Tentative Cape Town Itinerary

Switching my Ghana Brandt for the South Africa Lonely Planet

Just touched down in Cape Town, South Africa! Im tired and the flight was long including a one-and-a-half layover in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Can't believe I'm here but I'm ready to hit the ground running. I've had this post in draft version for a while... but here's my tentative plans for the Cape Town leg of my journey- 

Upon arrival I'll head straight to the Cape Town city center and stay for about five nights or so. During this time I'll let Cape Town soak in, get situated, and familiar with my travel options to my two main destinations: Stellenbosch, Cape Town's vast wine land, and Citrusdal, located a few hours North of Cape Town and home to citrus and rooibos tea farms. Stellenbosch makes for a first stop because it's a popular destination from Cape Town, only about 45 minutes outside of the city center. There are some wineries I've bookmarked in my handy dandy Lonely Planet that are a must-visit. From Stellenbosch I'll make my way towards Citrusdal, located North of Cape Town and much more rural and less-travelled than Stellenbosch. 

It might help to explain a little bit more about what I'm researching in Cape Town before I list the places I intend to visit. My trip is two-pronged, hoping to research the impact of two interrelated areas in the South African context:

• Fair Trade impact, specifically the impact of Fair Trade USA certified organizations. Please note that my visit is completely voluntary and is not by any means an official audit on behalf of Fair Trade USA.
• The impact of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) legislation of 2003. As a final assignment for the NYU Wagner's Food Security and Hunger course we have to write an independent research paper exploring any issue related to food security and/or global hunger. Since I needed to conduct research on Fair Trade in the South African context anyways, I decided to research and explore a Fair Trade standard unique to Fair Trade organizations in South Africa. The B-BBEE Act of 2003 is unique to South Africa because it was initiated by the South African government as a result of the apartheid, aimed to distribute wealth as evenly across the peoples of South Africa as possible- including blacks. So far I've found some controversial information regarding the impact of B-BBEE which I've decided to explore further. 

Below is my tentative itinerary and prospective sites I plan to visit, all of which are FTUSA certified producing organizations. About half of them are confirmed, while the other half is still TBD.

1. Cape Town (5 days)
2. Stellenbosch (5 - 7 days)
1. Koopmanskloof Wingerde - wine grapes
3. Robertson, about an hour east of Stellenbosch (3 days)
1. Van Loveren (Pty.) Ltd winery - wine grapes; also notable for their commitment to B-BEEE
4. Citrusdal (5 - 7 days)
1. ALG Boerdery (Pty. Ltd) - lemon 
2. Bergendal Boerdery - wine grapes, oranges, rooibos tea
3. Mouton Citrus - citrus fruit
4. Citrusdal Wines - wine grapes
5. Clanwilliam, about an hour north of Citrusdal (3 nights)
1. Wupperthal Original Rooibos Cooperative/ Heiveld - rooibos tea
6. Return to Cape Town (~ 2 weeks)
1. PARTY! haha, only kidding. Wrap up data collection & NY job hunting

Other notable FT, not necessarily FTUSA certified, or B-BBEE associated sites worth adding to my itinerary, depending on their accessibility and ability to fit into my schedule (description credit goes to Lonely Planet):

• Both Solms-Delta and Van Loveren (www.vanloveren.co.za) have made their employers shareholders in newly purchased joint-venture wine farms. Nelsons Creek, north of Paarl, (www.nelsonscreek.co.za) donated land to his workers to produce their own wines under the label New Beginnings.
• Thabani (not open to the public) is SA's first wholly black-owned wine company
• Thandi, Elgin area, (www.thandi.com) first winery to become FT certified
• Tukulu, Darling area, is the flagship BEE brand in the stable of industry giant Distell

Although was sad to leave Ghana, good news is that I'll be back! I fly from Cape Town to Accra on August 26^th before departing back to New York August 28^th , giving me 2 days to do last minute souvenir shopping, pick up extra yards of fabric from Kaneshie market, and say bye to some friends. Until then, see you later Chale! (Chale is slang for 'dude'... pronounced 'Chaa-Lay' although I mistook it for 'Shalane' long before I understood what it meant.)