Overberg

Grazing rights
The demand for livestock by the VOC was becoming too great for the Khoi-na to meet, so the VOC gave themselves grazing rights throughout the Overberg. The governor of the Cape, Willem Adriaan van der Stel, led the way by bestowing upon himself grazing rights on18 farms that stretched uninterrupted from the Houwhoek Pass all the way to near Swellendam. He was a highly talented governor but, as a result of his legendary self-enrichment, in 1707 he was banished from the Cape after facing corruption allegations from the leading burghers of the time such as Adam Tas. This episode marked a turning point: the VOC withdrew from direct trade with the Overberg and instead worked through burghers.

The first loan places in the Overberg were granted in 1708 at Botriver, and Caledon followed in 1710. From then on, increasing numbers of burghers moved into the Overberg, seasonally at first and then on a permanent basis. One of the reasons for this mini-trek was to escape the claustrophobic governance of the VOC. The VOC was not to be outwitted so, as the colony expanded, government posts were set up supposedly for the protection of the burghers. The first VOC outpost for protection and supplies (like a one-stop shop!) was established at Zoetmelksvlei near Riviersonderend in 1726. From 1720, expansion by the burghers was so rapid that, by 1745, the Swellendam magisterial district had been established. Within 100 years of the first European person entering the Overberg, it had become colonised. (The Sandveld took longer owing to its isolation.

Meanwhile, the smallpox epidemic of 1713 had almost wiped out the Khoi-na, so they were no longer really a force to be considered. There was a futile half-hearted attempt at a rebellion in 1777. The Khoi-na ended up working on settlers’ farms or escaping to the sanctuary of mission stations.

Farms were once circular

As more burghers poured into the Overberg, farms and grazing areas had to be defined. One method used was to measure out 7-8 km from a central point using leather rope. The resulting circle was defined by stone beacons and this became the boundary line of the farm. Another method was to ride out on a horse for 30 minutes and place stone beacons. To this day, there are a few farms in the Overberg that are still circular.

Shipwreck stories

When a ship was wrecked off the coast of the Overberg, someone’s loss became a farmer’s gain. Shipwreck ‘treasure’ found its way into the homesteads (legally or not). To this day, some old homesteads can show some part of a ship or its contents somewhere on the farm, such as a beam in the living room, a bell, crockery or cutlery.

There are hundreds of stories about ships and wrecks off the Overberg, but only a few can be told here, for there have been over 250 shipwrecks and more than 2500 lives lost since the first recorded shipwreck on this coast – that of the Zoetendal which went down off Struisbaai in 1673. (The survivors were helped back to the Cape settlement by the Khoi-na, minus one who was killed by an elephant.)

In 1722, the wreck of the Schooneberg, which went down on a calm clear day, aroused the suspicion of the authorities back in Cape Town. The story unfolded that it had been intentionally sunk for the loot: the captain was broken on the wheel, one accomplice committed suicide and the others were deported. The loot was buried at Vergelegen in Somerset West, where a sniper in a tree made things difficult for those searching for it. Nothing was found at the time, but the ship’s bell was uncovered 100 years later. (Another dishonest practice in order to cause shipwrecks was to light a fire to imitate a lighthouse.)

Ensign Oloff Bergh was used on many salvage operations, but his unofficial cut became so noticeable that he spent some time on Robben Island and in jail at the Castle of Good Hope. He was then deported to Ceylon. He returned to the Cape in 1695 and somehow rose to become a wealthy, respected citizen.

The story of the Meermin is really more than a shipwreck story. In 1766, the vessel was bringing slaves from Madagascar to Cape Town. Unshackled slaves working on deck managed to take over the ship but they could not sail it. They killed some of the crew, but the captain persuaded the slaves to let the remaining crew live, telling them that, in exchange, he would sail them home. According to some versions, for several days the captain sailed east (under half sail) but, at night, unbeknown to the slaves, he turned the ship around and sailed west under full sail. When land was sighted at Cape Agulhas, the captain convinced the slaves they had reached Madagascar. Nearly half the slaves left the ship and, after being hoodwinked again by the sailors, they were captured on land by burghers; the remaining slaves were overpowered on board. The slaves had, however, cut the anchor ropes, and the ship ran ashore.

Gordon’s Bay

The old Hermanus harbour was once called Visbaai

Genadendal was the first mission station established in South Africa.

A call to revolution

The Swellendam farmers were going through a revolutionary phase when they recalled their workers from Genadendal. The ‘Patriots’ of Swellendam, as they called themselves in 1795, were fed up with the heavy-handed and corrupt VOC. The final nail in the coffin was when the VOC cancelled a lucrative agreement for the annual supply of grain and started issuing paper money, which the local people considered forgery. They decided to take over in French Revolutionary style by relieving the landdrost of his post and forming a new constitution. This was not a new republic as some might think but more like a colony of the motherland bypassing the VOC. This was a very short-lived idea, because the British attacked the Dutch at Muizenberg four months later and the ‘Patriots’ of Swellendam sent burghers to defend the Cape in the name of their homeland. The Cape was lost to the British and thus Swellendam came under British control; those burghers who did not swear allegiance to the new power were banished.

