Named after the founder and first owner of the farm where the Steenberg Hotel was built, Catharina’s Restaurant provided a dining venue for hotel guests and local residents. During our four night stay at the hotel we enjoyed several meals there including breakfast daily as well as lunch and dinner.
Staying at Birkenhead House was like staying at a friend’s elegant well staffed beach house. While the interior and accommodations were attractive and art filled and the meals convenient it was the vistas, sea breeze, surf sounds and access to outdoor site specific activities that I especially enjoyed at the boutique hotel. During our stay we made time to explore the coastal area near Birkenhead House and a bit of Hermanus, the well known whale watching town.
The history of Japan reveals a seesaw battle of power between the east and west areas of the country. The Imperial court moved from Kyoto in the west to present day Tokyo in the east. The rivalry between Osaka, western Japan’s major city, and Tokyo, the eastern capital, fumes to this day although never rising anywhere near fisticuffs. Located in the middle is Gifu Prefecture, the heart of central Japan. The Nakasendo Road and other trade routes between east and west Japan had passed through here. It is a strategic area that samurai lords always valued. In Gifu’s Takayama city lies Wanosato, a lovely and luxurious ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. I recently experienced a most soothing stay at Wanosato far beyond the warfare and tension of the past. The property charmed me with its excellent service, beautiful scenery and art, and delectable meals.
Travel from Quito, the decidedly 21st century capital of Ecuador, to the Napo Wildlife Center, deep in the Yasuni National Park was an easy journey back in time. It was less than a one-hour flight to Coca, a small town on the Napo River, which seemed to hark back half a century, until I noticed the proliferation of mobile phones along its busy streets and the modern boat dock. I boarded the awaiting Napo Wildlife Center motorboat with my guide Roberto, who had flown with me from Quito, and headed downriver into the timeless immensity of the Amazon Basin. Before long, the Napo River, although still almost 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from its confluence with the Amazon, was already several hundred meters wide, its distant banks a soaring jumble of rainforest. A couple of hours later, we left its cappuccino-colored waters (caused by sediment washed from the Andes Mountains) and turned into the so-called black waters of a narrow inlet; they were actually the color of strong tea, steeped in the tannins of rainforest vegetation. We had entered the northwest corner of the Yasuni National Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve regarded by scientists as one of the highest bio-diversity areas on the planet.
Lunch at this iconic Paris restaurant was, in spite of a near full dining room, excellent. A beautiful setting within an elegant winter light filled salon, attentive staff, and delicious dishes, cooked and presented to their best advantage, combined to leave us glowing with pleasure.
Our sampling of classic seafood favorites of langoustines, lobster and scallops, duck foie gras and a seasonal game pie specialty afforded us a broad range of flavors that remained exciting and vibrant without crossing the “interesting” line.
