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Only real wine connoisseurs would know that the South Africa wine route is a real dandy. While the valleys and rolling hills of Cape Town’s inner cities provide the ultimate terroir for grape growing and have produced some of the best wines in the world, there are newer wineries and vineyards that are being grown in areas never thought possible. These are the coastal areas of South Africa. With sometimes gale force winds and mild temperatures, it was once thought that these areas were not suitable for growing perfect grapes for making top quality wines.

The hard working South African vintners have proved everyone wrong as the wines emerging from Cape Point (Two Oceans), Elim Valley in Cape Agulhas, and Walker Bay have been winning all kinds of awards both local and international and are taking the viticulture world by storm. These grapes are grown in very harsh conditions and in seemingly unfertile sea sand like soil. However, the white wines that have been produced are of exceptional quality. They have been described as being light and fruity with good texture and a unique flavor that lasts.

The coastal regions start from Elim Valley at Cape Agulhas which is the tip of Africa. Here the vines are fairly old despite only having entered the market recently. Vineyards were originally grown to supply the missionaries here with wines for religious blessing and so forth. It was determined that these could in fact produce distributable wines and soon bottling and labeling began.

Moving further west you will reach the Hemel en Aarde Valley (Heaven and Earth Valley) where the majority of the Walker Bay vineyards are located. Many of these wines are crisp and flavorful with unique textures. There are very few fruity flavors, with stronger spicy, vanilla and earthy tones to them. This area is not only producing great white wines, but also has a good selection of red wines which are interesting and mild. The vineyards are fairly well protected in the valley and receive mild weather with the cold Atlantic Ocean breezes.

Moving westwards again you will come to the False Bay area where the waters are warmer and the beaches full of holidaymakers. The Two Oceans wines come from this area near to Cape Point and are affected by both the Atlantic Ocean breezes as well as the Indian Ocean breezes making for a uniquely flavored wine which is excellent with most meals. They are light and have a great flavor. The Cape Point Vintners are also starting to produce a red wine and have recently seen the first harvest of red grapes which they say looks to be very promising.

When you visit the coastal region of South Africa, be sure to not miss out on these wine routes. You can also include the area of Constantia which produces award winning wines from their 5 estates. The oldest wine farm in South Africa is located here called Groot Constantia and you can enjoy exquisite accommodation, meals and fun wine tasting. Some may not consider this a coastal wine area, but it is in fact located just over the mountain from Noordhoek being 15-20 minutes from the Eastern side and only 10-15 minutes from the western side at Muizenberg.

You should also not miss out on the other wine routes while you are in Cape Town, South Africa, especially Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl making up the Winelands, Robertson, Tulbagh, Swartland, Wellington, Worcester and Breede River Valley, making up the Boland and more interior regions. There are also wine farms and lovely vineyards on the banks of the Orange River in Mpumalanga Province, in the Karoo where the semi arid conditions produce awesome Muscadels and recently in the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.

The coastal wine regions should most definitely be included in your tours and will offer you a totally unique outlook and experience of wines and the wine industry. With the subtle flavors and cooler climate you are bound to enjoy these wines with any meal you have. The beauty of the area is also one of the reasons to not miss out on these regions, because you can get so much more out of your tour and take part in so many other activities like hiking, cycling, paint balling, surfing, boating, shark diving, whale watching, swimming, abseiling, mountain biking and climbing, paragliding, hang gliding, scuba diving, snorkeling, and visiting the hundred of attractions along the South African coast. Some of these include the penguins at Boulders Beach, Cape Point and all its glorious features, the town of Hermanus, Cape Agulhas lighthouse and its museums, the beauty of Clarens Drive, and Hangklip.

Whatever areas you decide to visit on your wine tour of South Africa, you will find a large diversity in the wines that you taste, so if you can, get to all of the regions and experience all the varietals.

By: Jim Hunter

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Deep in the heart of African safari country, Kenya is everything you ever imagined the dark safari continent to be, its very name conjures up pictures of vast herds of elephant lumbering over the rolling, and grassy safari plains beneath the shadow of snow capped safari Mount Kilimanjaro.