The Arniston (which supplied the reinforcements at the Battle of Muizenberg) went down off Waenhuiskrans in 1815, with 6 survivors and the loss of 372 lives, because the captain, mistakenly thinking they had already passed Cape Point, turned north and grounded the ship. The Doncaster sank off Struisbaai in 1836 with no survivors; what happened can only be surmised. The wreck was bought by wagon builders who turned its remains into ‘ships of the veld’. The wreck of the troopship HMS Birkenhead off Danger Point in 1852 is one of the most famous maritime disasters because this is when the order ‘women and children first’ (the Birkenhead drill) come into being. An interesting side story is that there were nine horses on board; eight made it to shore and, in less than 48 hours, one of the horses had found its way back to its stable in Cape Town, 125 miles away. This is how Cape Town first had an inkling that all was not well with the Birkenhead.

The vale of grace

With the influx of settlers, the smallpox outbreak of 1713 and diminishing natural game, the Khoi-na of the Overberg were forced into unsustainable areas between farms. Only divine intervention could preserve their dignity. This came in the form of George Schmidt, a Moravian missionary, who set up a mission station at Baviaanskloof, later to be named Genadendal (vale of grace). The only reason the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) gave him permission was that they thought he was wasting his time on the heathen Khoi-na. His mission station grew until, in 1742, he had a run-in with the DRC over baptismal rights, as a result of which he was pressurised to leave the Cape. The story should go that everything fell apart once he left but, in 1792, the Moravians sent three missionaries to determine what had become of Baviaanskloof. To their surprise, they found an 81-year-old woman (one of the first converts) had kept the place alive. This safe haven flourished, attracting more Khoi-na and so-called ‘coloureds’, to the extent that the farmers wanted it closed down because of the shortage of labour for their farms. Another reason was jealousy: the ‘non-white’ children were learning to read and write whereas their own children were illiterate. During the Swellendam revolt (see next section), the mission station had to release former workers to return to the farms, but this was short-lived as, within a few months, the British had taken over the Cape and they made a point of protecting the mission station. They also lifted a building ban which the Dutch had imposed in an attempt to derail progress.

The mission station flourished and became a place of spiritual peace, learning, printing, manufacturing and farming. Over time, the local farmers came to accept the community and even attended their church services. Nelson Mandela, who visited this, the oldest mission station in South Africa, in 1995, renamed his official residence in Cape Town ‘Genadendal’.

Click to enlarge

Merino Sheep

Sheep get a woolly coat

Colonel Robert Gordon, who led the Dutch forces which lost at the Battle of Muizenberg in 1795, was a devout loyalist to the king of Orange and was not keen on the revolutionary change that was taking place in the Netherlands, which the ‘Patriots’ of Swellendam, on the other hand, supported. He was accused of treachery because of the ease of the British victory: this led to his suicide. A few years before his death, he had been given merino sheep by the king of Orange who had received some as a gift from the king of Spain. Anyone in possession of these royal sheep without the king’s permission was to be put to death. Luckily, when the king of Spain found out that some merinos were in Cape Town, he asked only that they be returned.

Gordon secretly kept the offspring at Darling. When wrapping up his estate, Gordon’s wife sold most of the sheep to a passing Australian and three to the Van Reenen brothers of Cape Town. The Van Reenens crossbred them with local fat-tailed sheep (which were great for mutton but not wool). After five crossings, they were satisfied they had the perfect sheep, the vaderlandskaap. This started one of the greatest agricultural achievements in South Africa. The main players were a few families starting with the Van Reenens and the Van Bredas, later joined by the Cloetes and Van der Bijls. In 1812, Jan Frederik Reitz, helped by Michiel van Breda, took sheep farming to a scientific level; they entered the market just at the right time when Napoleon was fleeing Russia and wool was selling at an all-time high. Later, in 1865, ostrich were introduced to the sheep farms to hedge financial risk if the wool price was low. In addition, for some reason, the sheep and ostriches consumed one anothers’ harmful worms.

Wealth flowed upriver

In 1817, Benjamin Moodie, along with two partners, had a great idea to save time and money lost in transporting goods to Cape Town overland. They set up a sea link to Swellendam via the Breede River, but it was the business of Joseph Barry & Nephews in 1822, using the same model as Moodie, which the local farmers preferred. Barry had his own ship, the Kadie (which sank upriver in 1865) that could negotiate the dangerous sandbar at the entrance to the Breede to dock 48 km upriver at Malgas, his trading port. This enterprise was the first step in he becoming one of the wealthiest businessmen in the Overberg, with headquarters at Swellendam and business interests in nearly every town and village in the area. His commercial empire became so large that he printed his own money. To test the validity of this river venture, the famous Grain Race took place. Wagons would race to Cape Town against Joseph Barry’s ships from Swellendam and the Breede River area. An average wagon trip took about 10 days but, in 1872, a Caledon

farmer managed the 75 km in 18 hours. The great gale of 1865, which sank 18 ships in Table Bay, also whipped up a fire that gutted Swellendam. This all happened at the time the Cape was going through a recession, and, to top it all, Barry died. The next year, the Barry & Nephews empire collapsed, bringing to an end the golden years of Swellendam.

