I wrote Goodbye Akela & Kenya in 2012 the night before they died, partially as way of saying my final goodbyes.  Today is one month since Beezus died, and I have been struggling to finish this because his death was so unexpected.  There are over 9,000 photos of Beezus, each one a memory.  So I am putting this up as a Draft and, for the next few weeks, I’ll edit and add to this content.  And add captions to all the photos.

“See what big teeth I’ve got!” Baby Beezus with Akela the 13 year old wolf.  For his first 18 months, he was raised by a wolf.

Beezus went everywhere with me.  When he wasn’t allowed to walk around freely, this is how he usually arrived and how many people first met him. 
I phoned the Western Cape Premier’s office just before Christmas when regular staff in the Premier’s office were on holiday.  I said my name and the lady replied, “I know your name!  You’re the guy with the small fluffy dog!” 
Beezus regularly attended Alan Winde’s First Thursdays at the Ministry of Economic Opportunities… where he joined the clapping after speeches with a bark.
This photograph was taken at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria (where dogs are not allowed but he went by invitation).

Beezus was born in May 2011 and spent the first few weeks of his life in a video rental store in Mokopane, Limpopo.  My partner at the time, Stephanie, had seen his parents and eagerly awaited the imminent litter.  Just as we were finishing a Sunday lunch, her phone rang and she dashed off.  I knew nothing about all of this and was surprised — even aghast — when she came back with this tiny animal that fitted in the palm of her hand.

I had Akela (a grey wolf) and Kenya (a Staffie) as pets, and the wolf loved pawing things… how would this tiny bundle survive!

Stephanie remembers that day.  “That Sunday I went to fetch him, he was the only one who wasn’t worried about his mother. Like he was more independent or wanted to get away.  He was the smallest of the litter.  I didn’t want to leave him there. I didn’t think he would make it if I did. It wasn’t exactly the best circumstances where I picked him up from.  Although the lady I got Beezie from had a good heart and loved animals, she hardly had enough money to look after herself.”

Beezus was a cross Pomeranian/Chihuahua — a Pomchi.  His name comes from the kids movie Beezus & Ramona and while the Beezus in the movie was a girl, my Beezus made the name his own.

Stephanie recalls that during walks, he always picked up a marula fruit, carried it home and played with it.  “He once found a caterpillar in the garden. He brought it inside and played with it, carrying it around until it was as dried out as a mopani worm. Zee and I joked, saying that Beezus had adopted a pet for himself!”

When I met Stephanie, she wasn’t a dog person… she had two cats.  She was more than a little apprehensive of Akela & Kenya but had decided that her 5 year old daughter, Jennezee, needed a dog.  Of course, Jennezee was delighted.  And so Beezus became Jennezee’s companion, and doll to dress up.

Life in Potties: 2011–2013

Beezus had a full childhood!  For his first 18 months he was fully involved in all Jennezee’s games — being dressed up, making music and mud puddles, and just being adored.

And to my surprise, he brought out all Akela’s mothering instincts.  Each night, she would have her supper and then go to fetch him and take him outside.  She regurgitated her food as would happen in the wild and he had to wait until she told him he could eat.  As he got older and had his supper with my two, he waited watching Akela eat her supper.  She wouldn’t let him near her bowl while she was eating, but always left two or three pellets for him.  The moment she finished, she moved away so he could eat the leftovers, and then he tackled his bowl.

He spent hours with her in the garden and I never stopped discovering more things she taught him.  How to smell a single leaf for 15 minutes, uncovering who knows what secrets.  How to bury things, outside in the garden or under pillows and blankets… with a very careful procedure… only to snatch them out again.  She also taught him to assert his independence — if I called him, he copied her habit of first walking away and then coming… unless I had something he really wanted.  And she taught him to howl…

Archived story: Lessons for a lapdog

Stephanie was moving and couldn’t keep Beezus, so she asked if I wanted to take him over.  I was overjoyed — he was the last link to Akela & Kenya who had died together in November 2012.  I was living in Rivonia, Johannesburg, and Stephanie brought him to me on December 14, 2013.  It was the start of Travels with Beezus.

Over the next 6½ years, he would travel through all SA’s nine provinces and see more of the country than most South Africans ever see.  And his Pet Passport was ready for a trip to Spain!

Tania, who took some of the photos below, drifted in and out of our lives for a few months. After her first departure from my cottage in Rivonia, I found Beezus at the gate howling.  It was a tiny howl, but then his whole body was smaller than Akela’s head.  I realised… again… that Akela had given him the sense of the pack, and he felt far more than one ever credits a dog for feeling.  I was always grateful after that, when Tania kept her emotional distance from him, for respecting the depth of his affections.

Beezus, Tania and I left Johannesburg for the Western Cape at the end of January 2014.  He would drive to Stellenbosch taking in Clarens, Prince Albert, Cape St Francis, Plettenberg Bay (from where we went to the real wolf sanctuary in the Tjitsikamma forest), Stilbaai, Arniston, Cape Agulhas, Swellendam, Stanford, Hermanus, Cape Town and a few months in Pringle Bay.

Archived story — Beezus revists a Wolf pack: South Africa’s little-known Wolf Sanctuary

The beach was Beezus’ happy place – Onrus beach

Beezus’ first deep water swim on his own – Onrus lagoon.  That tongue defined him in so many ways!

The few months in Pringle Bay was where Beezus really became a beach dog

Pringle Bay was where Beezus became a regular beach dog.  He loved the freedom and it’s where I made the decision to toughen him up — to grow his confidence and security so he could run free with other dogs and other people.  He did this so well, although often displaying Akela’s traits by choosing friends carefully.

But it’s a place where he also showed how much he missed Jennezee.  He would run up to every little girl he saw on the beach in the hope that this was his missing playmate.  He really needed women in his life.

But then came the baboons!   One entered the house and he was after it like a shot!  I got the baboon out and Beezus seemed fine.  But two days later he went completely lame in his hind quarters.  The vet said an operation at Panorama Mediclinic costing R22,000 was the normal solution, but seeing it was Easter weekend that wasn’t possible.  It had to be done as soon as this situation occurred.  The alternative was caging for three weeks, so his movement was restricted.  I couldn’t consider the trauma of that so I covered my bed with towels, got my laptop and books, and spent the long weekend on the bed with him.  He gradually recovered.

Druing 2014 and 2015, we spent a lot of time at Otters bend Lodge in Franschhoek with the Mark & Mary Heistein, and Mark asked me to join the board of the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve.  This became his happy place.

Archived story: Beezus, a Caracal, a Horse & other friends, at his favourite place

In 2014, Beezus went on his first trip up the West Coast and loved Riebeek Kasteel, Darling and Paternoster as much as Akela and Kenya had, and got to know Tubagh. At the end of 2014 we met Ian & Debbie Taverner, who were looking for a housesitter.  Shumba, a ridgeback, and Acorn, a jack Russell, became Beezus’ best friends and the Taverners became closer than any family I have.

In the first half of 2015, he visited Montagu, Swellendam, Vermaaklikheid, Mossel Bay, George, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Nature’s Valley, Storms River, Jeffreys Bay, Hankie, Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, Port Alfred, East London, Coffee Bay, Kokstad, Howick, Winterton, Bethlehem, Bloemfontein, Prince Albert and back to Cape Town,

Archived story: The Best Picture from a 6,000km trip around South Africa — Mandela Capture Site

He totally got it!  He knew this was a special place. The visit to the Mandela Capture Site outside Howick was a very special experience.  And it demonstrated Beezus’ remarkable intuition and awareness yet again.