For many, Kenya is synonymous with big game safari-and for good reason. With a land area almost two and half times that of United Kingdom(582,600sq km or 255,000sq miles) the safari country has more than fifty safari national parks covering 8 per cent of its territory roughly a third of the size of England Many of its parks are known worldwide: Masai Mara safari game reserve with its countless varied fauna Amboseli national park at the foot of Kilimanjaro; Tsavo west and Tsavo east national parks for its huge number of elephants; Lake Nakuru National park for its clouds of pink flamingos. The premier destination in Africa Kenya offers the possibility of observing and capturing (on film) virtually all the large safari animals’ species of the continent.

The safari Big Five- namely buffalo, elephant, leopard, Lion and rhinoceros are more numerous in Kenya than any where else. And they are not alone. You are also likely to come across other safari animals like cheetah, troops of baboons and packs of hyenas, yawning hippopotami and graceful giraffes, wart hogs bounding away with their stiff bristly tails in the air zebras and thousands of antelopes, great and small. If you’re really lucky, you may get the chance to watch the safari big cats hunting prey or see the momentous annual migration of the wildebeests. In summer a vast herd of over a million animals tramples over the savannah of the Masai Mara in search of new grass .As the first animals cross the river impelled by the moving hordes coming up behind the crocodiles lie in wait ready for a tasty meal after a long fast.

Types of Best African Kenya safari include

Kenya wildlife safari

Kenya beach safari

Kenya sport safari

Kenya adventure safari

Kenya scenic safari

Lie of the Kenyan land

Straddling the equator and a cornerstone between the safari shores of Indian Ocean and lake Vitoria Kenya has two distinct sides to its character shaped by the circumstances of its history and geography. On the one hand the area along the coast constantly absorbed and adapted to foreign influence ever since Arab navigators landed there in 8th and 9th centuries. But the mystery interior remained in the hands of local tribes’ right up to the 19th century undisturbed apart from the murderous incursions of slave trades .it is here in Kenya, on high plans and along the Rift valley Kenya that most of the Kenyan national parks and Kenyan game reserve are found today .it’s virtually impossible to define a natural unity; Kenya is made up of a veritable kaleidoscope of fascinating landscapes and personalities

Some of the top Kenya animal safari sites, spots and Kenya national parks are

Masai Mara National park

Amboseli National park

Tsavo National park

Mt Kenya National park

Samburu National Park

Lake Nakuru National park

Aberdare National park

Meru National park

Nairobi Kenya National park

Lake Naivasha Kenya

Hells gate National Park

A visit to any of the above Kenyan national safari parks is guaranteed to provide unforgettable memories. You will have countless opportunities to observe wildlife

By: Joe Maina

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Traditionally holiday or travel insurance for UK residents has been looked upon as a “luxury” or an “extra”. However many are now starting to realise that holiday cover for a foreign trip is an essential part of any travel booking. Accidents and illnesses can happen to anyone, anytime. Its bad enough if it happens in the UK with your friends and family around you and free healthcare available on the NHS, but what if it happens abroad? What about airport/airline strikes, breakdown on the way to the airport so you miss your flight? What if a relative becomes seriously ill and you find you cannot travel after booking a non refundable package? Holiday cover is now so cheap that it would be foolish not to be covered. This is especially important for senior travel.

There are many different types of travel insurance available, but the two main types are single and annual trip cover. Single trip insurance basically means you are covered for a specific period of travel i.e. two weeks for a specific holiday, whereas an annual travel cover will cover you for the entire year for any trips you may take. As you would expect, annual cover is more expensive, however if you normally have multiple breaks abroad (lucky you!) then it can work out cheaper for you.

In addition to this ther are different levels of cover available of both annual and single trip policies. For instance many policies will offer cover for winter sports such as skiing or even adventure sports such as climbing, there are also now policies which will cover older travellers such as those 65 and over, even with pre-existing medical conditions. Infact 65,70,75,80 or even 85 years old and over can now be covered simply and cheaply.

The actual coverage will vary from company to company, however a “standard” coverage would likely include: holiday cancellation due to emergency, medical costs due to sickness or injury, lost baggage, theft of personal effects including passport, credit cards etc. Some will cover losses due to natural disasters, however check the small print carefully as the author found to his cost during a trip to Florida a few years ago, hurricanes are not covered on some plans as they are “an act of god”! Other exclusions I noticed after the fact on this particular plan were any losses caused by terrorist activity, so be warned always check the small print.

By: David Rossy

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