This trip is available for a maximum of four anglers, with additional space for family and friends not fishing. Multiple excursions are available at each location for those not involved in fly fishing.

Arrive at Johannesburg International Airport on Day One where you will be collected by Peter Baxter and transported to a city lodge. If you are flying in from the United States the likelihood will be that you will be a bit jet lagged, so the afternoon will be spent relaxing, with an evening meal at a local restaurant where we will discuss the trip, with a quick orientation, and deal with any kit and itinerary questions. We will have an opportunity to drop into the Wild Fly tackle shop in Nottingham Road, but beyond that there is little opportunity to replenish kit.

Day Two will be spent in transit to Underberg, KwaZulu/Natal, enjoying an excellent scenic drive, with the opportunity to sleep en-route for those still suffering from jet lag. This will be a long day driving, and we can expect to arrive at Giant’s Cup Resort early in the evening. There we will enjoy a simple evening meal, and an introduction to Wolf Avni.

Day Three we will be fishing the Giant’s Cup Dam in the morning and evening, with the possibility of fishing the Umzimkulu River or any of a number of smaller headerwater streams in the vicinity – or alternately hiking, horse riding or simply relaxing. Evening lake fishing, followed by a braai, or South African barbecue.

On Day Four we will fish the Umzimkulu River, and other smaller headwater rivers according to local advice and conditions. Evening lake fishing and meal in situ.

On Day Five, after throwing a fly or two out on the Giant’s Cup Lake, we will embark and hit the road, heading for the small Eastern Cape town of Rhodes. There we will check into Walkerbouts Inn and connect up with celebrated South African fly fishing guide Tony Keitzman. Tony is a recognized master and a luminary of the South African fly fishing scene. His particular passion is small stream, light tackle fishing, but we are extremely fortunate in having Tony’s expertise available to introduce us to the superb waters around Rhodes, and in general to help shed a light on the peculiarities of fly fishing in South Africa. Evening will be spent in Tony’s company, where we will plan the program for the few days following.

Day Six, Seven and the morning of Day Eight will be spent on the water with Tony Kietzman, with accommodation and meals, on a fairly simple level, being provided by Walkerbouts Inn. On the afternoon of Day Eight we will hit the road again, driving through the scenic Eastern Cape to Highlands Lodge, located in the the Stormberg region of the Eastern Cape, with a reputation for yielding some of the largest trout in South Africa. Evening fishing on one of five reservoirs on the property. If we are very lucky Tony Kietzman might still be with us.

Day Nine will be spent fishing the five dams on the Highlands Lodge Property. If there is one among us who has not landed at least one seven to nine pounder then he/she will be washing the dished.

Day Ten will be spent on the road heading south towards the East Coast where we will spend a few days at the Kariega Private Game Reserve.

Day Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen will be spent at Kariega. There we will have the opportunity to see the Big Five, while also getting a first hand view of conservation at work in the Eastern Cape. Included also will be the opportunity for morning and evening bass fishing with an expert local fly guide on the Kariega River.

On Day Fourteen we will make our way to Port Elizabeth for a flight back to Johannesburg.

Itinerary PDF

Join Eco Travel Africa, locally guided by Heather Saunders, for a ten-day exploration of the wine, cuisine and elegant places of Cape Town and the surrounding Cape wine lands. Our trip begins in Cape Town, with arrival at the Cape Town International Airport and transit to the superb Cape Grace Hotel. Usually a few hours are available to relax after the flight or take a short walk along the nearby Victoria & Alfred Waterfront to enjoy the sunset and the evening light on the iconic Table Mountain over a cup of coffee, a cocktail or a fine confectionery at any number of boutique outlets offering outdoor seating in this high-end quarter of Cape Town. That evening we gather at a waterfront restaurant for a meet-and-greet dinner and a brief orientation from Heather, who will outline the key navigation points of the itinerary, making suggestions and offering thoughts for any individual requirements for the trip. There is so much to do in and around Cape Town that we tend to try and keep things flexible while keeping to the basic navigation points outlined in the itinerary.

