Day 13 : The Franschhoek Valley

We’ve not really talked about load-shedding. The electricity grid in South Africa is not fit for purpose. It’s decades old, hasn’t been maintained effectively, and South Africa has a booming population. The electricity companies are run by mates of the folks in Government, and they cream off billions of rand each year, which should be spent on the power grid. As a result, the grid can’t cope with the everyday power demands of the South African population. Load shedding is a nationwide policy that sees the power cut off to businesses and homes alike, for around 4-6 hours each day. The timing varies by day and by region, and there’s a calendar maintained by the Government so you can plan around when load shedding is going to take place. A lot of businesses have back-up generators so there’s no interruption to power supplies during shedding. Mooi Bly does not.

Vicks and I fell asleep last night with fans blowing on us. There’s no A/C at Mooi Bly, but the floor-standing fans do a good enough job of cooling us. Load shedding starts at 02:00, and is due to run for a couple of hours. I wake up at 02:35, conscious that the fan is no longer blowing, and I am no longer cool. I toss and turn for a good 45 minutes, but struggle to fall back to sleep. Around 03:15, I get up and a have a cold shower. Properly cold. Squeal out loud cold. I towel off the worst of the moisture and back into bed. I feel cool for perhaps 5 minutes - certainly not long enough for me to drift off. All too quickly, I’m feeling hot again. I’m about to give up/get up, when the fan suddenly kicks back to life. Rejoice! A few minutes later, I’m comfortable enough to sleep, and drift off into a dreamless, deep sleep.

Waking again at 06:30, I’m struck by the peaceful silence around Mooi Bly. I can hear a chicken somewhere, and some insect calls, but that’s it. I sit on the verandah as the sun rises, and feel completely at peace. Vicks has not slept well, largely due to the heat / load shedding during the night. We check the details of our Franschhoek accommodation, and find that:

a) There is no air-conditioning, and
b) There is no back-up generator

Given the anticipated 40C temps over the next few days, we make a snap decision to book an alternative. The options are pretty thin on the ground at this late stage, but we find a guesthouse a couple of clicks outside of Franschhoek town centre which should meet our needs. What it doesn’t have is a braai. Having already bought supplies for an evening braai, and not wanting the food to go to waste, we have a breakfast braai - boerewors, and some sosaties. Cooking even at 10:00 is sweltering. Max temp today is expected to be 35C. We find a load-shedding schedule. The power is off between 10:00 and 12:00, and the temperature inside our cottage quickly begins to rise, at just the time we want to shower, pack etc. It’s uncomfortable at best. We get the car packed, and get ourselves into its air-conditioned cocoon of coolness as quickly as possible. I’m sad to leave Mooi Bly - it’s been wonderful to come back and see Liesbeth. We’ll be back for sure.

We’ve a 40 minute drive over to Franschhoek, and will see where the road takes us. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it takes us past about 20 wineries, one of which we decide to stop at - Plaisir De Merle. Turning off the road, we’re unsure if we’ve been here before. Arriving at the tasting room, we conclude we have not. We plan to taste 4 wines each, but our host decides that we shall taste about 8. We’re there for nearly 90 minutes. There are some absolute belters - a mature, oaked Chardonnay that we both love, a couple of reds that are just brilliant, and a rosé sparkling wine that I could happily drink all afternoon. Some of the pours are a little generous, so we decide not to stop again.

Arriving to our guesthouse around 15:00, we’re delighted to find the room frosty. The air-con is kicking out, and we congratulate ourselves on a choice well made. Around 16:00, I decide a nap is in order, and am quickly snoozing. Vicki wakes me around 17:00, and does not appear best pleased. The room feels warm. The power has been off since 16:00 - taking the air-conditioning with it. Load shedding strikes again. It transpires that our guesthouse has back-up generators for hot water, and for WiFi, but NOT for power to run the air-conditioning, or other appliances. We feel semi jipped. We head out to avoid the worst of the heat, and have drinks and some food at Tuk Tuk Brewery, a craft brewery in downtown Franschhoek. It’s noticeably cooler than earlier, and the wind is getting up. Checking the load-shedding schedule, we determine that we shouldn’t have too many problems from this point onwards. There’s a power outage due at 06:00 - 08:30 in the morning which we can manage. There’s then one in the afternoon when we’ll be out with Eon anyway, and then nothing till Friday morning.

Back at the room, the A/C purrs. We cool down quickly, and decide an early night is called for. Vicks is asleep just after 21:00. I manage to read by book until nearly 22:00 before my eyes get heavy, and I follow her into slumberland.

As a form of load-shedding protest, I appear to have taken no photos through the day. I'll rectify this tomorrow...Okumaya devam et