Nelson Mandela spent the last 3 of his 27 years of political imprisonment at Drakenstein (then Victor Verster prison) , until his release on February 11, 1990. Drakenstein is still a working prison today. - P1040834_DCE - P1040833_DCE - Sign outside Drakenstein prison. - Wed 05 Aug 2009 06:21:54 AM Inscription on the base of the Mandela statue outside Drakenstein. - Wed 05 Aug 2009 06:24:08 AM Drakenstein - Wed 05 Aug 2009 06:24:26 AM Drakenstein - The Long Walk to Freedom Statue in honor of Nelson Mandela - Wed 05 Aug 2009 06:24:44 AM Our first winery stop of the day was at Nelson's Creek winery in Paarl - Nelson's Creek Winery - Nelson's Creek Winery - Wed 05 Aug 2009 05:38:45 AM The grounds at Nelson's Creek winery in Paarl, about an hour outside Cape Town - Wed 05 Aug 2009 05:38:24 AM Nelson's Creek Winery - Wed 05 Aug 2009 05:39:19 AM Nelson's Creek Winery - Wed 05 Aug 2009 05:41:16 AM Nelson's Creek Winery - Wed 05 Aug 2009 05:42:42 AM Nelson's Creek Winery - Wed 05 Aug 2009 04:41:00 AM Nelson's Creek Winery - Nelson's Creek Winery - Nelson's Creek Winery - Nelson's Creek Winery - Nelson's Creek Winery - the friendly winery dog - Nelson's Creek Winery - Joel saw the winery dog snack on some olives from this tree - Nelson's Creek Winery - Nelson's Creek Winery - Fermentation tanks at Nelson's Creek Winery, and also... a trampoline? - Wed 05 Aug 2009 04:15:59 AM Nelson's Creek Winery - Nelson's Creek Winery - Wed 05 Aug 2009 04:27:36 AM Nelson's Creek Winery barrel aging room - Wed 05 Aug 2009 04:27:05 AM Nelson's Creek Winery - Wed 05 Aug 2009 04:37:46 AM A not-so-clear picture of the wines we tasted at Nelson's Creek - Wed 05 Aug 2009 05:37:33 AM Joel enjoys some wine & cheese. It was around 10am... now that's what I call a vacation! - Inside one of the historic Cape Dutch buildings at Nelson's Creek, where we did our wine tasting - Wed 05 Aug 2009 05:37:47 AM Inside historic Cape Dutch building at Nelson's Creek - Wed 05 Aug 2009 05:38:05 AM Inside historic Cape Dutch building at Nelson's Creek - Wed 05 Aug 2009 05:38:15 AM Nelson's Creek Winery - Nelson's Creek Winery - when the vines are pruned for winter, the trimmings are left on the ground - Nelson's Creek Winery - Nelson's Creek Winery - Nelson's Creek Winery - Driving through Franschhoek, on our way to La Couronne, the next winery on our tour - La Couronne - The approach to La Couronne winery & restaurant - La Couronne Winery - La Couronne Winery - La Couronne - Wine tasting this way! - La Couronne - Wine tasting this way! - La Couronne - sculptures in front of the winery - Sculpture outside La Couronne - Wed 05 Aug 2009 08:19:04 AM La Couronne - sculptures in front of the winery - La Couronne Winery in Franschhoek - lunch and wine tasting - Wed 05 Aug 2009 06:57:05 AM La Couronne - La Couronne - patio - Wed 05 Aug 2009 08:17:19 AM Awards at La Couronne - Wed 05 Aug 2009 08:18:15 AM La Couronne - August is in the middle of the South African winter, so the vines are bare - Wed 05 Aug 2009 08:19:34 AM La Couronne - Proteas, growing wild by the side of the road. Proteas are native to the Western Cape. - Close up of proteas growing wild by the side of the road. - Stellenbosch is a beautiful town in the heart of South African wine country. - Church in Stellenbosch - The town of Stellenbosch is full of picturesque and historic Cape Dutch Architecture - Wed 05 Aug 2009 03:57:56 PM Stellenbosch - signs outside the church are in both English and Afrikaans (which is derived from Dutch) - Wed 05 Aug 2009 03:55:36 PM Stellenbosch - Wed 05 Aug 2009 03:55:50 PM Stellenbosch - Wed 05 Aug 2009 03:56:33 PM Stellenbosch - Stellenbosch - Wed 05 Aug 2009 04:15:59 PM Stellenbosch - Wed 05 Aug 2009 03:54:51 PM Stellenbosch - Wed 05 Aug 2009 04:17:18 PM Stellenbosch - Stellenbosch - Wed 05 Aug 2009 04:00:57 PM Stellenbosch - Stellenbosch - Stellenbosch - Stellenbosch - Stellenbosch - Stellenbosch - Tokara Winery - Wed 05 Aug 2009 03:31:32 PM Tokara Winery - Tokara Winery - Tokara Winery - Tokara Winery - Tokara Winery - Wed 05 Aug 2009 02:58:04 PM Tokara Winery - Tokara Winery - Proteas decorate a table at Tokara - Another protea arrangement at Tokara - From inside Tokara winery, looking out on the grounds - Tokara vineyard - Olive trees at Tokara - Spier Winery has a Cheetah Outreach program. We didn't visit the winery, but we did visit the cheetahs. - Wed 05 Aug 2009 04:58:59 PM Cheetahs at Spier - Wed 05 Aug 2009 04:52:01 PM Cheetahs at Spier - Wed 05 Aug 2009 04:52:01 PM The handlers had an empty plastic bottle at the end of the rope, and used it to get the cheetah's attention. He batted at it like a ktten with a toy on a string. - Another tourist (from our winery tour van) pets the cheetahs - Michele's turn to pet the cheetah - After a couple minutes, he started purring - Michele & Joel with the cheetahs - We didn't even have to sign a waiver to enter the pen with the cheetahs. Clearly we weren't in America! - The cheetahs were quite laid back - Close up - Beautiful boy - these cheetahs were male cubs about a year old - P1040936_DCE - P1040937_DCE - P1040938_DCE - P1040939_DCE - P1040940_DCE - Tourists could also pet adult cheetahs as part of the outreach program, but we were told the adults weren't as friendly as the cubs. - Calla lillies growing by the parking lot at Spier - Calla lillies -