We kick off on Day Two with a tour of two of Cape Towns principal attractions, Robben Island Museum followed by a guided tour of the Bo Kaap, a colorful quarter of the city with a unique cultural history articulated by a local guide. This includes a light lunch in the Cape Malay style that adds a touch of authenticity to the experience. The afternoon is spent either relaxing at the hotel or visiting any of the many local galleries and museums in the city. Cape Town is a uniquely interesting and intensely cosmopolitan city. It has a diverse artistic and historic heritage which is best explored in the company of a guide in order to avoid being overwhelmed by the sheer number of possibilities. Heather will be available to make suggestions and arrangements to accommodate individual interests and preferences. Dinner will be at the Round House Restaurant in Camps Bay, a nearby beach canton of Cape Town with arguably some of the most celebrated views and settings in the Cape, and perhaps even the world.

By Day Three you can expect to be rested and acclimatised so we will venture out of Cape Town for a visit to Cape Point, which is the southern most point of the Cape Peninsula, which is primarily a scenic drive through the nature reserve, but also something of an historic journey back towards the original founding of the Cape Colony, with lunch at the Two Oceans Restaurant. During the afternoon we will visit the first of many local wineries, including on this day Constantia Uitsig, Groot Constantia and Buitenverwagting. For those interested, a quick nine holes is possible as an alternative at Steenberg Golf Course, one of the many world class links in the region, or a visit to the world famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Overnight hospitality is offered either in Constantia or Constantia Uitsig.

Day Four, and still in the Cape Town hinterland, we visit several more wineries, including Eagle’s Nest, Constantia Glen or Beau Constantia, with the alternative of a visit to the superbly beautiful Kirstenbosch, a visit to a local spa or another round of golf (where). Accommodation is provided by (?) and dinner by arrangement.

On Day Six we strike out further afield, making our way to the historic town of Stellenbosch, an historic university town and center of arguably the most famous and best established Wine Route in South Africa (Click to see a map). Stellenbosch is a little bit of a fairy tale town that showcases all of the iconic attributes of Cape Dutch style and culture, offering perhaps the most concentrated insights into the development of this unique and Europeanesque culture that was grafted onto the African landscape some 350 years ago, developing parallel to the great cultural achievements of Europe but with unique peculiarities that today define Cape Dutch style, cuisine and of course the voluminous Cape wine culture.

En-route to Stellenbosch we visit the superb Vergelegen, Rust en Vrede and Waterford estates, arriving later in Stellenbosch for a leisurely, self guided stroll through the historic quarters of the city, with lunch provided by the Big Easy restaurant, part of the Ernie Els wine estate, who may be known to many as the famous South African golfer. Overnight accommodation is provided either at the Lanzerac or Webbersburg wine estates.

Day Six is a fantastic day – probably the richest visual and sensory treat of the tour as we drive from Somerset West through the Hottentots-Holland Nature Reserve, over Franschoek Pass into this superb little fruit and wine growing town sunk deep in a valley between several important and beautiful mountain nature reserves.

Franschoek enjoys probably the most august cultural history in the entire Cape region. It was home to a body of 164 French Huguenot settlers who arrived in the valley in 1688 – in what the local Dutch administration referred to as French Corner, or Franschoek – where farms and holdings assumed names familiar to the settlers…La Motte, La Cotte, Cabrière, Provence, Chamonix, Dieu Donné and La Dauphine being among the better known.

Here w will visit the estates of Delaire, Boschendal (Historic Manor and Museum), L’Ormarins (famous for its classic cars), LaMotte (featuring the the artwork of Pierneef) and Grand Provence. Lunch will be at the Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais, Haute Cabriere (Methode Cap Classique). Overnight at either Mont Rochelle, Holden Manz or Marco Polo Lodge.

On Day Seven we slow down a little to enjoy the ambiance and scenery of Franschoek, with many possible local activities to choose from, including guided fly fishing on local dams or rivers, a sight seeing tram tour of historic Franschoek, horse-riding, a short game drive featuring local antelope or a visit to the superb Huguenot Museum. Alternatively relax at the lodge with a good book and a glass of wine, stroll through town for a coffee and a confectionery or to pick up a few souvenirs.

No visit to Africa would be complete without an opportunity to visit a wildlife destination. The Cape Region is a conservation area where the reintroduction of previously endemic species, as well as the protection of others such as the white and black rhinos, offer the opportunity to visit one of many, or indeed more than one, conservation area where lodges and camps accompany excellent interpretive guiding for an interactive experience at the cutting edge of African wildlife conservation.

