NOTES FROM LOMASometimes You Have to Leave to See Home Again

Why the Western Cape belongs on your travel list — especially when summer is calling.

I have recently returned to South Africa after years of living in the desert.

And I keep noticing green.

Not just green. A hundred different greens.

The soft green of new vines. The deep green of trees against the mountains. The almost impossible green that appears after rain. I notice clouds now. I notice the smell of wet earth. I notice how the light changes across a mountain during the course of an afternoon.

I even find myself ridiculously happy drinking cold spring water.

Perhaps sometimes it is a good thing to go away for a while.

You come home with new eyes.

This is our season
From around October through April, the Western Cape seems to open its doors and say, come outside.

The days grow longer. Vineyards fill with new growth. Lunch slips effortlessly into late afternoon. There are mountains to walk, beaches to discover, wine to taste, markets to wander through and roads where the journey becomes as beautiful as wherever you were planning to go.

And we have seasons here.

Proper ones.

Spring arrives with new growth. Summer brings those glorious long days. Autumn slowly turns the vineyards gold and rust. Even within these warmer travelling months, the landscape keeps changing.

I had forgotten how much I loved that.

Then there are the people
This may be what I have noticed most since coming home.

People talk to you.

The person pouring your wine tells you about the vines. Someone recommends a road you should take. A shopkeeper remembers your name. A farmer tells you about the land. Someone knows someone who can help.

There is a generosity here that has very little to do with money.

In Franschhoek particularly, I am rediscovering a community that genuinely cares about this valley — its farms, businesses, people, schools, environment and future.

It isn't perfect.

But it is alive, and it has heart.

And yes, let's talk about South Africa
Whenever I speak to people overseas about travelling here, the question of safety eventually comes up.

And it should.

South Africa has crime. Pretending otherwise would be foolish, and I would never suggest that a visitor arrive without taking sensible precautions.

But I have lived and travelled in cities around the world, and wherever we go — Sydney, London, New York or Cape Town — we pay attention. We learn which areas to visit, how to get around, where not to wander alone and when to ask someone local for advice.

South Africa is no different in that respect, although there are places and situations here where extra vigilance is warranted.

So come informed. Be sensible. Ask us. Listen to local advice.

But come.

Because it would be such a shame to let fear be the only story you hear about this extraordinary country.

• Come and see it for yourself
  Come for Cape Town and Table Mountain.
  Come for the ocean, the mountains and the extraordinary roads between them.
  Come to the Winelands and taste wine where the grapes actually grew. Sit under an oak tree. Meet the person who made what is in your glass.
  Come hungry.
  Come curious.
  Come and breathe deeply.

And if Franschhoek is part of your journey, come and stay with us at Maison d’Ail. Go out and explore the valley. Take the long road. Talk to people. Taste things. Notice the mountains.

Then come home, kick off your shoes, open the bottle you bought that afternoon and tell us what you discovered.

After years away, I am discovering South Africa all over again.

And perhaps that's why I can say this with such certainty:

Put the Western Cape on your list.

Better still, stop calling it a bucket list.

Come and live it.

— Loma
Maison d’Ail, Franschhoek

Go out. Get curious. Come home.