In the second half of 2015, he was hosted at the remarkable and pet-friendly Twelve Apostles Hotel in Cape Town.  Dinner was from the pet’s menu!  We drove to Hermanus and, the next day, he slowly became lame back again,  Another vet suggested the same operation and supplied copious pills, which made him manic.  I stopped the pills and took him to my chiropractor.  He was completely better four days later!

So we set off again to Darling (where the winemaker at Groote Post Vineyards said he loved Beezus’ name and wanted to make a wine named after him), Sutherland, Calvinia, Carnarvon, Kimberley, Bloemhof, Potchefstroom and Johannesburg.

Stephanie & Beezus were reunited in Johannesburg.  We met on the grassy banks of the Sandspruit River in Rivonia, where he had played when he came to live with me nearly two years before.  Then we drove to Windsong Cottages, one of my favourite places in the Waterberg, to see the Calcotts and Babers.  Beezus and the one Calcott dog became inseparable, just as Akela and Richard, the labrador, had become 6 years prior.

And the I took the drive to Potties/Mokopane to take Beezus to visit Jennezee.  They hadn’t seen each other for almost two years.  I was waiting for her when she left school and … what a happy reunion!

From Potties we drove to Magoebaskloof, my other Limpopo favourite, and saw two special people from Akela & Kenya’s visits there: Louis Changuion and Colleen Ballenden.  From there it was a short, but stunning drive, to Tzaneen and the incomparable Tzaneen Country Lodge.  The remarkable Faan and Adri Kruger had become close friends, and Faan was dying from cancer.

Next was Sabie, Dullstroom and back to Johannesburg to stay with Caroline Ungersbock and Koki, her dog.  The trip back to Stellenbosch was via Parys, Bloemfontein, Prince Albert and Swellendam.

Towards the end of 2015, we moved into a derelict cottage on Boschendal Estate to use to explore how much living off the grid really costs, if you make lifestyle changes.  Boschendal, under then-CEO Rob Lundie, was one of the most exciting and inspirational farms to be.  Our cottage was right alongside a dam with views across three mountain ranges!

I’d become fascinated by yurts and decided to build and live in one for a few months, before taking a sabbatical from South Africa.  We stayed with Ian & Debbie while I built it and then erected it on Stanford Hills Estate (where Akela & Kenya are buried).  No-one had realised that the idyllic spot was in fact windiest spot on the whole farm, with gusts of up to 120km/h!  The yurt was trashed one night and I worried that I was putting through too much,  But after a few changes, the yurt proved to be a haven of calm in the worst storms, and a very comfortable place to live in.  The basic structure with an insulated floor cost R15,000 and a bathroom with a biodigestor added R20,000 to the cost.

While in Stanford, I started preparations for a trip to Spain — Beezus’ pet passport.  He was microchipped, had the rabies vaccination.  I found that KLM/Air France allow pets to fly with the owners in the cabin all the way to the Canary Islands via Amsterdam.

July 22, 2019, started as a normal, sparkling autumnal Saturday morning.  We went for our usual 2km morning walk and Beez tired and wanted to be carried part of the way.  Nothing too unusual about that.  At home he had a very brief dry cough, which he’d done once or twice before, but this time I wondered if it was because he found some chicken bones the night before.  So I decided he needed a checkup at the vet.

Olga was a concerned about his noisy lungs and made an urgent appointment for X-rays in Hermanus.  She explained that these dogs are prone to congenital heart failure which leads to fluid in the lungs.  He was whipped away as soon as Hermanus vet arrived and after sedation and Xrays she confirmed Olga’s fears.  As she gave me the medications she asked if Olga was on call 24 hours a day — “I don’t know if he’ll make it through the night,” she said.  I couldn’t believe this was happening…

He did make it through the night and saw Olga first thing on Sunday morning.  She was happy with the improvement to his lungs.  He was going to be on meds for the rest of his life but could still live a long life. He was on Vetmedin (to strenghten his heart), Fortekor (to reduce his blood pressure) and Lasix (a diuretic).  The monthly cost was about R780!   A Stellenbosch vet subsequently suggested I replace Lasix with Puriesis (R34 vs over R200 a month).

Now the big question was whether he would be able to travel to Spain, so I focused on getting him well enough to fly.  All final arrangements had to wait until his health was stable.  After a while blood was drawn for Ondersterpoort to do the rabies test and then the problems started.  After getting no replies for weeks, we found out that Ondersterpoort had “re-organised” and was facing a backlog of 12,000 tests.  And then we were told that all blood samples had been sent to a laboratory in Europe.  Eventually I was notified that the test was complete.  He was good to go as far as the pet passport was concerned.

Archived story: When conventional medicine and vets fail us

And he got better.  He had his bad days and I discovered that his diet played a very important part.  It was my chiropractor who emphasized the need for only one meal a day, no treats and bland food.  Adjusting the Puriesis dose was also important along with regular but measured exercise.

We spent part of January and February at Cheryl Mulder Verbruggen’s cottage in Sea Point and Beezus’ early morning runs on Clifton beach set him up for the day. He was a new dog!

At the same time I started sorting out the police clearance certificate for my visa.  I had my fingerprints taken and was told getting the certificate takes 3-4 months!  (The SAPS website says up to 10 days.)  “There’s a backlog.”  Is SA facing a complete institutional collapse, I wondered.  In the end, it took the Western Cape Provincial Government two days to get it for me!

Leaving Cheryl, we headed to Darling for a few days and then a friend’s delightful house on Hanglip beach.  When a trip to the Eastern Cape fell through, I was thinking of a road trip while I waited for my visa to get sorted out.

Getting the correct Spanish visa was proving more difficult.  The officials at the Consulate aren’t permitted to give advice, but they do tell you what you can’t do.  Getting a media visa through the Presidency is easier — and they are very helpful — but has limitations.  Then a friend who moved to Barcelona gave me a tip and everything started falling into place… the day before Spain declared a State of Alert, and three days before SA declared a State of Disaster!

I had started on the road trip and gone to stay in a cottage at Stone Peak Mountain Lodge in Elgin.  When I messaged the owner to give my arrival time, I got a message back that she might be a bit late because she was burying her dog.  She wasn’t late and I warmed to her immediately.  The place was delightful and had a feel-good factor.  Rather than tire Beezus with a trip, I asked if we could stay until we left for overseas.  The State of Emergency was announced the same week, with the closure of all air traffic!  The lockdown followed, and this was the best place to be locked down.

When I told Cheryl what was happening in Spain, she asked the question I’ve been living with for months.

Then one Tuesday I woke up with a pain in my right shoulder and arm. It lingered all day and was worse on Wednesday morning. So I took my blood pressure and it was 211/104. I was shocked! I made an appointment to see a doctor as soon as possible. I’ve never needed blood pressure meds before but he told me that, like Beezus, I’ll be on meds for the rest of my life, and warned me that they will make me sleepy to start with.

That evening, I fed Beezus and took him for his walk. He had been fine for some time and played his new game at the electric gate — ignoring it as it started closing and rushing through at the last minute. I remember thinking how well he had been and that we would travel as soon as we could.  When we got home I lay down for a bit… and fell asleep. I was woken at 5am by Beezus struggling to breathe. His after-supper pills! I hadn’t given them to him! I struggled to get him to swallow his blood pressure and diuretic pills because of his laboured breathing, and then gave him his morning heart pill too.

