit sad to leave Jane, because we know that we might never see each other again, because we live at different poles of the Earth, although…It would be interesting to meet again with this amazing woman who, after retirement, began writing motivational books and publicly speaking around the world, helping people to overcome various difficulties. Who knows, maybe we’ll see each other somewhere in neutral territory.

The visit to the winery has impressed us so much that we decide to visit a couple more, this time with a tasting. The winery is chosen by Adri, as he knows a lot about wine and his choice is always perfect. The vineyards are spread out under the Table Mountain, you drive along the road between endless rows of bushes, and then suddenly in front of you there is an open space covered with green grass, on which stands the Villa – this is the winery, Morgenster Estate. On the terrace, covered with grapes with red, yellow and green leaves, there is wrought-iron furniture, painted with white paint. Several olive trees are covered with dark fruit. It seems that you are not in the South of Africa, but in the South of Europe, everything is so familiar and understandable.

«What an amazing place! What are you going to surprise us with?» – we ask the girl at the bar. «Try our wine and olive oil tasting. I’m sure you’ll like it.» We haven’t resisted for a long time and haven’t regretted it. The girl tells us that the owner of the winery was an Italian, who had been doing his favourite thing all his life and invested all his knowledge and money in this successful business. He recently died, and now the business has passed into the hands of his daughter, and she flies once a month from Italy to check on how things are going. We are sitting on the terrace, enjoying the gentle wind and tasting the wines, and they are really great, soaked up all the sun, the air and the terrain of South Africa. And also oil is worth telling about it. Actually, for us, there is no better food in the world than a piece of nice bread with olive oil on top, so sharp that you feel it even in the throat, and then a sip of good wine. It is awesome. So, we have definitely appreciated the oil. For sure. And, what about these small tasty olives accompanying the wine, oil and homemade bread. Wow, it is our perfect lunch. We are in an unforgettable place, completed with fine wine and olive oil. What more could you ask for? Meanwhile, the day is running, and there are still a lot of things to do.