Cape Town - In the low slanting, morning sun, the small beetles ganging together look metallic green in colour, starkly contrasting with the more muted yellows and greens of the Clanwilliam sugarbush flower.
They’re not perturbed in the slightest as we watch them, fascinated, for a good 10 minutes. For them, we don’t exist; their colourful beauty is irrelevant to their single-minded pursuit of survival. It’s a reminder that we, as a species, have the luxury of time to play… or to appreciate what is around us.
As we resume our ramble through the craggy, moonscape of twisted rocks, kloofs and caves deep in the Cederberg mountains, we are also reminded about how much we need Earth… more than it needs us.
Guide Simone Wood-Callander from Bushmans Kloof reserve tells us that there are many examples of this sort of life-giving symbiosis between the plants and insects of the fynbos of the Cape Floral Kingdom, one of the world’s richest examples of biodiversity.
This is not a reserve in the traditional South African mould: if you’re here for the Big Five, or even the drama of predators (at least the animal ones), then you better look elsewhere. But, if you are almost at the stage of “being over” the traditional bushveld game experiences, and if you are looking for a place to awaken the soul, to make you think about the more important things in life and perhaps even to stir a dormant spirituality, then this could well be for you.
Bushmans Kloof is in the Cederberg, about three hours north of Cape Town in the heart of an area, which many of those in the Western Cape would prefer that we Joburgers knew nothing about. They would be happy for us to stick to our gold, our highways and our skyscrapers and leave this dramatic mountain wilderness to them. You can understand why.
The Cederberg is an ancient place: 500 million years old. Its sandstone rocks, battered and weathered by wind and water erosion over millennia, make it difficult to believe this landscape was once covered with water.
These days, there are some rivers which flow all year round and it was in these areas that the Bushmen, or San people, made their homes for temporary periods before moving on in their nomadic existence.
All over the reserve property, which stretches over 100km², there are San rock art sites. Simone takes us to one and then explains that modern analysis and assessment of these sites, which are found all over southern and central Africa, is much more nuanced and less simplistic than it was previously, when. Whatever the reason, Bushmans Kloof is a different, yet special place. Many people return again and again.
Part of the Red Carnation Hotel group, Bushmans Kloof promises, and delivers a five-star experience in all ways: accommodation, food and service.
Food, particularly, is something on which the operation prides itself and, together with world-class chefs, it offers a wine list to complement the tastes you will experience.
Despite the amount of travelling I have done, I am the first to admit I am not a foodie, nor a wine expert. I love good food and I love wine. Don’t ask me to explain bouquets in wine, though, and deconstruction is something which belongs in the demolition industry, doesn’t it?
At Bushmans Kloof, you can take a nature drive (they don’t call it a game drive because there are only a limited amount of animals on the reserve) or a walk.
Depending on your fancy – rock art, birds or even the Cape Floral Kingdom – guides like Simone will tailor the outing to your specific interests.
But Bushmans Kloof is also the sort of place where you don’t have to hare around, jumping on the morning and evening game drives in a desperate attempt to tick as many boxes as possible on the bird or mammal list. You can chill by the pool (there is also a warm water pool) or go to the spa.
Not being a spa bunny, I decide to plop into the cool pool for a refreshing dip and follow that up with the book test: feet on the wall of the room patio, book in lap.
You can even try and read the book.
In circumstances like these, it is interesting to see which is more powerful, the book or the scenery.
In a place of beauty, I find I can only concentrate for short periods on words on a page before I get seduced by the real, not imaginary.
Needless to say, Bushmans Kloof and the Cederberg wins that contest hands down…
it was assumed the paintings were mere documentary recordings of life in the hunter-gatherer communities. Now it is accepted that the paintings refer to the San’s spiritual life and how they communicated with their ancestors through trances and trance dancing.
It is said that two “ley lines” have been identified on the Bushmans Kloof reserve using dowsing rods, a time-honoured method to detect Earth’s magnetic fields. The Bushmans Kloof ley lines are anchored on three distinctive physical features within the reserve, and nine impressive rock art sites are located in and around the point at which these two lines converge.
According to the reserve’s website: “Ley lines are believed to be alignments connecting places of geographical and cultural significance, such as mountain peaks, ancient sites, monuments and megaliths. A growing interest in the phenomenon has prompted a great deal of study regarding their astronomic and geophysical relationships to ancient sites.
“Worldwide, people believe ley lines and their intersections are concentrated power points, where the land is imbued with mystical healing energy. At Bushmans Kloof we know there is something ancient, deep and potent pulsing through the natural environment, something that provides great spiritual nourishment. We wonder if this magnetic power could have moved the Bushmen to create the rich and precious rock art of the area. We also suspect it is the source of the powerful rejuvenating and therapeutic properties of this unique location.”
Normally, that sort of “whoo-whoo” mysticism would have me running a mile, with my cynical old hack’s sceptical antennae at full deployment.
Yet, in the early morning, with the first purple glow of dawn behind the mountains, I can feel something. Is it a spirit of ancient people? Is it a ley line pulsing away… or is it just the tranquillity of the vast, unpopulated space around you? Big spaces and big empty sky are always soul-stirring.
it was assumed the paintings were mere documentary recordings of life in the hunter-gatherer communities. Now it is accepted that the paintings refer to the San’s spiritual life and how they communicated with their ancestors through trances and trance dancing.
It is said that two “ley lines” have been identified on the Bushmans Kloof reserve using dowsing rods, a time-honoured method to detect Earth’s magnetic fields. The Bushmans Kloof ley lines are anchored on three distinctive physical features within the reserve, and nine impressive rock art sites are located in and around the point at which these two lines converge.
According to the reserve’s website: “Ley lines are believed to be alignments connecting places of geographical and cultural significance, such as mountain peaks, ancient sites, monuments and megaliths. A growing interest in the phenomenon has prompted a great deal of study regarding their astronomic and geophysical relationships to ancient sites.
“Worldwide, people believe ley lines and their intersections are concentrated power points, where the land is imbued with mystical healing energy. At Bushmans Kloof we know there is something ancient, deep and potent pulsing through the natural environment, something that provides great spiritual nourishment. We wonder if this magnetic power could have moved the Bushmen to create the rich and precious rock art of the area. We also suspect it is the source of the powerful rejuvenating and therapeutic properties of this unique location.”
Normally, that sort of “whoo-whoo” mysticism would have me running a mile, with my cynical old hack’s sceptical antennae at full deployment.
Yet, in the early morning, with the first purple glow of dawn behind the mountains, I can feel something. Is it a spirit of ancient people? Is it a ley line pulsing away… or is it just the tranquillity of the vast, unpopulated space around you? Big spaces and big empty sky are always soul-stirring.
Whatever the reason, Bushmans Kloof is a different, yet special place.
Many people return again and again.
Part of the Red Carnation Hotel group, Bushmans Kloof promises, and delivers a five-star experience in all ways: accommodation, food and service.
Food, particularly, is something on which the operation prides itself and, together with world-class chefs, it offers a wine list to complement the tastes you will experience.
Despite the amount of travelling I have done, I am the first to admit I am not a foodie, nor a wine expert. I love good food and I love wine.
Don’t ask me to explain bouquets in wine, though, and deconstruction is something which belongs in the demolition industry, doesn’t it?
At Bushmans Kloof, you can take a nature drive (they don’t call it a game drive because there are only a limited amount of animals on the reserve) or a walk.
Depending on your fancy – rock art, birds or even the Cape Floral Kingdom – guides like Simone will tailor the outing to your specific interests.
But Bushmans Kloof is also the sort of place where you don’t have to hare around, jumping on the morning and evening game drives in a desperate attempt to tick as many boxes as possible on the bird or mammal list. You can chill by the pool (there is also a warm water pool) or go to the spa.
Not being a spa bunny, I decide to plop into the cool pool for a refreshing dip and follow that up with the book test: feet on the wall of the room patio, book in lap.
In circumstances like these, it is interesting to see which is more powerful, the book or the scenery.
In a place of beauty, I find I can only concentrate for short periods on words on a page before I get seduced by the real, not imaginary.
And in my book test – words or place? – Bushmans Kloof and the Cederberg wins that contest hands down…
IF YOU GO
l Bushmans Kloof is about three hours from Cape Town. The best way for South Africans to appreciate it, though, is to incorporate it in a road trip to the Western and Northern Cape.
l There are a number of specials – ranging from spa packages to children’s weekends and an extra night when you stay for three nights.
Special culinary and gourmet weekends are also arranged.
l There is a separate lodge for families, and rates include guide and vehicle, as well as a cook.
www.bushmanskloof.co.za
Saturday Star