He wanted to go outside so I stayed outside with him. He just sat there… so I took him in again, waiting, hoping for the pills to kick in. He wanted to be picked up, and I saw that his gums were now grey. I wondered if I should phone the vet because she had said I must call her in case of an emergency. But I felt that the end was too close. I Whatsapped a friend at 6.17am “Beezus is dying.” It wasn’t long before he made a deep sigh and a cry, and a hard shake, my arms wrapped around him as though a hug would heal the hurt. His heart stopped beating. I Whatsapped again at 6:27 saying “Beezus is dead.”

As his body relaxed, liquid and foam poured out his nose and mouth… this was what was in his lungs and was what Olga had feared in July last year. I immediately thought of Covid-19 victims and how quickly death comes. (A friend’s father had been hospitalised on a Saturday and was dead on Monday morning.)

I cursed myself for not giving Beezus his pills the night before. Would he be alive today if I had? I could have done more… or better… but I could never have done enough. Beezus was ill.

All my animals before him had got old and I had to decide when their quality of life wasn’t what they wanted.  I was prepared for their deaths.  Beezus’ death was unexpected.  I often asked myself if taking him to Spain was unfair, but I have a friend there who is an animal lover, without a dog.  Andreina joked that she would kidnap him, but I also knew that he would love her.  And that love would invigorate him, even if just for a few months or years.  It was the one thing I hadn’t been able to give him.  And that hurts more than anything else.

§§§

I’ve been blessed by the most extraordinary animals.

First there was Shilo, a Border Collie/German Shepherd cross (1982-1996).  He belonged to an acquaintance but adopted me to the extent that it was suggested that I take him over.  He became a legend. In about 1986 I was driving into Cape Town’s docklands — a quarantine area.  I was waved through customs.  Gawie & Gwen Fagan were following me in their car and were stopped: “No dogs allowed,” said the official.  “But what about the dog in that car?” they pointed.  “Oh, that’s a special dog,” the official responded as they were turned back.

Then there were Akela & Kenya (1998-2012 — See Goodbye Akela & Kenya).  Akela crawled from her mother’s litter to me when I first saw her, and the bond was immediate. I went away to think very hard if I was up to raising a wolf.  Kenya was dropped off with me in spite of my protestations, and proved to be the best companion Akela & I could have.  He was, in 3-year old Jennezee’s words, ”‘n lieflike dier” (a lovable animal) who cried tears if scolded.

If I have one memory of Beezus, it’s the awe in which I will remember him.  He was far larger than life, perceptive and intuitive, and he had an exuberant spirit.  He was a happy little wolf.

Beezus!

They confirmed the diagnosis, prescribed meds to strengthen the heart, another to reduce blood pressure and a diuretic to empty the lungs, and said they hoped I had a vet on 24 hour standby because they didn’t know if he would make it through the night!  I didn’t have one, unless I drove back to Hermanus…

The local vet had said that she had a Sunday morning appointment and I should bring him in.  The sedation for the x-rays had really knocked Beezus out and he slept through Saturday afternoon and night, but we were waiting at the vet at 9am on Sunday morning.  His lungs were much better and it became a matter of keeping him quiet and waiting for all the meds to kick in.  The prognosis was that he could live a long life but would be on meds for the rest of his life.  (That’s about R500 a month.)

And Beezus slowly became a little of his old self, but tired more easily and needed to be carried after a while on long walks.

I was worried about his fitness to fly to Europe and was wondering if I should take him to see Dr John Thompson, my chiropractor of almost 40 years.  The reason for that follows in a moment.

Then on Tuesday night, it became obvious that he wasn’t well at all.  We were waiting at a Stellenbosch vet at 8am and he was wracked with coughing and gulping for air as we entered the vet’s waiting room.  He was very, very unhappy.  The diagnosis was the same (although the heart wasn’t too bad) and the vet wanted me to take him to Panorama Mediclinic to be placed in an oxygen tent so he could breathe properly and for further tests.  The cost would be over R15,000.  An appointment was made, but I decided “No, I’m taking him to my chiropractor.”

I need to take this story back to Easter weekend 2014.  I was staying in Pringle Bay and a baboon had entered the house while we were inside.  It ignored the fact that we were there as it went in search of food.  Beezus wasn’t having this and chased the baboon out!  Yes, it sounds ridiculous, but he sounds like a pack of wild wolves when he gets going.  (I’ve since seen him chase baboons at Stanford and near Nature’s Valley, and a pack of adult Dobermans outside Clarens.)

He didn’t get hurt by the baboon but the next morning he was completely lame in his rear quarters.  His legs just dragged behind him.

A Kleinmond vet was open on Easter Saturday and he said Beezus needed an operation on his spine which is done at Panorama Mediclinic — costing R22,000-R24,000. But seeing it’s Easter and it needs to be done quickly, that wouldn’t be possible.  So I need to keep him in a cage for three weeks so he doesn’t move around.  I took the meds and said thank you.  A cage would be more traumatic than anything else so I layered towels on my bed and put Beezus on top.  I brought my laptop and books, and spend the whole weekend on the bed beside him.  He didn’t move, and on the Tuesday I started taking him for walks with a scarf under his tummy to hold his rear quarters up.  Eventually, he started walking again, and I thought he was okay.

But, without any cause or reason, it re-occurred in August 2015 at Sandbaai.  Another vet gave the same diagnosis, recommended the same expensive operation and more pills…

But this time the pills made him manic… unable to use his rear legs, he jumped up and down on his front paws, a very unhappy animal.  I stopped the pills and phoned John Thompson.  He had told me that he sometimes works on dogs, and I’ve known him as a magician when it comes to the human body.

John spent about five minutes with Beezus, his fingers probing while Beezus sat happily and unconcerned.  “It was chemical, not mechanical,” John said.  “He’ll start walking again in about four days.”  And on the fourth day, Beezus did start walking again and has been fine ever since.  No vet would ever dare give that forecast!

I could accuse the Kleinbaai and Sandbaai vets of incorrect diagnoses and treatment plans, but the fact is that all conventional healthcare professionals are inadequately trained.  They rely on medicines or placebos, and interventions which replace the body from healing itself.  And they pass the buck to others in a financially-voracious healthcare industry.  In Beezus’ case, the operation would have achieved nothing, been a waste of money and a greater cause of trauma to the dog.  The only beneficiaries are the so-called healthcare professionals and private hospital.  If this was the USA and I had followed the vets’ advice, lawyers would be lining up to launch litigation suits.

Yes, the Stanford and Hermanus vets probably saved Beezus’ life three months ago when they addressed his heart and lung condition, but I had the nagging feeling — after the experience with Beezus’ spine — that John could achieve more.

When I called John after the Stellenbosch vet wanted me to take Beezus to Panorama Mediclinic, John knew exactly what the problem was — “the heartbeat and breathing is out of synch,” mentioning the name of a nerve that went right over my head.

When we got there, John used his strange, cone-shaped instrument that he moves over the body to identify problem areas.  It made loud scratchy noises indicating problems!  Crouching down on the floor, John prodded and poked gently and then held his fingers on Beezus’ forehead and below his head.  B sat their contentedly. Another scan with the instrument showed Beezus was all clear.

After questions about Beezus’ diet and eating habits, breakfasts have been dropped as one of the two daily highlights — it was only introduced because other dogs we lived with had breakfast every day.  No garnishing for the pellets, no tidbits — food must be as bland as possible.   (I couldn’t help thinking, “Yes, Andreina, you were right.”)

