It was a pleasant and very scenic drive from Vanwyksdorp to Riversdale where we camped at Takkieskloof municipal camp site. Like most other municipal campsites we’ve encountered, it looked run down and poorly maintained. Each site had its own ablution and ours was in reasonable condition, so not too bad at all.
We had an arrangement to have coffee with Bool Smuts the next morning. It is always a pleasure to go to his farm and hear about his latest renovations and projects and see how the farm has improved with his conservation efforts. When we were there in 2014, Bool had a team removing alien vegetation, mostly Black Wattle, from the river banks, destined to be sold for firewood. Now his section of river is largely alien-free. Truly inspiring.
Bool suggested camping at Buffeljags Dam and as per our modus operandi for this trip, that is exactly what we did.
You can read more about Fair Game here https://www.thegremlin.co.za/2018/11/28/the-landmark-foundation-launches-groundbreaking-wildlife-friendly-produce-brand-to-support-eco-friendly-farming-methods/
Our travels continued the next day with a planned stop-over in Montagu. There we had lunch with Sarel and Franza. Sarel is a long-standing friend; in fact, we have known him for as long as Roger and I have known each other. He was the ‘instructor’ for the climbing introduction we had during the hike in the Magaliesberg where Roger and I met. He recently moved to Montagu to live with his son after his wife passed. It was great to catch up.
It was Easter school holidays and the campsites were filled to capacity, so Sarel contacted his friend, Prof Piet Nel, who kindly agreed that we could camp on his farm for the night.
Piet Nel retired as dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at Unisa a number of years ago, but he is better known in the Montagu district for his magical garden.
On Franza’s recommendation we decided to head for Greyton as our next night stop. Greyton was founded in 1854 and is situated in the Overberg at the foot of the Majestic Sonderend Mountain range.
En route we had lunch and wine-tasting at Zandvliet Wine Estate. After all, at the time of our wedding Zandvliet Shiraz was our favourite wine and the wine of choice at our wedding day dinner.
We arrived at the EcoCamp campsite just outside Greyton in the late afternoon. What a cool place; only solar power, solar heated showers, etc. The whole facility, including the managers, had a distinctly laid-back (hippie?) feel to it. They have also embarked on a project to rid their surrounds of alien vegetation and have a chipping machine to provide mulch for own use and for sale.
We went for a hike along the Noupoortkloof trail the next day. Besides being beautiful, it was such a pleasure just to be out there, breathing fresh air and walking…
drinking water
After lunch we took a scenic drive to the nearby historic village of Genadendal. It is the oldest Moravian mission village in Africa with church buildings and a school dating back to 1783. Unfortunately, the museum is closed on Sundays.
The firewood is all exotic, harvested from the area and sold to recover costs. We could burn as much as we liked, with a clear conscience!
It was also our 20th wedding anniversary; and what better place to celebrate!
After two nights at EcoCamp our journey continued via Caledon, where we stopped for brunch, and then over the Akkedisberg Pass to Stanford Bay. We spent Monday night at Rinette’s, parked in her driveway as usual. It was great to catch up again and, as always, time passed all too quickly.
After a breakfast at Hot Coffee the next morning we headed for Stellenbosch where we checked into the Mountain Breeze Caravan Park.