It should be noted here that in this region wildlife activities are concentrated, usually in private conservancies, and tending towards programs of conservation rather than large and free ranging game parks and conservancies, such as Kruger National Park in Mpumulanga, which are available to visit by arrangement. An excellent example of a Cape wildlife conservancy is Kariega in the Eastern Cape, but we enjoy relationships with all the key players in this sector of conservation in South Africa.

Day Eight and Nine of our trip is devoted to a visit either to a Big Five wildlife destination, hiking and interpretive guiding in the mountain reserves in the Western Cape, golf, spa or small stream fly fishing in the world class local streams.

Day Ten sees our return to Cape Town.

On the comparatively  verdant, eastern facing slopes of Table Mountain lies one of South Africa’s most under rated, but nonetheless superb attractions. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is a world renowned destination, covering five of South Africa’s six biomes, and underwritten by a commitment to the preservation of the natural plant heritage of South Africa, but particularly that in and around the Cape itself, recognized as a bio-diversity hotspot. I do not intend to articulate the peculiarities of the Fynbos biome in this article, here instead is a link to the Wikipedia page  on the subject, which details the technical attributes of the flora of the Western Cape region.

As a botanical garden Kirstenbosch is the equal of any in the world, and it probably enjoys a most salubrious location inasmuch as the unadulterated natural beauty of the area compliments very much the accent and tone of this minutely manicured and superbly maintained facility. This is one of those national heritage structures that cannot by its nature me self sustaining, and which requires much unpaid input from a lot of people, as well as a great deal of technical expertise paid for by grants and funding from many sources. As is the case with many such projects in South Africa, there is a most un-African flavor about it all. Reference my earlier article on the Harare Botanical Gardens.

Interestingly, the first thing to greet a visitor to Kirtsenbosch National Botanical Garden is a small collection of Zimbabwean Shona Sculpture, also a feature of the Harare Botanical Gardens, which is a monumental style of sculpture that tends to lend itself to gardens and outdoor displays. The work of famous South African sculptor Dylan Lewis is also on display.

The gardens include a large conservatory (The Botanical Society Conservatory) wherein plants from a number of different regions are exhibit, including savanna, fynbos, karoo among others. Outdoors, the focus moves to plants native to the Cape region, highlighted by the spectacular collections of proteas. Kirstenbosch enjoys great popularity with residents and visitors. From the gardens several trails lead off along and up the mountain slopes and these are much used by walkers and mountaineers. One of the trails, up a ravine called Skeleton Gorge, is an easy and popular route to the summit of Table Mountain. This route is also known as Smuts’ Track after Prime Minister Jan Smuts who used this route regularly. On the slopes above the cultivated parts of the garden a contour path leads through forests to Constantia Nek to the south. The same contour path can be followed to the north for many kilometres and it will take the hiker past the Rhodes Memorial to the slopes of Devil’s Peak and beyond.

There are daily guided walks conducted by local botanists and experts, although even if you are not deeply interested in botany, or gardens in general, Kirstenbosch is a fantastic park for the purpose of repose, meditation or walking. It also features summer weekend concerts, ranging from classical to pop, which also adds to the substance of this wonderful place. It is also a jump-off point for a handful of trails lading to the summit of Table Mountain.

For anyone visiting Cape Town, Kirstenbosch is one to remember. It may not feature large among the many attractions of this multifaceted city, but it is certainly one of the most unique and interesting places among the many places to visit here.

Vergelegen Estate in Somerset West, just outside Cape Town in the Western Cape, is among the premier infield wine destinations accessible from Cape Town. Somerset West is a little bit of a bedroom community for the Cape, and on the surface has a slightly industrial flavor, with the main freeway running through towards Cape Town being dominated by a large strip mall complex of the type that has ruined significant expanses  of the United States over the last twenty or more years. Off the main strip, however, a far more agricultural aspect dominates, and then turning into the gates of Vergelegen Estate an immediate ambiance of another age floods the senses.

There was a time, not a dominating period in the history of the Cape, but certainly a time when a rare gentility and cultural sensitivity invaded this part of South Africa. It is beyond the scope of this review to plunge into the multilayered history of this region, other than perhaps to say some of the finest sensibilities of European culture were grafted onto this landscape. The growth of this phenomena was perhaps guided, but certainly it was affected, by the extraordinary natural gifts of the country, perhaps amplified by a simple quirk of timing and personalities that in combination produced the magnificent attributes of what we now know as Cape Dutch culture. The northern European influences here are inescapable, but at the same time a certain rustic underlay defines its colonial circumstance, reflecting the stolid, immovable and enduring temperament of those men and women who stamped their mark on this place. Among those attributes, perhaps the greatest is the Cape wine culture.

This 7,400-acre Vergelegen estate, origionally settled by Willem Adriaan van der Stel in 1700. offers superbly laid out gardens featuring sumptuous hydrangea, camellia and rose gardens, and of course a forest of venerable oak and camphor trees, including a number that are 300-years old or more. A full tasting room an restaurant are also features of the estate.

I will hasten to add before I dip my fingers into that delicious fructum vitis that Vergelegen is a great deal more than simply a wine tasting venue. It is a showcase of period history, a magnificent concert venue and a botanical garden wherein, rather like the grandeur of a Gothic cathedral aligning the faculties for the sacrament, here one’s finer sensibilities are more acutely tuned into the sensory gifts that await.

And so it is. Vergelegen is part of the Helderberg Wine Route, offering a variety of award winning wines. In 2001 and 2003, Vergelegen won the Pichon Trophy for best blended red at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London, and was voted best New World winery in 2005 by the Wine Enthusiast, and named the country’s best winery in 2006 for the third year in a row by Wine magazine. The 2005 Vergelegen is a white, a highly prized, crisp, citrusy semillon-sauvignon blanc blend. Here is a link to the official website wine list.

If you are contemplating a wine tour of South Africa, Vergelegen is a venue deserving of a large red colored pin n your map of the Cape, for all the best reasons. Contact us for more details on the how and where of South African wine.

]]> http://eco-travelafrica.com/vergelegen-estate-somerset-west/feed/ 0 http://eco-travelafrica.com/shark-cage-diving-gansbaai-western-cape/ http://eco-travelafrica.com/shark-cage-diving-gansbaai-western-cape/#comments Mon, 18 Feb 2013 05:08:37 +0000 chimanimani http://eco-travelafrica.com/?p=1660

It has been one of my bucket list items for some time to get to Gansbaai in the Western Cape for the famous white shark cage diving that in recent years has become such an iconic venture travel activity in South Africa. Gansbaai is located at the southern end of Walkers Bay in the Western Cape, an hour or so drive from Cape Town, and at the opposite end to Hermanus, arguably one of the loveliest of the little towns that dot the coast of the Western Cape.

Just by way of background, Gansbaai is the closest launch point to Dyer Island and Geyser Island, both hard offshore, and each part of a carefully managed nature preserve wherein a number of species, but most particularly some 60,000 Cape fur seals, breed. This attracts large numbers of great white sharks, lending the channel between the two islands the epithet Shark Alley. The region is also famous for the annual breeding runs of the Southern Right Whale, celebrated at the end of September every year in the Hermanus Whale Festival.

Both whale watching and shark cave diving are huge tourism draws into the area, the latter competing with Kruger National Park as the single biggest tourist draw into South Africa for a single activity. Both are handled by a number of commercial operators, and in fact the whole enterprise has a very commercial flavor – somewhat akin to the river rafting and bungi jumping that takes place in Victoria Falls – so it can be a bit of a production line. However, once again, my mantra is that the more commercial eco tourisim is, the more assured the survival of whatever resource is being showcased, in this case Great White Sharks, which had been until quite recently hunted down to a critically vulnerable level.

The routine is fairly simple. Bookings are usually made through your hospitality provider, although of course a number of preplanned itineraries will include White Shark Cage Diving as a standard activity. It pays to be a little bit selective about who you go with. Not naming any names, but some outfitters are very backpacker orientated and so cater for large numbers on as lean a budget as possible. The net result of this is a slightly over crowded boat, basic facilities and a quick and high turnover. Others, however, more pricy of course, offer a slower, more comprehensive service with better boats, better kit and less of a crowd.

Either way its ok. The star of the show is the Great White. The routine is straight forward. Boats launch out into Shark Alley, or thereabouts, seeding the waters with chum, and throwing out a large chunk of bait which is agitated in the water to gain the attention of cruising sharks that alternate their attentions between the various boats. It does not take long for sharks to begin to appear alongside the boat.

Sightings of really big sharks – five meters plus – are quite rare, the average being three meters, but even so as a dark shadow plies the water beneath the boat, it is an impressive sight.

The cage is then lowered over the side and maneuvered into position alongside the boat. Entry is with a wet suit and mask only. Scuba bubbles appear to unnerve the fish, so divers are warned of an approach and plunge down into the cage, holding their breath to observe the momentary pass as the huge fish cruises by. Occasionally the shark breaks the surface, offering excellent photo ops, but for the most part it circles the craft for a short while, attracted by the chum, moving on soon afterwards to be replaced in due course by another.

I would not say that the experience was adrenalin fueled, as I had expected, but compelling nonetheless. During the course of several hours a number of sharks were in attendance, and everybody on board had ample opportunity to see and photograph the experience.

As is always the case, the experience is embellished by good guiding, and in my case, again not naming names, the high-turnover factor was evident, but again, as is always the case in South Africa, the staff were slick, knowledgeable and attentive. All questions were authoritatively answered, a lot of knowledge was exchanged, and I believe everyone stepped off the boat more than a little educated and entertained. An altogether outstanding and worthwhile experience.

One thing that South Africa does very well is private conservancies equipped with luxury bush camps and lodges. There are a good number of these out there, some with iconic names, others small, specialized and obscure. It is these establishments that help place South Africa very much on the front line of African wildlife conservation, as well as offering a unique diversity of eco-tourism options that are not always available in other African destinations.

Kariega Game Reserve is one of the more comprehensive of these private conservancies, located in the Eastern Cape close to the coastal town of Kenton-on-Sea, encompassing two important local rivers – the Bushmans and the Kariega – and within a transitional biome between the winter rainfall regions of the Cape and the summer rainfall regions further north. It is an area of deep ecological diversity, and a starkly beautiful landscape of thorn thicket and euphorbia interspersed with riverine flood plains and wetland. The area of the reserve encompasses 9000 hectares of privately owned and administered land that is very much a work in progress, offering the Big Five in a largely reclaimed context as part of wider efforts to reintroduce wildlife on a large scale to a region that historically has suffered heavy pressure on its wildlife heritage.

What follows is a quote from the Kariega website, which I think is fairly self explanatory in regard to the conservation ethos of  the organization:

In the last few decades there has been a radical change in the attitude toward wildlife conservation. Initially concerned with the preservation of trophy game for the sport of hunting, wildlife conservation has recently become inseparable from the ethical argument for the inherent value of all living things. This shift has been coupled with an increase in private game reserves across the continent, not excluding the Eastern Cape. As such, Kariega Game Reserve has joined in the large-scale reintroduction of indigenous species into the province, and is gearing itself against unsavory hunting practices that still persist in the province.

This is the essence of Kariega, the reintroduction of historically common species and the creation of a conservation mindset. As such, as I have said, it very much is a work in progress.

This is not Serengeti, Mana Pools or Kruger National Park, and those not in tune with the underlying program at Kariega might be forgiven for finding it all a little bit canned, and certainly there is a strong commercial angle to the Kariega operation, but in Africa, in keeping with many developing regions of the world, wildlife tends not to enjoy the sort of priority at a central government level as does human development, and so it is usually private or donor capital that underwrites major conservation efforts, and in regard to the former, profitability is always the principal key to its success.

It is also worth noting here that in terms of resource management in Africa there is an increasingly divisive contest between human and animal needs. Conservation, therefore, has almost no indigenous popular support anywhere on the continent. Where communities depend on the direct exploitation of the environment for all or part of their subsistence, or where communities are land deprived, demarcation and restricted access to large areas of prime natural habitat almost universally generate hostility. This is almost always coupled with covert resource exploitation, usually in the form of the poaching of wildlife. It is only when an actual value in conservation can be identified by a community that attitudes tend to soften, which has led to multiple initiatives across Africa to combine the interests of human and natural communities for the benefit of both.

The key here is economics, however, and the main economic thrust of conservation is tourism.

Kariega offers an integrated wildlife experience, showcasing the nuts-and-bolts mechanics of private conservation. This is coupled with sensitively located hospitality options of an extremely high standard, local community development programs and a variety of conservation related projects and foundations that illustrate, and invite involvement in, what it really takes on a hard, practical level to enact meaningful conservation in the African context.

With all this understood, from the point of view of a visitor the main objective is to be educated and entertained. In this regard Kariega offers a variety of activities, mostly centered around wildlife, guided by a cohort of young, energetic and enthusiastic rangers. The Big Five are relatively easily located and viewed – interestingly white Rhino have been de-horned for their own protection, see the image above – with expert tracking and interpretation available at all times.

The quality of the human resource at Kariega is also evident from the onset. There is a deep and intrinsic identification with the work underway here on the part of everyone, from top to bottom, and no effort is spared to impart that enthusiasm to those visiting the property. It is a privately owned, incrementally expanding concept which requires, indeed it demands the support of the traveling public, because if these type of major initiatives are allowed to fail, the ramifications for ourselves, and for the upcoming generation, are to bleak to contemplate.

Grahamstown is a very odd place. The middle of Africa is hardly the place that you would expect to find deep academia, but as I rolled out of the Karoo after weeks of back country and bucolic country towns it was most unexpected to arrive in this little Oxford or Cambridge, or any other blue ribbon university town anywhere in the developed world, right here in South Africa.

Grahamstown is the seat of Rhodes University, one of South Africa’s most respected academic institutions, established in 1904 with a grant from the Rhodes Trust, and one of four Universities in the Cape. It is probably not as august as Stellenbosch University, located in the Western Cape, but it is nonetheless a highly respected institution and certainly one of the most important facilities of its type in the region.

Perhaps the most striking thing about Grahamstown is its architecture. Herbert Baker, Victorian architects very much favored by Cecil John Rhodes, after whom the university was named, is responsible for some of the more notable designs evident, but clearly the skyline of Grahamstown was many years, centuries in fact, in the making. Interestingly, the city has some fifty odd churches, the earliest of which owe their existence to the early missionary period when the city was a launching pad for christian outreach into the interior, but many other charismatic and evangelical churches are also evident.

The city was established in 1812 as a military garrison during the long frontier wars between British colonial forces and the Xhosa tribes as European settlement gradually pressed eastwards, eventually overwhelming and dispossessing the Xhosa people. The population swelled eight years later with the arrival of what became known as the 1820 Settlers, impoverished British colonists encouraged to settle the frontier region to bolster European strength.

These days European strength is evident both in the architecture and the populations, which from the point of view of the student body is seasonal, but predominately white, and of course the academic establishment, supported by members of the legal profession thanks to the status of Grahamstown as the seat of the region high court.

All of this tends to lend the city a rather highbrow flavor, mixed with a racy student pub scene and the annual Grahamstown National Arts Festival which is one of South Africa’s premier festivals celebrating the more cerebral cultural attributes of the region.

Besides this there is not a great deal here to interest tourists, but the city is certainly worth a visit for its own sake, and is without doubt a very interesting window into Cape history and culture – and of course youth culture, of which there is a great deal in evidence.

]]> http://eco-travelafrica.com/grahamstown-academia-in-the-eastern-cape/feed/ 0 http://eco-travelafrica.com/highland-lodge-a-little-oasis-in-the-stormberg/ http://eco-travelafrica.com/highland-lodge-a-little-oasis-in-the-stormberg/#comments Sat, 09 Feb 2013 08:35:06 +0000 chimanimani http://eco-travelafrica.com/?p=1591 Eco Travel Africa Rating:

The Eastern Cape is an odd landscape of high desert, alpine highlands and the soft hill country that falls away from the southern Drakensberg. Without the obvious open plains and thundering hooves appeal of the popular imagination, this region is no less intrinsically African than the Serengeti, or other iconic landscapes that speak so eloquently of Africa. It is Xhosa country in the main, although large areas of it were uninhabited before European settlement, and there is therefore a mature, settled and stable mood about the region that is quite unusual in the African context.

Highland Lodge is situated just outside the small Stormberg town of Dordtrecht. It’s principal raison d’etre is fly fishing, with a reputation for throwing up some of the the biggest trout caught in South African waters. The Stormberg region dos not register much international tourist activity, but is a mecca to local tourists exploring the outstanding potential for fly fishing and other country sport activities – horse riding and bird shooting among them.

Highland Lodge is well situated to handle this and a certain amount of commuter trade resulting from it being equidistant between Durban and Cape Town. It is an excellent example of the sort of farm bases lodges that proliferate throughout South Africa. My visit was in pursuit of trout, and in that regard Highland Lodge scores very highly. In terms of situation, style and decor, it is simple but comfortable self catering, with no pretensions to the overtly luxurious, and at time ostentatious decor and service that often characterize similar establishments. This is definitely to my personal taste, and of course the personalized feeling generated by the attentions of lodge owner Vicky Bell add to the general sense of welcome.

Highland lodge is located on a working farm, and the backdrop of just about everything are the cattle and sheep that are the mainstay of the area. I give Highland Lodge an Eco Travel four star, not so much because of the location and facilities, but because of the atmosphere and general ambiance that is wonderfully understated, and perfectly configured to exploit the extraordinary fly fishing that is a signature of the farm.

Separating the South African Eastern Cape settlements of Rhodes and Maclear is a three thousand meter plus escarpment falling away from the southern rump of Lesotho, and the Southern Drakensberg. A road exists between the two settlements, mounting the escarpment at a point known as Naude’s Pass at an altitude slightly higher than 3000m. It is a breathtakingly beautiful scenic drive, winding slowly up through the higher reaches of the Witteberg, and the bleak, sparsely vegetated and perennially damp highlands at the upper reaches. Set in a slight valley at the absolute headwater of the Bell River, a tributary of the dominant local Kraai River, is a small farm – Tenahead Farm, whereupon stands the River Hotels Tenahead Lodge.

When chatting to the local in Rhodes about Tenahead lodge prior to making the journey up Naude’s Pass in my Opel Corsa to visit the establishment, there was a certain amount of polite perplexity expressed about the existence and philosophy of Tenahead Lodge. The concept and construction of the lodge had been the work of the original farm owners – possibly as a retreat or conference facility – but soon afterwards it was sold to River Hotels and became part of the River Hotels group. The sense at the more salient altitudes of Rhodes was that it was a bit of a white elephant – too remote to really be practical, and with very little in such isolation to do, other than to enjoy the attributes of the lodge itself.

I set off to check it out myself, embarking up the Naude’s Pass road filled with confidence in my little car, but growing less confident as the miles ticked off and the road became both more precipitous and winding, and conspicuously unmaintained. Nonetheless, I arrived safely, and as I plied the last bends in the road and caught site of Tenahead wedged into a slight valley just a few meters below the crest of the escarpment, I was also struck by the absolute isolation within which this very interesting establishment had been sited.

Interesting is precisely what Tenahead is. The first oddity is the construction, which is ostensibly the dry wall technique used to build sheep walls, and which, one imagines, was the early method used to construct houses. The material is the dark local basalt stone, in this case utilized with an extremely high level of skill, giving the buildings that make up the complex an authentic, and yet at the same time a creative, themed décor that actually works very well. Considering the bleak and completely natural backdrop – with the tiny Bell River headwater flowing almost under the main buildings – this architectural peculiarity is what makes Tenahead remarkable. Any more orthodox construction would seem lost and irrelevant in such an unembellished situation.

The interior, as one might expect, is also highly décor orientated, which is a fairly standard feature of luxury lodges continent wide, and although some acknowledgement of local native culture is noticeable here and there, by sense is that the theme is somewhat generic, and although undeniably tasteful, comfortable and expensive, lacked the authentic cohesion that the drywall exterior might have led one to expect.

Another point worth mentioning is that Tenahead exists in such a degree of isolation that only its own resources are available to entertain a guest interested in exploring the locality. Activities include horse riding, hiking, a spa treatment facility and of course fly fishing, but during the winter, when Naude’s Pass might be expected to be under several inches, if not feet of snow, then there certainly would seem to be little point in visiting, and during the bouts of summer rain that were certainly a feature when I visited, Tenahead might seem somewhat like a lavishly gilded cage.

Tenahead scores highly on innovation and décor, and also on levels of comfort and cuisine, but stumbles a little on practicality. There may be moments in time when it offers the best platform possible to enjoy this unique landscape, but one cannot help feeling that these moments would be the exception rather than the rule.