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7 Tips for the Traveler: the Essence of South Africa

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7 Tips for the Traveler: the Essence of South Africa

April 19, 2013

We first discovered Tammy Frazer’s Parfums, a small perfume house based in Cape Town, via Heidi Swanson’s online pop-up shop Quitokeeto. “I love everything about what Tammy does and how she goes about it. Small batch, all natural, sustainably sourced ingredients.” Frazer draws on her native South Africa to create her perfumes, working with natural and organic raw materials, sourced directly from local farmers.

We asked Tammy to share with us some of her favorite places to visit in her native country.

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Above: Perfumer Tammy Frazer, who creates all her perfumes by hand.

Remodelista:  Favorite Cape Town jaunt?
Tammy Frazer: One of my favorite things to do is walk the streets of old Cape Town, near St. Georges Mall, to appreciate the architecture and the smell of life of the city.

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Above: KIrstenbosch Gardens are located on the Eastern slope of Cape Town’s Table Mountain and are renowned as one of the world’s best botanical gardens.

RM: Anything else?
TF: Skeleton Gorge walk at Kirstenbosch Gardens takes you up Table Mountain along the river.

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Above: La Motte in Franschhoek. Franschhoek is one of South Africa’s oldest towns founded by Huguenot refugees in the late 1600s. Photograph via Great Wine Capitals.

RM: An easy day trip?
TF: La Motte in Franschhoek for lunch and a meander through the most beautiful Protea plantation in the Cape. A fully organic farm, wine, and essential oils of Cape snowbush and geranium.

RM: Pretoria?
TF: The antique bookshop at Irene Dairy, a fully functioning dairy production farm.

RM:  Bolt-hole?
TF: Rawdon’s Hotel on Nottingham Road in the Natal Midlands, where I spent time as a child and now visit annually to hike in the Drakensberg mountains.

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Above: Naartjies, Afrikaans for a type of citrus. Photograph via Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism.

RM: Road trip?
TF: The drive in Natal down the south coast to the Transkei, through banana plantations, is tropical and wondrously scented, stopping on the side of the road to buy macadamia nuts, litchis, and naartjies.

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Above: Mischu Coffee shop, Frazer’s local haunt.

RM: Coffee fix?
TF: Mischu Coffee in Seapoint, a daily indulgence where the craft of coffee-making is respected and proudly handmade.

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Above: Frazer Parfum Solide in Oakmoss and Violet Leaf.

Heidi Swanson commissioned some tiny porcelain pincushion compacts, made using an 18th century traditional method of perfumery where hand-gathered organic beeswax is infused with natural perfume. Want to get your hands on some? Quitokeeto just got a shipment; shop early, they sell out quickly.

Looking for more city guides from people in-the-know? Check out the Outsider’s Guide to Tokyo and the Insider’s Guide to Amsterdam.

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