ADSactly Travels - Did We Survive an Entire Wine Estate Trip on a Segway?
Did We Survive an Entire Wine Estate Trip on a Segway?
The clouds are heavy with rain and soon after, the sun is peeking through. It is as if the two are trying to outdo each other. One minute there are bitterly cold winds and then it is hot and humid. I do not know what is the thing with the Western Cape weather. It is like it cannot decide what it wants to do. I remember a friend explaining that it is because we were in a mountainous region and the ocean currents also affect the weather. You can easily have the four seasons in one day in Cape Town. Variety is the spice of life and it is great to have a taste of the four seasons in one day, but dressing for such weather is a tall order.
The bus that was ferrying us to the estate was hooting incessantly. I could see people rushing haphazardly. I quickly grabbed a jacket and made it to the bus. We were about 20 wine lovers and people in the wine trade. We had met from all corners of the globe thanks to WOSA (Wines of South Africa). We had been told to carry flat or comfortable shoes because we would be going on a wine estate tour on a Segway.
We made it to Spier Wine Estate, a picturesque wine Estate in the Western Cape of South Africa. They are producers of the famous Spier Wines and Creative Block wines. Excitement is when you get to open a bottle of wine on one chilled out day in your house and then get to go to the actual winery a few months later. This happened to me. I bought a bottle of Spier Signature wines in early 2017 and thought to myself how great it would be to visit the winery not knowing that a few months later, the universe would conspire to see me achieve that which I had wanted to do. Back to the Segway ride...
The Segway Ride
A Segway is a two-wheeled device that transports you from place to place and it uses a sensor to move you forward or back. I had never been on one of these transporters before and I was scared that a small mishap would make me fall flat on my face. Am I the only one who gets this unrealistic fear when I am doing something for the first time? However, this transporter looked easy. Maurice from Spier wines gave us a crash course and in about 30 minutes, we were all pretty much cruising. We left the reception area and headed to the vineyards.
Maurice from Spier Wines
This is one of the biggest wine estates I have been to. I can see thousands of vines sprawling on the horizon. The perfectly planted vines in rows are so satisfying to look at. Nothing is amiss. Little drip irrigation systems hum in the background as little water droplets fall on the vines. Bees are at work on the beautiful flowers.
The Segway ride was easy on flat ground but the farm was very hilly. However, after some time, we all learned how to travel effortlessly. We stayed in a single file line within 2 meters of each other to prevent accidents or the gigantic segway wheels from interlocking. There were no accidents and by the time the trip was over, we did not want to stop.
Parked segway
In the farm
Giving Back
Our first stop is their non-profit organization called Trees for Books where the disadvantaged local communities come to plant different trees, succulents, and flowers in exchange for books. This ensures that there is more plant cover and the children benefit by getting education material. It is a great barter system. Through this project, they have been able to plant thousands of trees and educate many children.
They plant flowers in anything even shoes!
The Succulents
Never in my life have I ever seen so many succulents in one area. The strange thing is that because they planted so many trees and shrubs, animals started coming. There was even a small owl that had made a nest in the bushes. This is a great way to give back to the community as well as to the earth.
Organic Farming & Viticulture
Organic viticulture and winemaking have been all the rage in the wine world. However, it is not a fad and it is always refreshing to see wine estates that are taking care of the environment. It is also great to see wine estates that are not using heavy mechanization, machinery, and chemicals. In this estate, they have different types of livestock including cows, pigs, and chicken. The animals all give manure that helps the vines grow well.
One thing that struck me was how they reared their chicken. They used the rotation system to rear them. They had mobile chicken runs and they would release the hens on a piece of land. The chicken would eat the plant cover and their droppings would be manure for the pastures. The next few days, they would move the runs to a new area. By the end of a few months, so much land would be fertilized. The same pastures would feed the cows which would produce milk and more manure for the vines.
Straight rows of vines. They had been pruned hence why they look like stumps.
Hundreds of chicken came to greet us
They let us hold them. Picking up chicks. lol.
Other Things to do
There are other things to do when you visit the Spier Wine Farm. You can view their wines and buy some at a great price. Some of the wines to try are the Creative Block and the Spier Signature range. You can choose to carry it, have it delivered or sign up for their wine club. They also have meeting rooms and a great restaurant with great food paired with the wines. The produce is sourced locally and perfectly paired with their iconic wine range. They have a spa and gift shop. You can also choose to have picnics at the farm. You can never run out of things to do in this estate.
The view. It started drizzling after a few minutes and then it was sunny again
Travel Tips
For you to enjoy this experience to the fullest. Carry comfortable closed clothes, shoes and a small bag with your phone and camera. Layer your clothes because the weather is unpredictable. You will be going up the hills and it gets windy up there. Also, carry sunglasses to prevent you from dust particles and the suns rays. I actually had a small, stubborn insect enter my eye mid-journey. One of the guides had to help me get rid of it after many tears. If you have an option between a small camera and a big one, get the small one. However, there are many guides who can help you take photos.
I hope you get to experience this.
