Page 31 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2020 South Africa

our fellow guests who had come to Plumwood an-
nually for years to escape Europe’s winters.
They, like us, took advantage of Franschhoek’s
central location to explore wineries and restau-
rants, including many in Stellenbosch, a 40-minute
Uber ride away. This university town and environs
are home to more than 150,000. Its bustling
downtown is easily walkable and alive with shops,
galleries and bars, many geared to 30,000 stu-
dents in residence.
During our first visit, several streets were
blocked and black smoke billowed into the air as
taxi drivers protested tickets for speeding and
parking violations. We were turned back and
learned from fuming shopkeepers that these dis-
ruptive incidents occur all too frequently. Though
our second visit to Stellenbosch was protest free,
we were glad quieter Franschhoek was our home
base.
Throughout our time in South Africa, blackouts
were a regular occurance. The demand for elec-
tricity exceeds the supply, especially during hot
spells, so the national utility spreads the pain with
rolling load-shedding, planned outages 3 to 4
hours long across the country. At Plumwood the
day’s outages were posted, so guests would know
when lights and air conditioning would be off. We
all grew to share Roel’s relief when he announced
a day with uninterrupted power.

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