John said his body is tolerating the medications so they can be continued.  Contrary to what the vets said, he believes the enlarged heart will return to its normal size as fluid levels diminish.  Managing the return to normality will be the challenge, and another x-ray will be likely in months to come.

Beezus has been far happier since seeing John.  He slept solidly the first night, breathing normally.  A day later, he was more alert, inquisitive and active than he’s been in the past three months… exploring the garden and responding to everyone around him.  His appetite has increased and it’s so difficult not to share food when he gazes at me longingly!

Could it be that re-synching the heart and breathing rates was all that was needed? Given John’s track record, I won’t be surprised.  I have no doubt that the vets in Stanford, Hermanus and Stellenbosch were as caring as one could wish them to be… but there’s an element of healing that escapes them.

Surely all our healthcare and its educational systems need a complete overhaul, not led by vested interests but by visionaries?

Beezus is no ordinary dog!  He was raised by Akela the wolf.  Click here for Akela’s story.

Martin often used This Tourism Week to stir controversy wherever he thought he saw injustice or just plain stupidity. And he didn’t pull his punches. But in real life, he is far gentler, far more reflective.

Martin Hatchuel and his faithful companion, Tommy, an elderly Belgian Shepherd

He began his career by studying horticulture at the Durban Technikon during a four-year apprenticeship at Eskom.

“Those were the days when Eskom saw training as being in the national interest,” he recalls. “They trained far more people than they needed — so when my time was done, I was free to move on, and I went to work for a company of landscape architects in Joburg.”

By now, though, he had manifested bipolar disorder (which would affect the course of the rest of his life) — and it wasn’t long before his erratic behaviour brought him to live in Knysna in 1983.

“The 15 years from the  late 70s to the time I was diagnosed was colourful,” he said. “But doing many different jobs was a benefit of the disease, I suppose. I learned so much.”

He started in Knysna as a boatboy on a houseboat operation on the Knysna Lagoon. In 1984, the business’ owner, Mike Goldberg, won the first concession to start and manage the tours at Featherbed Nature Reserve (now Knysna’s biggest commercial attraction), which was then owned by William and Jenny Smith. (William, who famously taught maths and science on TV to children across Africa, was the son of the ichtyologists, JLB and Margaret Smith.)

Since Martin was a qualified horticulturist, and therefore had knowledge of the plants and trees, he was the natural choice to become the first tour guide at the Reserve, with its milkwood forest and its Knysna sands fynbos.

“In those days, we thought we’d hit the jackpot if we carried a full 45 passengers on a tour, and we only ran three tours a week.

“There was nothing at the Reserve when we started – we had to carry everything in and out every day for every tour. Braais, crockery, cutlery, tables and chairs, and even water and toilets!

“Mike’s girlfriend, Sherly Gilson, was the chef, and I’ve got such fond memories of working with her and her tiny team, which included her sons, and two or three helpers.

“They fed us constantly!

“Mike was a visionary, though, and to make Featherbed Nature Reserve work, to get the first tour groups in, he made friends in the church groups in the Cape Flats, and they encouraged their members to save for holidays in Knysna.

“He then arranged to bring them here by coach for a weekend at a time, where they stayed in the old Ashmead Resort (today’s Premier Hotel Knysna The Moorings) on the Friday night, and went to Featherbed on the Saturday. In those days the excursion to the Reserve included a boat trip across the lagoon with oysters and champagne on board, a tour, nature walk and braai, with plenty of wine from Boplaas — which they used to deliver to us by rail on the old Outeniqua Choo Tjoe.

“Then after another boat ride back to Knysna, the groups would have an opskop at Ashmead on the Saturday night, and drive back to Cape Town on the Sunday.

“This was the South Africa of the 1980s and apartheid ruled that hosting coloured people in this way was illegal, but it didn’t stop us, and I don’t think the authorities ever found out,” said Martin. “But we all had a great time, that’s for sure.”

While not on the boat or guiding, Martin helped to cut fire breaks, build pathways, and carve signs for the Reserve.

“Didn’t last for long,” he said. “I bounced around from Featherbed to various other jobs in Knysna and Cape Town, and even went back to Joburg for a while, but eventually I landed up as an outpatient at Tara, Johannesburg’s psychiatric hospital, where I spent almost a year in treatment.”

On his return to Knysna, and with the loan of a boat from the Goldberg family, Martin arranged a concession from SANParks to take birdwatching tours on the Touw River in what’s now the Wilderness Section of the Garden Route National Park.

“The Kingfisher Ferry carried 18 or 20 people and had dual motors –- one was electric to be as quiet as possible. I ran a four-hour morning trip and a two-hour afternoon trip each day, and often showed people as many as 50 species of birds on one outing.

“Over 23 months, we carried 6,500 passengers — and 1,500 paid nothing. Some because they were tourism people, but most because they would otherwise not have been able to afford the trip.”

Then came the floods of 1996. “We’d had fires earlier in the year, and drought, and then three floods in a period of a couple of months. The river silted up, and I couldn’t operate – but National Parks wanted me to pay for the rehabilitation of the river to restore it to depth so that I could run again. I felt I had no choice — I closed down.”

So at the age of 38, Martin took a gap year.

“I learnt to surf and started doing odd jobs like building fences to keep myself busy.”

But then Greg Vogt (founder of the MTN Whale Route, manager of the Brenton-on-Sea Hotel, and a committee member on various official tourism structures) requested Martin to write guide training manuals for Knysna and Plettenberg Bay which covered the environment (plants, bird, reptile and marine life) and the histories of the towns. Each section was reviewed by experts in their fields.

“I can’t remember how he recognised my ability, but he did, and I owe him a lot for that. At school I’d been told that I should ‘work with my hands’ because I was too dim for anything else, but Greg didn’t know about any of that. He just liked what I wrote, and the way I wrote, and so when he had the idea to start a monthly newspaper for the industry, which he called Garden Route (later Cape) Tourism Update, he called on me to edit it.

“We produced 23 issues together.

“We couldn’t make it pay, though – I think it was an idea before its time — but it certainly gave me a taste for writing, and after we parted ways, I went out and began freelancing, and I’ve been writing for a living ever since.” (Martin would later realise that his depression usually happened when he wasn’t writing.)

Then in the early 2000s, Martin, who was now permanently settled in Knysna, discovered blogging, and started This Tourism Week.

Between about 2002 and 2017, he wrote hundreds of articles about tourism, and about issues affecting the tourism industry – articles through which he became arguably the most influential tourism blogger in South Africa.

He provided real insight and drove the sustainable tourism agenda like no other.

Martin’s newsletters reached thousands of subscribers, and when there was a gap in publication, CapeInfo clients would ask if I knew what had happened.

Then a family tragedy struck in 2015, sucking up all of Martin’s resources and his energy. (I think he may have written one or two newsletters since then). This was followed by the Knysna Fires of 2017, which left the town with an embattled tourism industry fighting for its life. Martin’s work dried up – so it came as a relief when Featherbed Nature Reserve contacted him and asked him to come back in his capacity as a horticulturist, and manage the rehabilitation of the vegetation on the Reserve’s portion of the iconic Western Head.

“It was a huge privilege, and those were probably 18 of the best months of my working life,” he said. “Working with Samson Ngalo – the Reserve’s longest-serving employee and one of my oldest friends – and with 14 fourteen fantastic people who joined us as raw recruits, but who became really dedicated to the task, I rediscovered my love of horticulture, and I became fascinated by the idea of regenerative horticulture, and how I could apply my knowledge to healing the land in my own small way.”

