Fine feathers and much more in Oudtshoorn

Published Apr 11, 2006

Share

By Brent Naudé-Moseley

"Burning!" Our host, Charl Erasmus, shouted out the word as huge orange flames leapt into the dark. My heart jumped, my adrenalin soared and suddenly my hand was on fire.

Then, within a second, my mind registered reality and I laughed sheepishly. It was 5am and we were on a large field, waiting for the hot-air balloons to be launched into the ever-lightening dawn sky. The flames were a vital safety check to ensure the burners were working and my mind had exaggerated the scorched sensation on my hand - I'd merely spilled my coffee.

Oudtshoorn Ballooning has been sending people into orbit for years now. Okay, so it's not quite orbit, but you lift off just before sunrise and can drift through the air for up to an hour, depending on the weather.

It's rather surreal floating above the earth when there's no noisy engine reassuring you that a crash landing isn't imminent. Not that there's total silence in a balloon.

It needs hot air to remain airborne, which requires the occasional use of rather noisy gas burners, but mostly it's a peaceful woozy feeling being in a basket suspended beneath a mass of domed silk.

Luckily, we moved a lot slower and lower over the landscape than Richard Branson during his global circumnavigation, so you get to have a good look at the scenery around and beneath you.

Later, as we were coming in to land, we cruised just metres above the ground and, I swear, I could almost count the eyelashes on a steenbok that darted away from us.

With a gentle plop the basket touched earth and within minutes we had a glass of champagne in hand and were doing a traditional toast to another safe landing. Not a bad start to another perfect day in Oudtshoorn.

Our visit to Oudtshoorn had started with a splash. Cango Wildlife Ranch offers the chance to "wet your pants" and partake in the world's only crocodile cage diving.

Yes, really. And, yes, there really are people who willingly enter the water with creatures that sport huge gnashers. We had to check it out and, I admit, my first thought was that it looked kind of mild.

No thrashing white water as the beasties tried to gobble up tourists. So, okay, I could do this.

Kitted in the ranch's swimwear, with mask and snorkel in place, I stepped into the cage, which was then firmly secured - this is to deter those people who are a bit short of a byte and may wish to swim free with the crocs.

Being within touching distance of such ancient and predatory wildlife and my first "gulp" moment came when a 4m specimen opened his saurian eye and looked right into my soul.

Mamma mia, was I glad that I was behind bars!

You can also get close to other predators - and some less predatory ones - at the ranch, like the big cats that can be viewed from a walkway. The highlight has to be getting up close and personal with cheetahs during a touch experience.

Just opposite the Cango Wildlife Ranch, you'll find Boulders Guesthouse. It's a great place to stay.

They have all the mod cons, including spa baths in certain rooms, and their professional staff can assist you with info on the area. After a session in their wellness centre, it was time to lounge alongside the pool and watch the sunset colour the Swartberg mountains before heading for dinner at Jemima's.

Quite rightly, Jemima's has been voted one of the country's top restaurants. Located in an old house, tables are set in charmingly decorated rooms, niches and covered verandahs leading to the back garden, which supplies all the chef's fresh herbs and many vegetables served. Although they claim to offer plein plaas fare, this isn't strictly true as many dishes have an extrinsic touch. Book well in advance as Jemima's is very popular.

Make sure you have time to wander the streets of Oudtshoorn. Parts of it have a European feel with trees forming tunnels over roads lined with aged buildings and umbrella-shaded tables scattered around stoeps of guesthouses and restaurants. Then there's the local flavour in the form of quaint little shops named Boeretroos and Pasella.

Another street will have the contrast of a weatherbeaten fish-and-chips takeaway. Around the corner stands an exquisite sandstone feather palace dating back to another era.

While looking at architectural gems, we were stopped in our tracks by 141 High Street, better known as The Parsonage. It's a glorious old house set well off the road and, to our delight, we discovered it to be a guesthouse.

Another imposing building you should not miss is the CP Nel Museum, which has a long list of great exhibitions, including an ostrich display and an outstanding collection of porcelainware.

The area around the town is also lovely. En route to the Cango Caves, you wind along a pretty road past farms and the odd white-washed house fronted by sprawling flowers and low stonewalls.

Just 2km before the caves lies Wilgewandel Holiday Farm, which offers everything from a good restaurant to camel rides, quad-buggies, a touch farm, bumper boats, trampolines, foefie-slide and a Gwarra-Gwarra golf course.

We sat on a covered patio overlooking the dam and the mountains beyond while tame peacocks, ducks and geese moseyed around us. This is an idyllic place for families with small children and all activities are very reasonably priced, plus they offer accommodation. Don't miss their award-winning Pioneer Cultural Experience, which takes you back to 1823 - just phone ahead to check show times.

The danger with an attraction like the Cango Caves is that it's so well-publicised that one becomes almost blasé about it. Well, don't.

