Nine Days in South Africa: Wine, Penguins & Safari I

9 Days in South Africa: Wine, Penguins & Safari (20 to 28 Feb 2020) Trip Report Menu

Day 1: Singapore – Stellenbosch
Day 2: Stellenbosch – Stony Point – Cape Town
Day 3: Cape Town – Old Biscuit Mill & Super Rugby
Day 4: Cape Town – Lion’s Head
Day 5: Cape Town – Bo Kaap, Chapman’s Drive, Cape Peninsula, Muizenberg, La Colombe
Day 6: Cape Town – Phinda
Day 7: Phinda
Day 8: Phinda
Day 9: Phinda – Singapore

Back in September 2019, I found some incredible fares on Singapore Airlines; return economy-class tickets between Singapore South Africa was as low as 680 SGD. Mrs and I bought ours between Singapore and Johannesburg (traveling February 2020) for 750 SGD, choosing the better of the two departure timings for our outbound flight. Also shared the deal with my co-workers and three of them also planned trips to South Africa later in the year.

Day 1: Singapore – Stellenbosch

Not sure if it was the late departure (0145) or the recent COVID-19 issue, Changi Airport was quiet when we arrived at close to midnight. After getting our boarding passes printed, we headed inside secure area and got some supper before boarding.

We were lucky to have three seats between the two of us and I fell asleep almost as soon as the plane took off. I remembered waking up a few times due to the turbulence over Indian Ocean.

Breakfast was served when we were flying over Madagascar and as a prelude to our arrival in South Africa, I decided to watch highlights from last year’s Rugby World Cup.

Fastest way between Singapore and Johannesburg:-

On arrival at JNB, we were asked to remain seated and someone came on-board to take our temperature. After it was done, we disembarked the plane, leaving behind other passengers who were continuing onwards to Cape Town.

Hello Mr OR Tambo

Since both of us enjoy train travel, our initial plan was to take the overnight train between Johannesburg and Cape Town on our arrival in South Africa. Since we can’t afford neither Rovos or Blue Train, the next best option is Premier Classe which costs 3120 ZAR one-way. However, we were informed three days before the trip that our train was cancelled; unfortunately, there was a fatal derailment the week before and all Premier Classe services are suspended since.

With this curveball, we had to rethink about the plan for our first day. One of the ideas was to stay in Johannesburg for the first day but eventually due to cost and hassle, we decided to travel onwards to Cape Town immediately. The last-minute tickets on South African budget carrier Safair costs 800 ZAR each.

We built in ample time between our transfers and managed to do the following at Johannesburg Airport: 1) Get some local money from an ATM, 2) Had a second breakfast at Mugg and Bean and 3) Get a local SIM card (MTN with 3GB data costs around 370 ZAR).

Steak for breakfast: –

It was a full flight on Safair between JNB and CPT and both Mrs and I agreed that one of the crew looked like a cross between Ola and Eric from Sex Education.

Olaric or Erola?

Flying over winelands

Arriving in CPT

On arrival at Cape Town, we went to pick-up our rental car. While processing our rental, the friendly Bidvest staff pointed out to us that former South African footballer Lucas Radebe (of Leeds United’s fame) was renting his car there as well.

Our 5-day rental of a compact manual Toyota Corolla cost about 1800 ZAR and soon after collecting the car, we were on our way out to Stellenbosch. Somehow Google Maps guided us to M12 instead of N2 and we had to stop at the numerous traffic lights along the way.

The first thing that we did was to visit the supermarket and stocked up on some drinking water and fruits. Also got a jumbo wors roll (a one-foot hot dog, 25 ZAR) which filled us decently.

After half an hour’s drive through Stellenbosch town, we finally reached the gates of Webersburg estate. We’d stay a night in Cottage 2 (cost around 150 SGD), which is located in a neighbouring plot of land and features a stunning sunset. The hotel staff led the way to our cottage and then gave a room tour.

Beautiful view outside the window

As the daily wine tasting runs from 10am to 4pm, we headed to the cellar for tasting of the vintages from the property. The tasting (60 ZAR each) was conducted by a friendly staff and included a Sauvignon Blanc, Rose, a red blend and a Cabernet Sauvignon.

After the tasting, we spent some time walking around the pretty estate.

Due to the long traveling day, we didn’t even had dinner and crashed by 8pm local time.