By Jared Ruttenberg on Apr 17, 2023 in Accommodation, Africa, Family Travel, Hotels, Leisure Travel, Rail Travel, Regions, Resorts, South Africa, Speciality Travel, Zimbabwe

After a several-year hiatus from South Africa, my mother announced her return to spend a month with me. I took the opportunity to plan a luxurious mother-and-son road trip around Southern Africa, taking in five of my quintessential Southern African experiences.

Babylonstoren, Cape Winelands

Our dream journey started merely 45 minutes from Cape Town, at a destination where the extraordinary is made possible and no dream is too small. Modelled on the early Cape gardens that supplied sailors and onvce rejuvenated them, 331 years later guests now travel from across the world to visit Babylonstoren.

This veritable Winelands’ Garden of Eden is in every way a destination and not just a stopover; there are a plethora of activities waiting to keep you blissfully busy. Our favourites included the Essential Oil Tour to fully appreciate the fragrant flora on the estate, the Sunset Mountain Drive to take in the fullness of the property, and since Babylonstoren is after all a wine estate, the Cellar Tour which includes tasting a tasting of 10 wines and various food accompaniments.

The Fynbos Cottages are perhaps the crowning glory of the farm’s accommodation; set 1 km away from all the farm activity – and replete with golf carts and bicycles for moving about. A string of one and two-bedroom cottages line an elevated ridge, flanked by Simonsberg in the background and the expansive farm below. Plus, there’s a private pool area with both a jacuzzi and a cold pool. Back at the gardens, the hot spa is open to…

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