Even if you've visited several times before, it's still an incredible experience to stand in those vast caverns surrounded by a fantasy of nature's sculpture. If you're fit and definitely not claustrophobic, do the adventure tour, which has you crawling through narrow passages and dragging yourself through "chimneys". I think that kind of thing should be left to speleologists, so we headed into the open spaces around the 4-star Swartberg Country Manor instead.

Now this is a place to recharge your batteries, whether you prefer to soak up the farm atmosphere while meandering around the fields or savour sunsets and sunrises over the Swartberg mountains from the comfortable stoep.

They offer a tranquil setting, elegant accommodation, great food and the hosts are delightful.

Make some time to join them on one of their ecotours in the area, such as Gamkaskloof (The Hell), sundowners from the majestic mountains or birding, and after dinner, do the "tour" of the skies while listening to an informative talk and taking turns on the telescope.

As you drive around Oudtshoorn, you'll spot plenty of long-legged birds that bat their false eyelashes at you. Don't be fooled into pursuing this gentle come-on. These chicks can kill. Well, that's what they'll tell you about ostriches at Safari Ostrich Show Farm. Safari is located quite near town and during an interesting tour you get to watch chicks hatching and can even ride an ostrich.

A word of warning, if ostriches are old hat to you and you choose not to visit Safari Show Farm, you'll miss their restaurant's devastating ostrich fillet.

Buffelsdrift Game Lodge is 7km from town and offers stylish luxury tents overlooking a dam that's home to plentiful birdlife. Its lookout deck, built over the water, is perfect for spotting any of the 20 game species coming to drink and one of the resident hippos might pop up to say hello, or should I say, hharrumph.

Game-viewing is done from a vehicle or horseback safari, but the really special experience here is being with tame baby elephants at bath time. It was from Buffelsdrift that we headed out that night to sample traditional Xhosa fare at Ma Betties after a quick spin around the Bongolethu Postbox Route, so called because of the locally produced pottery post boxes that stand outside residents' houses. It's best to arrange this tour through the tourism office in town.

Early mornings in Oudtshoorn seemed to offer something special each day and when vociferous Egyptian geese woke us early, I lifted my head and focused through the tent's netting to see a wildebeest on the distant dam wall.

A short while later I was standing on the edge of a 40m cliff - thanks to Swartberg Adventures - and my brain was screaming survival messages at me. I'd always wanted to abseil, but suddenly I couldn't think why. It was so obvious that I should not be walking backwards off this precipice, but I felt the fear and did it anyway, under the expert direction of Johan Uys, whose obsession with safety factors made me feel slightly better. Johan has been exploring the mountains since his childhood and also offers cave crawling, hiking, and quad biking.

Oudtshoorn has such a long list of attractions that you could spend your entire holiday here. It's a great base to do day trips to Calitzdorp, De Rust and Meiringspoort, Prince Albert, George and Mossel Bay.

Each time you visit Oudtshoorn, it has more going for it and this time around I found true magic in a sunrise tour with Grant McIlrath. His Meerkat Magic experience has to be a highlight in any nature lover's life. It brings you to within metres of meerkats and you get to accompany them on their foraging expeditions. These creatures are the real thing: absolutely wild.

Nothing prepared me for the thrill of becoming part of their environment. Grant has worked intensively with meerkats for 11 years and has developed ethical habituation techniques that allow him near them without disturbing them.

We spent several hours watching the Ungulungu family, listening to their gentle chattering and seeing the way they interact with each other. By the time we left them to dig up another juicy grub, I was high on life. Meerkat life.

Meerkat magic. Yes, Oudtshoorn certainly has it all and once bitten - not by a meerkat or crocodile, of course - you'll be back to savour some more of its magic.

If you go ...

- Oudtshoorn Tourism - 044-279-2532/3

www.oudtshoorn.com

- Oudtshoorn Ballooning - 082-784-8539

www.balloondrifters.co.za

Wilgewandel Holiday Farm - 044-272-0878

www.wilgewandel.co.za

- Safari Ostrich Show Farm - 044-272-7311/2

www.safariostrich.co.za

- Cango Wildlife Ranch - 044-272-5593

www.cango.co.za

- Cango Caves - 044-272-7410

www.cangocaves.co.za

- Meerkat Magic - Grant McIlrath on 082-413-6895 www.meerkatmagic.com

- Swartberg Adventures - 082-926-9389 (Johan)

www.swartbergadventures. co.za

- Jemima's Restaurant - 044-272-0808

www.jemimas.com

- Boulders Lodge - 044-272-5559

www.bouldersguesthouse. co.za

- Swartberg Country Manor - 044-279-3188

www.swartbergcountry manor.co.za

- Buffelsdrift Game Lodge - 044-272-0106

www.oudtshoorn.com

- This article was originally published on page 2 of The Star on April 08, 2006

Related Topics: