But we soon got into the cooking with Gamidah and this was not the kind of class were you just get to look. We had to get into it and help with all the dishes – it turned out that it was only my wife and I in the cooking class and hence we felt like we got a special treat. We started out by frying up onions and spices to get started on the chicken curry and as we were working we chatted with Gamidah about family, history, about everyday life etc. While the curry was boiling we got started on the roti and we made it from scratch – I guess it is all in the wrist as Gamidah made it look so easy – the same goes for the samosas! In the end we fried up the roti, samosas and chili bites and we got to eat what we just made as lunch.

All in all I would say that this is the best cooking class ever. We got a special treat by being invited into Gamidah’s home and we got to cook with her – in her kitchen! How amazing is that. It didn’t feel like a cooking class but rather being invited over to a friend and cooking together. She treated us like friends and telling us about family, about her husband and kids. We got to make the food step by step and she gave us useful instructions and hints. If you are planning on taking a cooking class in Cape Town – look no further. I can highly recommend Lekka Kombuis. And Gamidah…if you make it to Stavanger in Norway let me know. I will invite you over to our house and cook some Norwegian food with you!

Read more about the cooking class on the Lekka Kombuis homepage.

Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures

This is a boutique hotel and there is only like 7 rooms. When we got there we rang the “doorbell” and the gate was buzzed open. The house seemed like just a large villa and we got a great welcome by the receptionist. Our room was not ready just yet but she used the opportunity to take us for a small tour of the hotel and to give us a welcome drink. It only took a few minutes for the room to get ready and we got a room on the ground level.

The room has white tiles on the floor with a furry carpet. The room and hotel seems pretty new so the interior is quite modern. The room was not that big but it included a pretty comfortable king-size bed, a tiny desk and a funky chair, wardrobe space and a tiny flat screen TV. On the desk we found all the stuff that you need to make some coffee and tea and also a couple of bottles of water that was complimentary even if you can drink the tap water. We also had a nice modern bathroom with a large shower, a bathtub and a sink with some amenities. My wife was quite impressed when she saw that one of the amenities was a makeup remover serviette.

Outside the villa there was a small garden with a swimming pool that we never got to try out – but it looked very inviting. There was also a corner with a sofa and a gas fire place and around the pool there were enough sunbeds. The lobby area had some funky decorations – apparently the owner is inspired by the 70’s and there were lots of old phones, 8 track players and some funky wall papers. A staircase took us to the next floor and that was used as a lounge area and breakfast area. The breakfast was pretty simple but we had all the stuff that we needed…bread, cereal, fruit and you could order eggs made your way. At night you could use the lounge area to just relax in the sofa and watch some TV and sit in front of the gas fire place – and the hotel also had free wifi in the room and in the lounge area. There was yet another staircase leading up to a small but wonderful rooftop terrace but we did not get to use that much as we were on the move most of the time.

The location of the hotel is great – it was possible to walk into the city bowl or to the V&A waterfront in like 20 minutes but it was also easy to get around by cab.

All in all we really enjoyed the Villa Zest experience. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful and chatted with us and helped us organize taxis at night (apparently the area is not that safe for walking at night). If you are going to Cape Town and want to stay at a small hotel, I can’t imagine that it can get much better than Villa Zest. Read more about the hotel on the hotel website.

We had a few days in Cape Town and I can really recommend that. It is a beautiful city and it reminds me a bit of Norway with the mountains, ocean and beaches. In the Cape Town area we rented a car for a day to drive around on the Cape pennisual, we took a tour of the wine lands (Stellenbosch, Paarl etc) and we got to taste some wine along the route, we took a trip up to Table mountain, we took a walking tour in the downtown area where we followed in the foot steps of VOC .

In Johannesburg we have also had some time to play tourists. Yesterday we took a trip down in the Cullinan diamond mine. This mine is still in full production and this is where the worlds largest diamond of 3106 ct was found It was very cool to be in a mine that is still in production and we met people working there and we got to check out the lowest level of 763 meters below the ground.

South Africans are big on beer and we went downtown to get a tour at SAB (South African Breweries). Their tour is called World of beer and you get info about tradtion, making of beer…and you get a couple of beers at the end of the tour of course. SAB also owns and makes Miller beer if I’m not mistaken.

Outside Joburg you can find the Sterkfontein caves. Here they have found fossile and remians that shows that humans have been around for a long time in South Africa. They have also created a new center called Maropeng where they try to give you an overview about the origin of life and it was pretty well laid out.

When on vacation you should also relax. So the other day we took a trip to a spa in the middle of town. The place is called Mangwanani (see www.mangwanani.co.za) and we got a full day spa from 9 am to 5 pm and we were rubbed, scrubbed, massaged etc…with some breaks to get some drinks and snacks of course. The price was 950 Rand per person…120 USD. For a Norwegian this is extremely cheap.

The price level here in South Africa is great for a Norwegian. The South African Rand has gotten weaker to the Norwegian Krone which is good for us as visitors. The other day we went to a restaurant called Linger Longer and it is on the topp 10 list of restaurants in South Africa. The meal cost of 120 USD and that was including a bottle of good wine. Even at very nice restaurants you can find a bottle of wine starting at 15 USD

Well, I hope that this have give a little impression of our stay in South Africa. If you are going to Johannesburg I would like to recommend that you rent a car as it makes it so much easier to get around. I brought a GPS this time and it made it a lot easier to find stuff. Yes, they do drive on the “wrong” side of the road and their driving culture is different but it is not a problem to adapt

Johannesburg is often referred to as the most dangerous city in the world. We have not had any problems but we keep hearing about break ins, smash and grab from cars etc. So if you come here…use common sense and follow the recommendations and hopefully you will not experience anything bad.