“Get out of the car and save that tortoise!” I barked at T-Bird in the midst of screeching brakes and a swerve to the left. As T-Bird fell out of the car in a mad rush to take a small moving shell out of the road I checked in the rear-view mirror to see if I had caused a 6-car pile-up for a tortoise. No vehicle in sight and my dog was still miraculously on the backseat. We had arrived in Veldriff.
With the skilpad safely on the other side of the road we gathered our thoughts, checked the map and turned right. With sheep, flowers and pumpkins dotting the landscape we arrived at Kuifkopvisvanger to be met by owner Jan and a motley crew of dogs. A short drive along the Berg River took us to our lodgings for the night. As we stepped out of the car a swarm of flying, biting insects descended. “With the flowers come the horseflies” said Jan cheerfully. We grinned back at him and tried to remember if we had packed the insect repellant.
After a cup of tea, a short nap and mass murder of horseflies, we took a wander along the vlei. The flamingos had packed up for the evening, but the sun was setting and a very long train was snaking its way along the horizon. We photographed ruins, flitted around muddy puddles and explored an abandoned bokkumshuis. We were only two hours from Cape Town, but we felt like the last people on earth.
A short drive into the town of Veldriff to get braai supplies took us past a herd of springbok and straight to the flamingos. There were hundreds of them in the salt pans, settling down for the night. We cursed ourselves for leaving our cameras behind. We didn’t have much luck getting supplies either.
“Surely this town has a Seven Eleven”, I whined. We later discovered that not many small towns have this institution. But we did find tin foil and Jan gave us some wood, so we set about making a fire, if only to cook up a butternut, potatoes and broccoli. The wood was damp and we didn’t have blitz or newspaper.
Not one to give up easily, I tore out pages from notepads and T-Bird discovered a candle in the bathroom. With a fire blazing in no time, I earned the nickname McGuyver and T-Bird made a note on the last remaining pages of her notepad to have a candle packed at all times (whilst eating her broccoli cooked in the microwave).
The next morning, before the horseflies returned, we went out with Jan on a farm tour, something he is only too happy to do if people are interested. Being a farmer’s daughter I was the first one in the bakkie. We saw sheep with their lambs, discovered bitterbolle (what we thought were pumpkins), learnt about owl boxes and went to collect milk from a story-book farm next door.
I kid you not – there was a milking herd, pigs, more sheep, sheepdogs, a barn cat, a turkey, chickens, beehives and the biggest watermelons I have ever seen. Add to this a dutch-style homestead and family graveyard. I hummed Old MacDonald the whole way back to Kuifkopvisvanger.
After a visit to Jan’s small salt pan, where the salt mostly goes to the fishermen who use it to make bokkoms, we stopped by his wife’s nursery and coffee shop to have a cup of tea and some cake. Sonneblom & Salie is a quaint, bright affair brimming with flowers of every kind. There’s poetry on the walls, wire art, trailing nasturtiums and it’s popular with the locals (which is always a good sign). Well behaved dogs are welcome to share your cake too. It’s worth a visit if you are in the area. I recommend the granadilla cheesecake. It’s the biggest, fattest slice of pure indulgence you will ever have.
With our tummies full of cake, we hugged our new farming friends goodbye and left Veldriff and the flamingos behind for our next stop on the West Coast, Elands Bay.
Before we left, Jan insisted on giving us a bag of salt from his salt pan that will probably last a few years. That’s small town hospitality for you. Bokkoms anyone?
About Kuifkopvisvanger
A working farm just outside of Veldriff, Kuifkopvisvanger has several small self-catering cottages along the banks of the vlei. Built between 1900-1910, the cottages were originally rented out to the local fishermen by Jan’s grandfather for a Pound a month. Simply decorated and basically equipped, the cottages are cheerfully comfortable and perfect for a budget weekend away with friends or family. There is an inside and outside braai area as well as a microwave and hot plate (there is no oven). Cutlery, utensils, towels and linen are provided, as well as insect spray and, ahem, candles. Braai wood is available from Jan.
Spend your days fishing, exploring the West Coast, or go on a farm tour. Enjoy sundowners on your stoep overlooking the vlei followed by a braai under the stars. Children will love exploring and pets are welcome.
Cost:
The cottages no longer cost a Pound a month. But at R220 per night, it’s still a bargain.
Contact:
Jan and Malani on (022) 783 0818 / 083 759 7075. Email [email protected], website www.kuifkop.co.za
Look out for:
Birds
There are over 160 species of birds at Kuifkopvisvanger. We saw lots of flamingos, red bishops as well as owls and blue cranes.
Springbok
A herd of 20 odd springbok have been introduced the farm.
Iron Ore train
Carrying 42 million tonnes of iron ore a year, this 3-4km long train is the longest one-way train in the world that’s still profitable.
Sheep
You will see lots of these. But a chosen one amongst them is armed with a collar which activates Jan’s cellphone if there is any disturbance in the herd. Quite a nifty device resulting in less stock theft, it works via satellite and is triggered when the sheep’s heartbeat goes faster.
Owl boxes
Jan is an eco-friendly farmer who has stopped using poison to deal with the mice. Instead he builds owl boxes which attract barn owls, which in turn eat the mice.
Bitterbolle
From the road these look like fields of pumpkins to us city folk, but they are in fact called bitterbolle. We didn’t taste one, but apparently they are sour (bitter) to us, but sweet-tasting to the animals.
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