By Myrtle Ryan
Cape Town - The farm gate was a work of art, decked out in a bicycle frame, a saw, awheel with spokes, a spade and various bits of rusted farm implements… I just had to see what lay behind it.
Opening it, and following a narrow road winding for about 4km through small thorn bushes, I stumbled across El Yolo OnE, a working Karoo farm. Getting there had been a mini adventure.
Approaching from the south, after leaving De Rust, the traveller passes through the spectacular Meiringspoort, en route to sleepy Klaarstroom in the Karoo.
On the day I arrived, the laidback village was just getting back to normal after having been used for some weeks for the filming of the movie Faan se Trein, during which the only road through the town had been covered in sand to depict life in the late 1950s.
Although freshly swept, traces of the sand still remained. The villagers were friendly, hanging over garden gates or strolling down the road. They studied me with interest, perhaps thinking I was part of the film crew.
The town’s police station must be one of the most attractive in the country, based in a fine old building.
From here, instead of going on to Prince Albert, it is possible to take the R407, leading eastwards from Klaarstroom to Willowmore, so off I sallied. On the one side, the Swartberg Mountains flank the road. Though not as dramatic as on its coastal side, this range is still impressive.
If a stage coach had come trundling down that road, it would not have been a surprise, but instead a donkey cart materialised, filled with happy people, only too delighted to have their photograph taken. Probably because they had seen how the film crew did these things, they insisted I drive up ahead, aim the camera, and wait for them to come trotting by.
They duly arrived, racing down the road, ready for action. Everyone thought this was hugely entertaining.
El Yolo OnE was expecting visitors from Mossel Bay and thought I was the vanguard. The genuine guests arrived not long after, so I was given the grand tour, jumping into a 4x4 to accompany the receptionist, who showed them the way to the original farmhouse, their abode for the weekend.
Sleeping eight, this proved to be so full of character, with old antiques, low ceilings, twists and turns, and cute bedrooms, that one of the little girls remarked in awe, “Gosh, it’s like a scene from Nanny McPhee”.
There are other self-catering options, the most popular apparently being a log cabin with great views over farmlands and mountains.
There is wild game, farm animals, an opening in the rocks with a fine view, known as God’s Window, a large dam, rock art, swimming in a crystal clear rockpool, hiking and 4x4 trails. A gigantic telescope proves the night skies are spectacular.
Ear-marking El Yolo for a future stopover in the log cabin, I continued on my journey to Vondeling where a highly successful project sees the locals crafting angels from scrap metal. Known as the Vondeling Optel Craft, or Karoo Angel Factory, these charming angels are in great demand as far afield as New York and London.
The spin-offs of such creativity are clearly visible in the tiny village. It is clean and neat, and even the tuck-shop – with the Swartberg mountains as a backdrop – is colourfully painted. Some children told me Vondeling’s old railway siding, where the railway tracks and sleepers are still very much in evidence, is also being used in Faan se Trein.
As the sun dipped towards its night-time abode, Willowmore waited at the end of the R407, which had ranged in condition from good to excellent.
Contacts: El Yolo 087 941 2159; 087 808 3156; 021 939 7164 (office hours) or 082 444 8391; e-mail: [email protected]; web: www.elyolo.co.za - Sunday Tribune