Silk farm tours at African Silks in Mpumalanga

Posted by Marion Whitehead on 22 November 2011

 

Cuddling under a soft silk duvet for the first time while a mother of a storm broke over Mpumalanga, I was tempted to try pupating.

Brilliant sheet lightening lit up the heavy, purple clouds blowing my way as I sat on the stoep of my slinky suite at Mulberry Lane, sipping a mug of hot tea. An extra large crack of thunder made me jump and scuttle inside to watch the spectacle from behind large glass doors, all thoughts of jumping into the spa bath beside the braai banished.

Instead the silk duvet, spun by industrious silkworms on the farm at African Silks in Mpumalanga, looked more inviting. I was glad to have found a cosy refuge from the fierce storm at this peaceful spot a few kilometres off the road between Graskop and Bushbuckridge. I’d never slipped between silk sheets before and was amazed at just how light the silk-filled and covered duvet was – and how warm this almost-not-there covering was.

I emerged from my cosy cocoon in the morning to a world littered with broken leaves and twigs from the tall trees on the property that had been forced to bend before the merciless maelstrom. At the shop-cum-reception, early day visitors were already fingering fine silk shirts, bright cushion covers, soft scarves and pashminas and chunky wall hangings as the worm of covetousness inched towards their credit cards.

Keen to meet the makers of my duvet, I joined a tour to visit the worm houses. Our guide Busi Khoza showed us silkworms so tiny they had to be lifted onto new leaves with a feather so as not to injure them. The big fat adult worms sparked memories of school days when we traded two of the ordinary ones for zebras. I learnt things I’d never known as a young keeper of silkworms: how they increase their body mass by 10 000 per cent from hatching to being full grown in just four weeks.

Each cocoon yields a thread of between 1,3km and 2,6km of precious silk. How on earth do you find the end? I asked Busi. ‘Easy,’ she demonstrated, throwing a few cocoons into a bowl of hot water and lifting one out with a stick and shaking it loose to begin unravelling before attaching the end to a bobbin to wind it up. The whisper-light duvets are layered according to the climates for which they’re destined: four layers for the Highveld and between seven and 13 for snowy destinations.

The weaving of the silk is done at African Silks’ shop in Graskop (they also have branches in Pretoria, Stellenbosch, Hazyview, Dullstroom and Pilgrims’ Rest), while the spinning and dyeing is part of the Iterileng project providing employment to about 50 women in Bushbuckridge.

But if you want to try pupating at a quiet spot, the accommodation at African Silks’ farm is the place. They just can’t guarantee a massive storm every time.


African Silks

Cost: Tours at African Silks cost R55 an adult and R40 for pensioners and kids under 12 years.

Contact: tel 013-767-1950, email [email protected]


Accommodation options

Mulberry Lane has four suites for romantic couples decorated with silk wall hangings. Their double beds have silk sheets and duvets and there’s a braai place and spa bath on the stoep. Each has a kitchenette but meals are also available at the farm restaurant, except on Sundays. Self-catering costs R430 a person sharing in low season to R470 a person in peak season.

Tsanana Log Cabins offer simple lodgings for families, scattered around a central boma, trampoline and swimming pool, but each has their own spa bath under trees or the braai afdakkie. It costs from R270 to R340 a person, depending on season, with discounts for children.

Note: this is a malaria-free area.

Contact:  www.mulberrylanesuites.com and www.mulberrylanesuites.com/tsanana.

For more accommodation options in Mpumalanga, check out Getaway’s accommodation site.

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