Featherbed and its new facilities – including its completely rebuilt restaurant – re-opened for tourism on the 1st of December, 2018, and while Martin’s contract ended in June of this year, he remains a fan.

“As Charles van Tonder — one of the owners of 34 South Restaurant, Tapas & Oysters, and The Drydock Food Co. (which puts him in competition with Featherbed in a way), likes to say: ‘A healthy Featherbed is a healthy Knysna.’

“And I agree,” said Martin. “It’s good for the economy and it’s good for the environment.”

PROJECT REFORESTER

With that contract over, Martin is now planning a new idea with a number of partners.

“Project Reforester is an impossible dream to rehabilitate 200,000 hectares of forests in the Knysna area. We believe that there may have been as much as 250,000 hectares of forests in the Garden Route before commercial harvesting began, and before the Great Fires of 1869 and 2017.

“Today there are only 60,000 ha left. So what we want to do is remove alien invasive vegetation from two or three pilot plots, and replant the land with new trees interspersed with cash crops — which is a system called regenerative agroforestry.

“You tend your trees while looking after your crops, and when the trees make too much shade, you move your cash crops onto the next area. Typically, this’ll happen after five years – and then after another five years or so, you’ll be able to start selectively harvesting the timber from the initial plots, too.

“Communications – which I’ve learned through my work in tourism – is probably the foundation of Project Reforester, because we want to inspire local landowners and caretakers to institute their own projects using similar ideas, and that way get the Knysna Forests back on track, revive the timber economy, help mitigate climate change, and leave the world a better place than we found it.”

Martin said that Project Reforester will include (sensitive!) tourism, skills development, skills sharing, research, and many other aspects of local economic and socio-economic practice.

MARTIN ON TOURISM

“I’ve sadly had to come to the conclusion that tourism does more harm than good,” says Martin. “It’s a huge contributor to climate change, and it calls itself an industry, but it’s not an industry – it doesn’t produce goods, products, actual tangible things.

“It is an economy, though, and it’s one that pulls the guts out of local communities (look at places like Venice and Barcelona) and out of the environment.

“You can’t have sustainable tourism without a sustainable transport system, and we’re very far away from transporting people in any real numbers at speed, and over any real distances, using only renewable energy – if we’ll ever even get there.

“And as for communities, look at Knysna, for example. It’s always marketing itself as a ‘green’ destination. Or it has in the last twenty years or so.

“In the ’80s, it had a mixed economy in which everybody had a job (leaving aside the fact that not all those jobs were available to all the inhabitants, but still…).

“But then we thought we’d turn Knysna into the Riviera of the country, thanks to tourism, which wanted to attract the 1%.

“And what happened? What we didn’t realise was that, in fact, we weren’t creating a tourism economy, we were creating a development economy, and you can only develop for so long. There’s only so much land you can build on, and if you overdevelop a destination, you rob it of its unique attractions. Still, we used the argument (amongst others) that this estate would benefit tourism, or that that new shopping mall would benefit tourism… when in the end they only served to raise the income of the municipality through rates and taxes. Those hundreds, even thousands of tourism jobs that we were promised by various deevelopers never materialised. Well, not to the extent we were promised, at least.

“So what I’m saying is, tourism does massive greenwashing exercises to achieve what it wants. And it’s dangerously Neo-Liberal in the way it drives the very rich (owners and shareholders) in the opposite direction of most of their employees, many of whom still earn sub-standards wages, work long hours, and can’t afford the basics.

“That in itself is a recipe for disaster.  I think most trips are less about business and more about ego. Most of us travel only to satisfy our egos, and that’s damaging the planet.

“You want truly sustainable tourism? Try putting on a backpack and going for a walk from your front door. You’ll have minimal impact on the environment, and you can discover as much about yourself in your own neighbourhood as you can on some beach in Benidorm.

“And these days you can see the world without leaving your home.  New places do open your eyes: I took an 8,000 km journey on the Trans-Siberian Express in 30 minutes last night on YouTube, and learned a lot about Russia, Mongolia and China.”

Given that tourism will probably always be with us (despite his reservations), Martin points to an entrenched problem for us in South Africa: “We don’t really know how to ‘do tourism,’ because tourism’s always been reserved in a way for the wealthy.

“Also, we underestimate the legacy of apartheid. It created generations of fatherless children: fathers (and many mothers) would leave home to go to work on the mines and in the cities – and that was it. That was travel for millions of South Africans. Getting to the mines and back. And that meant that millions of peoples’ only experience of travel was negative. It wasn’t a nice, fun thing to do.

“So how do we change that entrenched perception? That’s what we should be asking before we ask people to take a Sh’ot Left.

“That’s what we need to do before we con ourselves into thinking that we ‘do tourism’.”

At 61, though, Martin hasn’t stopped dreaming. He says he’s become a fan of the author and lecturer Simon Sinek (‘Start with Why,’ ‘Leaders Eat Last,’ and ‘The Infinite Game’).

“Sinek talks about setting out after a dream that’ll always be bigger than what you can actually attain. And that’s what Project Reforester is all about.

“We don’t really know where we’re going to go with it yet, but as they say in the eastern tradtion: ‘the path will reveal itself when you begin walking on it’ — and I think it’s a path worth following.”

CapeInfo will support Project Reforester in any way we can. More importantly, I’d love to find a way to keep Martin blogging, stirring debate, and sharing his ideas and readings, so that he can start to find that new path.  Don’t you agree?

Find Martin at www.tourismcontent.co.za
Visit Project Reforester on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProjectReforester/

Springfontein Eats

During the long lunch at Springfontein Eats, he had a phone call from his daughter, concerned about the rising level of the Klein River which passed right in front of his home.  He told her he couldn’t worry about it now, he was enjoying the meal too much.

His daughter called again half an hour later to say that the water was at the door.  Again, he said the meal was too good to leave.  Her next call was to let him know that the water was up to knee height in the house.  He told her not to worry, the house was insured and the meal was truly exceptional.

Yes, Springfontein Eats is that good.  And although it opened five years ago, it’s still producing some of the most memorable gastronomic experiences you’ll get anywhere.

But Stanford has many exceptional dining experiences, which makes it one of the more popular villages in the Western Cape.  Many were saddened when the legendary Mariana retired and sold her restaurant.  Her restaurant?  My 2013 interview puts it in perspective — Peter is… my saving grace…

A hub of Overberg Hospitality

Stanford Valley Guest Farm

Reinder & Elsabe Nauta of Stanford Valley Guest farm and The Manor House restaurant

Newcomers have been raising the bar.  The first place I ever stayed at in Stanford was Stanford Valley Guest Farm, when it was still owned by Peter and Maureen Wolters.  I stayed there again in 2012 after it had been bought, and enlarged, by a consortium.  I was surprised two years ago when Rob Lundie, former CEO of Boschendal Estate, came back from an Overberg trip and said he’d had one of the best meals ever at Stanford Valley’s The Manor House restaurant.

A drive-by visit demonstrated why Rob had been so impressed, and a subsequent meeting with Elsabe and Reinder Nauta, the new owners, cemented the experience.

Elsabe grew up on one of the neighbouring farms… and learnt to dance on the Manor House’s deep stoep.  Traditional Overberg hospitality is deeply ingrained into her psyche and it is this that is at the core of Stanford Valley’s offerings.  You feel as though you’re being welcomed into a private home as a special friend.  She wants this to be “the hub of hospitality in the Overberg.”

