Thursday 27th November dawned as a cloudy almost rainy day – and everyone arrived at the Tableview pick-up point complaining about not knowing what to wear! However, once we arrived in Stellenbosch and everyone was indoors there was an almighty rainstorm. Thereafter, the clouds cleared and the day’s weather was perfect.
Thirty two ladies came to Cavalli and the magnificent portal entrance with the horse sculptures drew exclamations of delight. Their magnificent fynbos gardens which line the brick driveway are fabulous. We were promised a fabulous day ahead!
The group was split into two – first group visited the Horse stables and the second group spent time in their magnificent art gallery.
The Cavalli estate was born out of the owner’s daughter passion of horses and this property ticks all the boxes. I believe that for a long time I have not taken the ladies to a property where efficiency is supreme – it made for a very relaxed time for me! The owner lives in Somerset West and his daughter, being an architect, did the design for the property. There was a wedding for 340 guests in their private function room today and this did not hinder our service in anyway. Even as far as the parking attendants making sure everyone parked in the correct area!
Elra looks after the horses and has a passion second-to-none. She explained how the strain of their horses originated in the USA and then showed us around the wonderful stables which have every comfort with the horses in mind – special rubber matting underfoot; climate controlled individual stables which have their own little paddock outside – the horses we saw are all so very beautiful. They have a 3 day old foal which was magnificent to see – Mommy horse got very disturbed with the constant flashing of cameras! This foal was definitely the ‘cherry-on-the-top’ for the ladies.
Carina took the groups for a walk-around their magnificent art gallery which has the personal selection of the owner and regularly gets changed around from an on-site store . A highlight was to see the art of Abe Segal who in his retirement has started doing art – his book was also on sale. They have a large Springbok memorabilia collection.
Then it was time to settle down in their restaurant which commands an excellent view of the on-site lake. Our lunch was pre-ordered and what efficiency there was in watching the chefs in the open plan kitchen plating the meal, table-by-table. An absolute delight to have every person served at the table at the same time! Sheer efficiency for sure.
The meal was delicious and the ooh’s and aah’s were such a delight to hear! Some ordered dessert and there were lovely mesh bags with sweet treats from Time Out which the staff elegantly served on silver trays!! A lovely treat was the chef preparing a small biscuit with a cream cheese topping to say “Travel safely and come back soon”
All in all when it came time to leave this fabulous estate there were 32 very happy, satisfied customers who were all talking about definitely coming back over the Festive period.
So, after 11 months of outings, with 319 passengers on board, it is time to put Time Out to bed for a month. The next trip is on Thursday 29th January back to Philadelphia, but this time with an Italian Twist!!