From Cape Town to Sabi Sand, a classic South African itinerary reveals a nation primed for transformation.
Chris Wallace
On a cloudless day last April, Cape Town looked from above like a massive sandstone amphitheater.
Cultural narrative and perspective are important, but neither one is permanent.
The 3,500-foot Table Mountain presides over Cape Town’s Green Point neighborhood and the DHL Stadium.Credit:Chris Wallace
Not that anyone would ever confuse Cape Town for anywhere else.
Olive trees gathered in groves, and distant,Lost Worldlooking mountains came into focus.
I was impressed by their gentle, human scale.
From left: The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront; the Mount Nelson hotel, at the foot of Table Mountain.Chris Wallace
Then, suddenly, I was surrounded by vineyards.
The churches of Stellenbosch are blinding-white affairs in the colonial Cape Dutch style.
So too are the buildings at Babylonstoren.
From left: Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap neighborhood, with Lion’s Head mountain in the background; a shady spot on the lawn of Mount Nelson, a Belmond Hotel.Chris Wallace
Egyptian geese carved glittering arrows into the black waters of the various lakes on the property.
We talk all the time about how the world is shrinking.
Granted, South Africa is a very long trip for Americans, and expensive in both dollars and time.
A Cape Dutch–style cottage at Babylonstoren, a hotel in the Franschhoek valley.Chris Wallace
The country has not been terribly well serviced by American carriers.
(I took the one nonstop from New York to Cape Town, on United.)
In the local Shangaan-Tsonga language, singita translates as place of miracles.
The reservoir at Sterrekopje, a wellness resort in Franschhoek.Chris Wallace
South Africa toppled me, with awe, with inspiration.
And isnt that how we would describe witnessing a miracle?
From left: The terrace of Singita Ebony Lodge; a leopard at Sabi Sand.Chris Wallace
A rhino sighting.Chris Wallace