Stanford Valley has received award after award — for the best getaway, for its restaurant and its conferencing.

Madre Malan at the new MADRE.

MADRE

Another local to come back to the village is Madre Malan of Madre’s Kitchen and The Eatery, who has just opened MADRE at Owl Barn where Marianas used to be.

Very popular among locals and in touch with what they want, Madre’s new venture is bound to be a great success.

Fresh, seasonal country cooking and the most wonderful garden setting is what you’ll find there.

MOSAIC’s Lagoon Lodge

One of the most spectacular places to stay is still MOSAIC Lagoon Lodge on Wortelgat Road.  It is a place for a special treat.  Also on MOSAIC is the historic Spookhuis — I never tire of visiting there; it’s the most surprising destination!

Stanford Hills Estate is also also just getting better and better, but you can about that at The social hub of Stanford.

Stanford does have surprising shops if you;re looking for retail therapy and although its trading hours are short and focused on weekends, don’t miss TAT in Queen Victoria Street for breathtaking interiors.

TAT in Queen Victoria Street

I was really impressed by an Urban landscape Design Plan prepared just after my last visit to Stanford.

Queen Victoria Street Precinct Plan

Stanford’s main shop, the Spar, burnt down earlier this year and one can only hope that the new building will address the opportunities the plan identified, and be the catalyst for the plan to be implemented.

One of the diagrams from

It will leapfrog Stanford into a new era and make it the envy of small towns everywhere.  Now… if only Stanford’s best-kept secret could be drawn into the village’s marketing strategy — the Klein River which many visitors don’t even know exists!

He’s built about 16 caravans over the past four years, mainly in two sizes — 5.4 metres and 3.6 metres.  A fully kitted caravan — with complete solar power system, pumps, fridge, fitted kitchen and bathroom — costs between R135,000 and R175,000.

Howard Dunbar and his 5.4 metre gypsey caravan

Sleeping and living area

The kitchen area

Bathroom with shower, basin and composting toilet

Two smaller 3.6 metre caravans — a Vardo with vertical sides and a traditional Bowtop behind it.

Jami & Peter Kastner

Stanford Hills has grown organically.  Unlike many wine estates, there was no corporate budget to support the farm.  It grew as and when finance became available.

Peter and Jami never set out to be farmers.  Peter had a restaurant in Hermanus and Jami a flower exporting business when they bought portion of the old Weltevrede Farm, which they bought for its flowers.

Then one self-catering cottage became two, AfriCamps was added with five luxury “tents”, and the Manor House was converted to cater for larger groups.

The partnership with AfriCamps worked very well, with similar philosophies but also AfriCamps marketing reach — which sees international tourists keeping international occupancies high during the week.

One of the five AfriCamps units overlooking a dam and across the valley

The Tasting Room — the farm’s restaurant — initially opened to help sell more wine but has become a popular breakfast, lunch and function venue in its own right.  It is unusual in that it still only sells the estate’s wines.

The Tasting Room

When they bought the farm, there was only one grape variety on 4 hectares of vineyards.  Today there are four varieties covering 12 hectares, with seven or eight labels.  New labels will be launched next year, including a white pinotage.

While wine-making is a capital-intensive business, the flowers are the cash crops.  Wine and flowers each contribute about 30% to the estate’s turnover with accommodation and the restaurant making up the other 40%.

Peter makes the point that one has to keep on adding to the offering, and the Stanford Hills experience will keep on growing.

Stanford Hills is a working farm — wine and flowers. One of the huge blocks of pincushions.

Proteas and Pincushions

Protea

Some 620,000 stems — proteas,  pincushions and Leucadendron  —  a year are sent to 12 exporting agents.  They are picked, trimmed, stored overnight in a cold room, and exported within a day mainly to Europe and the East.  Each plant gives 20 to 45 stems per season, which lasts from May to December.

The Veldfire Pincushion is endemic to Weltevrede Farm and features on the label of some of the estate’s wines.

Sustainable harvesting — stems picked from the wild flowers on the mountain — accounts for 50% of all harvesting.

The flower operation employs six full time staff and an extra five during the long harvesting season.

Mark Stephens became Stanford Hills’ winemaker earlier this year.  After working in cellars in both hemispheres for 12 harvests in the last 6 years, he wants to learn how to make the best grapes.

“I want to learn to read the vines”

Mark Stephens, Stanford Hills new winemaker, studied viticulture and oenology at Stellenbosch, but his interest in biodynamic or biological farming with natural processes started even before that, during a job in California during his gap year after school.  But that had to wait, because during his practical year and the six years after that, he spent  time in cellars making wine — working on two harvests a year in both hemispheres.

When he started making his own wine last year, he realised that he needed to know more about growing grapes.  At Stanford Hills, this has become his passion.  The Estate has a range of soil types — including koffieklip (laterite), limestone and shale — and the vineyards reflect these differences.

New and exciting wine labels are part of the growing offering that Peter Kastner has on the cards for next year!

The Butterfly Centre

The Butterfly Centre

One can’t write about Jami and Peter Kastner without mentioning the Butterfly Centre.  It is a registered Non-profit and Public Benefit Organisation started in 2013 by Jami and Peter Kastner, in honour of their youngest son Sam whom they tragically lost that year. The school opened it’s doors in rented premises in Stanford on 20 July 2014, on what would have been young Sam’s third birthday.  A permanent home for the Centre is under construction on Stanford Hills Estate and the first phase should open at the beginning of 2020.

The Butterfly Centre is an early learning intervention centre and its main goal  is to help young girls and boys who are not coping in the mainstream environment due to a number of reasons, delays and barriers to learning.

The full-time students who range between the ages six and thirteen, receive classes at the level and speed to suit their specific abilities. Classes include reading, writing, mathematics, art and basic sports coaching. The children of The Butterfly Centre have shown tremendous growth in their reading ability, writing skills and social interactivity as a direct result of the one-on-one educational approach.

The new location on the Estate will introduce nature-based skills, allowing the children to lead purposeful lives.  Vegetable gardening, vineyard pruning, bee keeping and baking will be among the practical skills that will be taught.

Most of the current students cannot afford to pay full fees, and the Centre relies on donations.  Follow The Butterfly Centre on Facebook

• Create a world class, iconic site at Cape Agulhas to celebrate it as the southernmost tip of the African continent and where two oceans meet.
• Napier was a dry and boring little village then with a largely ugly main street, so I suggested removing half of every third parking bay — which are rarely used — to plant an avenue of trees. (The sidewalks were too narrow for planting.)
• Restore Bredasdorp’s old railway station — the southernmost on the African continent — and get tourist trains running there… steam trains preferably.

I discussed these with my old friend and respected colleague, David Jack, on his farm outside Napier over breakfast one morning.  There are few people whose judgement I trust more.  He was enthused by the ideas, and started telling me about the work of an American landscape architect he had seen recently, which would be so appropriate for Cape Agulhas.  We spoke about a competition for designs and a possible champion, when we discovered that the then-CEO of the WWF had a house in nearby Struisbaai.

For Napier, Dave asked me to tell the municipal manager that he would donate the trees!  I did, and at a subsequent municipal meeting I was asked to repeat the offer.  The official responsible for services said he couldn’t allow it because it would mean raking up leaves!

In 2014 I became aware of a competition for the design of an iconic site at Cape Agulhas.  I read the competition document and found it a bit wishy-washy, so I called one of the judges — the late Fabio Todeschini.  He wasn’t aware that he was one of the judges and hadn’t formally accepted any invitation!  So I wasn’t going to hold any high hopes…

Then Bernie Oberholzer, a landscape architect I’ve known and respected for decades, recently asked if I had been to see the iconic site.  He sent me information about it… and I started looking forward to seeing it with eager anticipation.  Might they have just got this right?

