Lunch in Swellendam

We had to be up early this morning for a trip to see meerkats at sunrise. We were all looking forward to it and were ready and raring to go at 6.30am. However, just before we were due to leave, the manager of the facility phoned René to say our visit was cancelled due to the bad weather. We were all very disappointed!

There didn’t seem to be a plan B! René called her supervisor, and then we all sat around waiting for a decision. There was some disagreement between René and Ernest and Ivan. They got fed up of waiting, so went off to fill the truck with diesel. When they came back, we were no further forward.

After some debate, it was decided that we would drive straight to Swellendam and that Intrepid would pay for our lunch as we had missed a prepaid activity. This was fine, but the decision should have been made earlier. Instead, we had wasted three and a half hours just staring at four walls!

Swellendam is the fifth-oldest town in South Africa and is located about 220km from Cape Town. It has around 18,000 inhabitants, the vast majority of them Afrikaans. The place is famous for its Cape Dutch architecture and attracts many tourists every year.

When we arrived in town, we went straight to a restaurant called Grace and Merci, which René had chosen as they have vegan options suitable for Kristina. It was very good. Mark had chicken pie, and I had homemade tomato soup served with a local bread cooked on the griddle. It was served with small butter pats wrapped up like sweets!Read more