Boschendal, Babylonstoren, and the Cape Winelands

No trip to South Africa would be complete without a visit to the wine country, so we headed to Franshoeck and Stellenbosch, two of the most talked about towns in the Cape Winelands. Despite our best attempt to drink…errr, taste…. as much wine as possible, we ended our trip still rather underwhelmed by South African wine, but completely overwhelmed by the beauty and hospitality the country in general, and Boschendal and Babylonstoren (the two wine farm/hotels that were our home while in the Cape Winelands), in particular. I discovered Boschendal from a Conde Naste travel article titled “best hotels to visit with children” and after reading about their kids camps including fire building, garden harvesting, worm collecting and cow milking, I was instantly sold, realizing kids camp meant Will and I could have a few hours to ourselves for the first time in a very long time 🙌. While the wine may not have been anything to write home about, the food at Boschendal was incredible, with nearly every ingredient grown on the farm, beautifully crafted and prepared. After a giant breakfast we dropped the boys off at camp and settled into our 6 hours of freedom–oh the luxury! We decided to drag our very full selves out on a run before collapsing by the pool (turns out it doesn’t take long to get really, really out of shape) to drink a bottle of rosé, book the next round hotels, houses, flights and rental cars for the upcoming portion of our trip, and plan our upcoming block of homeschooling. Pretty indulgent 😊. When we picked the boys up they were hot, sweaty and thrilled to report that camp had consisted of absolutely none of the aforementioned activities but instead their teachers had taught them how to drum, dance, throw chickens and cut down bamboo to make swords 🤷‍♀️ 🤣. Ahhhh South Africa, we continue to love you.

Boschendal was a stunning property, with beautiful cottages tucked into the fruit orchards, peacocks and guinea fowl cruising around, farm shops brimming with gorgeous food, trails to run or mountain bike, horses to ride and beautiful fields to picnic in. We didn’t think it could possibly get better until we arrived at Babylonstoren. Nearly everyone we talked to about South Africa mentioned Babylonstoren as a ‘must visit’ and while it was a solid splurge, we decided to cap off our time in South Africa there and I could not be more grateful that we did! It was without a doubt the most beautiful and welcoming hotel we have ever been to with jaw dropping architecture, gardens that were awe inspiring, food rivaling the best meals we have ever enjoyed, and hospitality that even Bobby Stucky would be proud of. We spent four absurdly bucolic days, soaking up every beautiful corner and experience. We walked through the vineyards and gardens, stopping to pluck blackberries and plums off the trees. We baked bread with the chefs in the kitchen, filling our sourdough with leeks, garlic and cheese from the farm. The boys gathered chicken eggs each morning and brought them to the chefs to cook up with bacon and croissants for our breakfasts. We paddled canoes and fished in the little lake and did about 10,000 cannonballs and flips into the pool. They actually made a pretty descent rosé and we did our best to drink every bottle available. However, I think the real highlight of our stay were the battling tortoises we encountered walking the garden on our first morning. Yep, that’s right, even the tortoises in South Africa have an edge 🤣. Each one was about the size of my open hand and they were engaged in full-fledged combat in the middle of a garden path, with heads pulled into their shells, ramming into each other, pushing forward and back, forward and back. One would momentarily gain the upper hand and push the other 10-15 feet down the path, then that one would retaliate, stretch his head out of his shell, bite onto the others shell and push back the other direction. This went on and on and on as we watched in complete awe. Finally, after about 20 minutes Holden saw blood on one of the shells and we decided we had to intervene. We still feel guilty for disrupting the natural way of things, but we couldn’t help ourselves! They boys couldn’t watch them hurt each other anymore. Will picked up one of the tortoises and carried him maybe 30 feet away and set him down behind a bush. He was so mad he stood with every ounce of his body shaking and making a little grunting sound and the other started charging at us, snapping his little mouth open and sending us running, screaming, laughing and squealing, not quite believing that a tiny little tortoise could be so fierce or make us run so fast. It was the perfect culmination to the wild dichotomy that has been the past 5 weeks in South Africa and I feel so grateful that we have had such a significant amount of time in this wild and wonderful country.

Before we depart South Africa there is one overarching thing that can’t be overlooked. A large part of our education during this year of is taking inspiration from the places along the way, figuring out how to synthesize and integrate the history and culture of where we are in hopes of helping broaden the boys understanding of the world. While 6 and 8 is a little young to fully understand the subject of Apartheid, we just couldn’t be in this country and ignore it.  It is such an important part of South Africa’s history and still prevalent in its current shape today. It also parallels so many of the places throughout the world we’re visiting, where European empires imposed their wills upon native populations.  While Apartheid technically ended nearly 30 years ago now, the underlying segregation and disparity it furthered is so profound and feels as though it still shapes much of current society in South Africa.  We spent many of our long drives talking about why and how Apartheid happened, the feelings it elicits, who Nelson Mandela was, how his strength and vision helped to guide the country, and how in our lives can we think of ways to find inspiration from his story.  We talked a lot about the high crime rate but also how ‘understandable’ the motives behind crime can be is when there are people who don’t have enough money to feed their families colliding with people whose lives are overflowing with plenty. That it doesn’t mean South Africa has more “bad people” because the crime rate is higher, but rather what disparity means and how there is so much that needs to be reconciled and addressed in the years ahead.  We tried to process the miles and miles of shanty-town neighborhoods, with houses consisting of little more than a few pieces of wood or metal barely held together with endless rows of porta-potties at the end of each block, which really resonated with the boys in contrast to our own privileged reality. We all left the country feeling in love with so much of it, but also saddened, conflicted, and that much more grateful for our lives. We’re taking with us a desire to learn more, to understand more and to figure out, as cliché as it sounds, what things in life we can all do to help make this world a better place. 

RANDOM RECS

I would visit both Boschendal and Babylonstoren again in a heartbeat!

Boschendal has a wonderful farm shop to stock up on picnic supplies and groceries and both The Werf Restaurant and The Deli are worth eating at. We loved horseback riding and of course throwing chickens at camp 🤣

I wish Babylonstoren was closer to home so we could go back soon! Eat at Babel, The Bakery and The Greenhouse all, and take advantage of the spa which is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever been to!