It’s against that background that I visit the so-called iconic site.

I arrived and parked in a scrappy little parking area where tour buses jostled with cars.  I looked for signs to see if dogs were prohibited and, seeing none, took Beezus along with me.  I followed the stream of people walking across the beach, with nothing in front of us to suggest we were approaching an iconic site… and arrived at the old stone block and sign that’s been there for decades.  Now with a boardwalk in front of it!  Had I been cheated?  And only then did I see the new construction on the northern side.

Left: The old stone marker and plaque – unchanged. It’s always puzzled me that this – the most photographed sign in SA – should hide what people have come to see! Imagine a glass box!  Right: The view from the old sign to the new iconic structure.

To me, the old plaque marking the southernmost point is reminiscent of the old Public Works department.  And the kerbstone signs for the oceans are just too ghastly for words.  This is one of the most photographed signs in South Africa, and this is what we are giving international visitors to take home with them!

The only people who were entering the area correctly — through the new structure — were those getting off tour buses and being led by a tour guide.  Appointing a car guard who directs people would be an interim solution.

I’m standing on the low circular wall that encompasses the new structure. This is the view from the north, taking in the raised relief map of Africa. Those blades representing compass points look like an afterthought.

This is what most people come for – the photo opportunity as close to the Cape as possible.

It is a very competent piece of land art and landscape architecture — and worthy of awards — but it demonstrates the shortcomings of inadequate clients and short-sighted committees who influence the outcome.

Because I had read Bernie’s description of the structure (below), I could “get” what they were trying to achieve.  For me, it misses the opportunity to create a memorable space, and certainly doesn’t justify the title “Iconic”.  But yes, it’s the place and not the new construction that’s iconic.

The vertical blades denoting the four quadrants of the compass feel like an afterthought, but that’s thanks to Heritage Western Cape.  They instructed that the height of the proposed blades be reduced dramatically.  Having the raised map of Africa enclosed by four tall blades would have made a big difference… for the better.

Oh… and before SA National Parks tells me the project isn’t finished, is there a sign welcoming me to your work in progress; outlining what’s to come; in a place I can see?  Get your act together!

The following is a report by the Landscape Architect which really does need to be part of the stry.

Summary of Project Attributes

Design Intent
The statement of intent is contained in the vision and brief for the project, the design response being to create a landmark at the southern tip of Africa – an iconic and memorable destination point for both local and overseas visitors. The design process was enriched by the combined inspirations of landscape architect, architect and land artist, resulting in a seamless and cohesive design statement, sometimes through robust debate.
Context
Legislative Context
A heritage assessment and an EIA of the project was carried out by independent consultants, which helped to inform the siting and form of the iconic structure and related boardwalks.
Planning Context
A 2004 Strategic Plan for the Agulhas Lighthouse Precinct was prepared by Setplan, with input by landscape architect Bernard Oberholzer, and included guidelines for a southern tip structure with stone walls, map of Africa and compass coordinates. A competition for the design of the southern tip was held in 2010, the 4 winners eventually forming the ‘Agulhas Icon Design Group’.
Environmental Context
Great care had to be taken to protect the fragile coastal vegetation during construction, as well as from trampling by visitors. This was achieved by clear demarcation of the construction site and the introduction of timber boardwalks to confine pedestrian routes. The strike of the sandstone formations in a NW-SE direction is echoed in the paving pattern, along with the equator and tropics of the Africa map.
Socio-economic Context
Access to the site, located within the Agulhas National Park, is free and therefore available to all income groups.
Besides the employment created for the contractor and his team, the re-vegetation was done by a team of 11 local
workers as part of the Expanded Public Works Programme.
Cultural-historical Context
The geographical significance of the southern tip of the continent, along with the nearby historical Agulhas lighthouse, meant that the site was of major heritage importance. The design was therefore informed by heritage indicators prepared by specialists for SANParks. One of these indicators was that the design must be low-profile in order to not compete with the lighthouse or coastal setting.
Protection of Places 
The area was previously criss-crossed by vehicle tracks and pedestrian paths resulting in damage to the coastal vegetation. This has now been rationalised through the design of the icon precinct and use of raised boardwalks, while areas disturbed by trampling and construction have been revegetated.
Design Response
Design Innovation and Creativity
The role of the two land artists in particular resulted in an additional creative impulse, including innovative use of materials and pigments to form the relief map of Africa, and the steel compass blades. Much of this was pioneering work for the design team.
Aesthetics
The harmonious visual form is a result of the use of local materials, such as the sandstone for the walls, beach cobbles in the paving design, sea shells in the concrete surfaces, and local plant material. The intention is that the plants will smother the stone walls over time, so that they meld with the landscape, much like mysterious ruins. The walls are also designed to feather into the ground for the same reason.
Functional Design
The layout has been specifically designed as a gathering place for visitors to the southern tip with walls to define spaces, to sit on or to climb on. A raised podium on the dune is to create photographic opportunities, views along the coast and as an outlook to sea and Antarctica beyond.
Safety and Inclusivity of Users
The design of the paving and structures takes into account the safety of children, the elderly and the physically handicapped, with access by wheelchair possible throughout the site.
Design Details
The wide timber boardwalk has a raised section to serve as a bench, the intention being to avoid street furniture, such as free-standing benches, in the exposed landscape. The steel compass blades have an intentional rust finish to echo the metal shipwrecks along the coast.
Plant Selection
Plant material, mainly succulents, were sourced from the surrounding area to retain the genetic integrity of the local flora, and no plants were purchased or brought in from outside. Plants were restricted to those that could be easily transplanted or grow from unrooted cuttings, and would survive through summer. Water was provided from a tanker during the establishment phase and thereafter there would be no further irrigation. Natural succession through seeding from the surrounds would result in colonization by larger shrubby plants over time, helping to soften the low stone walls.

Ecosystem Services
Tourism Emphasis
The biodiversity and scenic resources of the project site and surrounds promotes tourism for the local economy.
Ecological Value and Connectivity
The rehabilitation of disturbed areas previously caused by vehicles and trampling has improved the ecological integrity of the coastal corridor.
Recreational Diversity and Educational Role
The enhancement of the site and surrounds has improved the visitor experience within the Agulhas National Park, and in addition, the Africa map provides enormous educational opportunity.
Cultural and Physical Activities
Standing at the southern tip of the continent provides a symbolic and spiritual experience for many, some of whom spontaneously erect small stone cairns with the beach pebbles, while others sit on rocks meditating and gazing across the ocean to Antarctica. There is no doubt that the relief map helps to psychologically situate visitors and remind them of their ‘Africaness’.
Conservation of Resources
The construction site was cordoned off by means of shade-cloth fencing to limit disturbance of the coastal vegetation, and environmental control was provided by Parks Board officials.
Water conservation has been achieved by using locally adapted plant species, with no irrigation required.
Sandstone for the walls was available from a nearby quarry at Bredasdorp helping to reduce transportation costs and energy use.
Green Practice
Besides the heritage and environmental impact assessments, illustrated signs were erected on the building site explaining the project to the public.
The southern tip icon forms only the first phase of a longer term environmental vision, which includes the upgrade of the historic lighthouse precinct with additional tourism facilities.
During revegetation
The project has a strong bias towards regionalism, with emphasis on local building and plant materials. The lowkey design aproach was intended to minimize visual intrusion in the scenically rugged coastal environment, and at the same time enhance the experience of nature.
Best Practice
Because of funding provided by the Department of Tourism, a high standard of design and finishes was made possible, turning a very non-descript site into an international destination. Although relatively small in scale, the Southernmost Tip of Africa icon will join the company of several other iconic sites in South Africa, where landscape architects have been involved.
According to the Department, employment was provided for 79 local community members and involved 7 small and medium enterprises. It also serves as a catalyst for tourism in the Agulhas-Struisbaai area, and considering the fairly modest budget, provides high value in return.