Authored by @jeanwandimi
Photos by @jeanwandimi and Johan Coetzee Photography
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Wow! What an interesting concept! Looks like it was a blast.
very awesome reply dear/@sirstacksalot
will be staying with us
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Don't come on my blog.
This Segway with two-wheeled device must be really exciting. I actualy had never been on one of these ever before. Your story with your experiance clearly educateded me and now I can have an idea what Segway is. I’m a wine lover as well. Every single year we take a trip to different winery. As a matter of fact we recently visited winery in New York in Long Island. We tasted 6 different wines and took two bottels of an excellent red and white wine. lol I could imagine how could you have an accident if you were being too close to each other. Anyway I’m glad you had a great time and I’m glad you saw some bees out there, in the US they are disappearing, which is sad and tragic. It’s a also great that they planted trees and shrubs and that thanks to this animals started coming with even a small owl which is definitely a great way to give back to the community as well as to the earth as you mentioned. Must have been very nice place even with a spa, gift shop and choice to have picnics at the farm. I’m glad you had a great time. And thank you so much for all these travel tips, it’s very helpfull.
Very nice story!
I think all we need to do as human beings is create great environments eg. plant trees and flowers and the animals will come. Actually, more bees are disappearing which is sad. We humans need to do better.
It was always fun when you able to drive segway in wine yard. I did that with on Segway board in my friend farm just for fun . I was learning that time Segway
It looks like you guys had a blast!!! and the best thing is that as far as I can see you didn't spend a lot of money to really enjoy. I learned three things today:
1. Segway are really good vehicles.
2. Chickens can be friendly
3. Plants can actually be planted in shoes xD
PD: It's a great thing for poor people to get benefited from doing good things and helping the enviroment, this is something that I would definitely donate all of my books for!
I am glad that you listed your big takeaways from my article. And #2 is funny. You must have met some unfriendly ones. Dying to hear the story. :)
The unfriendly ones were the smarter, they knew they are going to be eaten someday, so why to be kind with your murderers?haha.
Very well-groomed vineyards, it is clear that the owners are very sensitive to them. I am glad that you were able to master the still frightening transport, I still have not mastered Segway. Succulents at my house unfortunately did not stick. twice bloomed and then died, because the house is very dry air in winter and they can not stand it. As for chickens, farmers keep them locked up in our Republic. fed until 3.5-4 months and then inundate the ( they never see streets and even not know as looks the grasses.
Thanks for the kind words. And yes the farm is very well taken care of. Where are you from? About the chicken, I think it depends if they are organic or free range and if they are in the city/ countryside.
I live in the city of Nalchik,Russia's North Caucasus. A couple of hours and you can drive to mount Elbrus.
What a wonderful experience that must have been. The whole idea of touring on the segway is pretty cool although I might be a little nervous at first. My partner and I are big wine fans and have always talked about how much we want to go on wine tasting tours. This looks like one to add to the bucket list. My favourite part is the way they are giving back to the local community. What a great way to both get community members involved and to also help provide them with extra resources for education. Living in Ontario, Canada we have many wineries and we are planning our first wine tours this summer if things go well. I am looking forward to the experience. Thanks for sharing!
hi dear @broncofan99
please come on my blog
Dear @johnsaif, I break up. :00000000)
@broncofan99 That is going to be such a fun experience. I have been researching on wine in Canada and it is a great industry. Can't wait to visit. Also, what is the main Canadian Wine body? Is there like a Wines of Canada organisation that helps to market Canadian wine?
Hope you guys make it to Spier someday. Cheers!
The control of alcohol in Canada is done on a provincial level. Here in Ontario we have one of the largest wine industry’s in Canada. The Ontario Wine Authority sets standards for wine quality and labels. If you meet or exceed standard and your grapes are all grown in Ontario your wine will get the VQA distinction and therefore be seen as high quality. The VQA symbol gets added to the label.
It's really lovely seeing a winery that not on produce great, quality wine but also does it while caring for the environment but not in a primitive way- those chicken and cow manor methods with the moveable runs are really brilliant!
They're also really smart to offer a complete package- not only wine and vines but also a tour the most powerful segway there is(there are more models - smaller than this mammoth wheeled model) and having a spa and so on - you are really lucky that you got invited to such a lovely tour!
But the thing that touched my heart the most is the books initiative- you don't find commercial companies that care for their neighboring areas in such a way, usually the ignore them or steal their resources- teaching kids to read is a great act by them- they give those kids a gift that will help them all their life, and that's warming my heart- if I was a wine drinker, I would surely try them just for that act of charity!
Thanks for the lovely photos and descriptions!
I love esk8te and all-electric transportation :D
O wow, loved the idea of using segway. I am sure It would have been fun for you guys.
It would have been so cool if we could get any video of that :p
It also rained here at my place so weather is quite better now.
if it is true @suf1an, it would have been fantastic if we could get a video of that, that idea of using segway is great, love it. best regards @adsactly
Very nice :)
Wow
hi /@taqi
awesome reply
Right. :0000000)
Right comment.
WOW, thats awesome!
I never tried riding in a segway, its so cool.
I love those chickens, that is one of my wish that someday I could have a chicken field.
They were so nice and they did not even run away. Such cute animals.