Tucked away in it’s own little valley within the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley lies a peaceful place called Volmoed. As the Onrust River makes it’s way from the heights of Babylon’s Toring through De Bos Dam it tumbles down into this little valley with a waterfall and lovely natural rock pool, setting the scene of tranquility and natural beauty that are the hallmarks of this Retreat and Conference Centre.

It all started in the early eighties when Bernhard and Jane Turkstra felt called to establish a place that would minister to people who felt shattered by their life’s experience. After sharing their vision and buoyed by the prayers of their supporters, they formed a Trust and moved onto the property in April 1986. The property has always been known as Volmoed (meaning full of courage and hope) and the previous owners asked that we please keep the name – and what more appropriate name for a place of healing and wholeness! The valley first came to prominence as a place of healing during the 18th century when a leper colony was established here, and more recently when Camphill (next door) opened its doors to the sufferers of Downes Syndrome.

Today it serves the wider community as a facility for conferences and courses while still being accessible to individuals who simply need to get away from it all.  Volmoed doesn’t offer TVs or games rooms but they do offer a peaceful environment, walks over the fynbos covered hills, and cozy log fires in winter.

These photos show the God-given beauty and Jane’s magnificent garden! (Click on any thumbnail to open the slideshow.)

For more on Volmoed, click here.

It is a place that nurtures the soul.

A compulsive collector since the early 1990s, Penny van der Berg, owner of the Stanford Hotel, has had so much fun with this corner-store museum, sourcing goodies from across the country and describing it as, “A little bit Selfridges, a little bit Stuttafords, using my own poetic licence.”

“The hotel turns 100 years old in 2020, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate,” says Penny, who has collected wedding dresses, one from every decade since 1920, from across the country and from France, where her sister lives.
The display of mannequins, some with glass eyes, moulded shoes, flexible limbs, even a Twiggy lookalike, are a story in themselves.”

The Museum is open on Saturday mornings when the market takes place on the Hotel’s stoep.  It is always open to Hotel guests.

We were very, very fortunate.  We had social media maven and blogger, Rose Greyling Bilbrough, aka Travelbug Rose (@gotravelbug) as our guide.  She’s also the energy behind Wilderness South Africa, which has become hugely successful with over 10,000 followers.

Yes, Rose is a very enthusiastic flyer, and no, I resisted her invitation to try it. Of course it gives her an unparalleled perspective of the area’s many attractions. It’s just one of many activities you can do.  I think a tandem flight would be a good bet!  Photo: Travelbug Rose @gotravelbug

The Kaaimans River mouth with its signature bridge. There are hopes for reviving the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe, and this route is begging for a return of the old steam train or something like the Franschhoek Tram.  Photo: Travelbug Rose @gotravelbug

Waking up in the morning: View from my bedroom at The Wilderness Hotel. This was the original homestead where Wilderness all started, and it’s within walking distance of the village’s pavement cafes, restaurants and the beach.

Exquisitely beautiful and serene. The Kaaimans River Waterfall. Photo: Travelbug Rose

On my first morning, Rose took me canoeing on the Kaaimans River.  That’s the river one crosses just before entering Wilderness from the Cape Town side.

How many times have I just driven past this… intrigued by the houses alongside the river tucked into the steep slopes behind them!

It was just a short paddle to a spectacular waterfall, almost completely surrounded by steep, rock cliffs.  A very, very special place.

Thank you Chris Leggat at Eden Adventures for the use of your canoe!

The rest of the day we explored Timberlake Farm Village — well worth a visit, and do stop at Pause Coffee Roastery.  Wessel Kruger is serious about his coffees and you won’t be disappointed.  The cheesecake was memorable too!

We drove into the farming area between Wilderness and the Outeniqua mountains and along a section of the old 75km Seven Passes Road.  This was the original route between George and Knysna before the N2 opened.  It was built between 1868 and 1883 by Thomas Bain and crosses seven rivers – the Swart, Kaaimans, Silver, Touw, Hoëkraal, Karatara and Goukamma – passing through indigenous forests and river gorges.

We stopped for tea and a snack at Hoekwil Country Cafe — “an unpretentious country secret on top of the mountain”.

Wilderness is a class act.  The Milkwood Centre in the village is an absolute delight hidden behind the Spar and a fuel service station.  The area has enough resident money to support pavement cafes, pubs and restaurants which were lively and well supported, even on Monday and Tuesday evenings.  Pomodoro had a great vibe and served one of the best pizzas I’ve had.

Lively pavement cafes and restaurants that don’t disappoint.

I was intrigued that Wilderness had managed to retain its village feel and a sense of authenticity.  It has so many attractions but hasn’t gone the way of George, Knysna or Plettenberg Bay.  (In Franschhoek, I discovered How Franschhoek became such a successful tourist town after asking similar questions.)

I discovered that one of my former prep school teachers — “Masters” we called them then — lives in Wilderness, so I asked Hugo Leggatt if he knew the reasons.  Here’s his reply:

“I’ve given thought to your question about the village feel of Wilderness. There are naturally various contributory factors but I think I could reasonably cull to two.

“In no particular order, the one is that there was no coastal road between George and Knysna until about 1950, when this section of the N2 was completed. The first proper road between the two towns was built by Thomas Bain in the years from c.1868. This was still the road when I first came here in 1947 and is the one now known as the 7 Passes route.

“So one can say that until 1950 one came TO the Wilderness, not THROUGH. Which meant that most houses were owned by retirees or were holiday homes.

“The second factor has to do with the ownership of the land. The property was owned, and named, by George Bennett (English) and his wife Henrietta ( a George girl) who built the initial homestead and ran it as a farm in the years on either side of 1880. After the Anglo-Boer War the property was sold to Montagu White (who had been Paul Kruger’s Consul in London in the years leading up to the war). Montagu lived at Fancourt but had The Wilderness run as a guest house/farm. He had some plots laid out but does not appear to have made any serious attempt to sell them.

“After Monty’s death in 1916 by mushroom poisoning at his Fancourt home, The Wilderness was sold to a new company The Wilderness (1921) Ltd. The main driving force behind this company was Owen Grant (1883-1964) who virtually ran the place for over 30 years. There were strict building regulations – no wooden or prefab houses, for example. Perhaps more importantly for your enquiry, all business was in the hands of the company – the hotel, the garage, the shop – and no guest houses were allowed.

“There is more detail, of course, but the net result was that practically the whole place was “residential”, with such commercial development as there was being controlled by Wilderness (1921).  Things have changed with time but I think those two factors were major contributors to the village feel.

Wilderness is worth another, longer visit.  If the beach, hang gliding (single or taken up in tandem by an expert), abseiling, canoeing, quaint shops and crafts, isn’t enough for you, then the walks and hikes will spoil you.  Have a look at some of the Walks & Hikes in the area.

Thank you Rose for a great introduction!  And for this video!