Past, present and beyond

The Overberg has remained predominantly a farming area thanks to the Bokkeveld shale which has enough nutrient value for the growing of commercial crops such as barley, oats, wheat and canola. The area is also known for wine and fruit farming, and Swellendam boasts the biggest youngberry farm in the world. Livestock farming involves mainly sheep, pigs, ostriches and horses. (From an early stage, the well-known families such as the Cloetes, Van der Bijls and Van Bredas bred top-class thoroughbreds.)

Tourism began early, with visitors such as Carl Thunberg (1774) and Lady Anne Barnard (1797) among the botanists, naturalists and adventurers who were attracted to the area. People came from afar to bathe in the healing waters of the Caledon springs and farmers packed their wagons for holiday getaways at the beaches. More recently, some of the best land-based whale watching in the world, shark cage diving and other outdoor adventure activities have become multimillion-rand businesses.

Langeberg Mountains near Swellendam

Interesting information about some interesting places

Elandspad and Sir Lowry’s Pass Visiting Elandspad today, you can still see deep wagon tracks scoured into the rocks and observe the old signal canon where there was once a toll gate. The canon was part of the communication network that ran all the way up to Swellendam. A signal from Swellendam in 1806 took eight hours to be relayed to Cape Town. In 1830, Elandspad was replaced by Sir Lowry’s Pass (named after Sir Lowry Cole, governor of the Cape). It was built by Charles Michell using convict labour. With the coming of the motor car era, Charlie Rorich, in about 1906, drove up Sir Lowry’s Pass in a Gladiator – it could only travel at the walking pace of a man. In 1984, the upper overhanging four-lane section (an engineering marvel in its day) was built.

Gordon’s Bay to Kleinmond Gordon’s Bay was named after Robert Gordon (of merino sheep fame) and was once a VOC fishing station. In 1725, a pirate ship anchored here and set everyone aflutter. The GB on the mountainside stands for ‘General Botha’ (the naval training college) not ‘Gordon’s Bay’. Kogel Bay, around the corner, was the scene of the shipwreck of the Colebrooke in 1852 when it struck a rock at Cape Point and ran with the wind to the nearest beach. Betty’s Bay once had a whaling station; today there is a penguin colony at Stony Point. In 1930, this area was developed by Harold Porter and named after Betty Youldon. The Harold Porter National Botanical Garden is well worth a visit as it contains the greatest concentration of wild flowers in South Africa. (Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of Apartheid, had a holiday home in Betty’s Bay.) Clarence Drive, along the coast, was built by Italian prisoners of war in 1940 and is considered one of the most beautiful drives in South Africa. Kleinmond (‘small mouth’ of the Bot River) is a holiday and retirement destination and the gateway to the lower section of the Kogelberg Nature Reserve.

The endless rolling hills between Caledon and Riviersonderend, locally called the Ruggens, with a backdrop of the Riviersonderend mountains.

The Cape Agulhas lighthouse

Hermanus was once called Hermanuspietersfontein after a Dutch teacher, Hermanus Pieters, who used to bring his sheep down to a spring there. He was not the first in the area; Cloete already had his pleasure farm at Voëlklip and farmers from the Caledon area holidayed there. The first to set up a permanent home with his extended family was Michael Henn. They lived at Harry’s Bay (Hawston) but, on seeing the fishing potential of Hermanus, Henn moved there lock, stock and barrel. He was the first to land (using the dinghy from the Birkenhead) in the old Hermanus harbour. Sir William Hoy (after whom Hoy’s Koppie is named) was instrumental in promoting the town. (He was the head of SA Railways but, ironically, refused to allow the line to be extended to Hermanus, as he wanted it to remain unspoilt. A station was built in 1912, but it is linked only by a road service, so Hermanus is unique in having a train station but no railway line!) Today it is a bustling town and one of the best land-based whale-watching sites in the world.

Hemel en Aarde once had a leper colony which was relocated to Robben Island in 1844. It is now a beautiful winegrowing area.

Stanford This charming village was named after Captain Robert Stanford. He had left the Royal Navy to farm in this area, but was still on half-pay and so subject to the Navy’s whims. When the British government tried to offload 300 Irish agitators from the Neptune at the Cape, Boers and British settlers presented a united front to prevent this. For three months, no one broke ranks, but Earl Grey, knowing Stanford’s obligation, blackmailed him into supplying the Neptune which was docked in Simonstown. After this incident, the people of the Cape ostracised him. He was rewarded with a knighthood and paid a pittance, but lost his friends, his businesses and his wealth. He left for England, a broken man, never to return.

De Kelders Its main attraction is its rugged coastline with cliffs and caves to explore. One cave, with passages, caverns and underground freshwater pools, runs right under the village. This cave was on the tourist map as far back as the 1700s. An interesting story concerns Hendrik Cloete of Constantia fame, who, when he visited this cave, admired one of the dripstone pillars so much that he offered a small fortune to anyone who could cut it out and deliver it to Groot Constantia in one piece. A few months later, Matthys Beukes, who lived close to Riviersonderend, managed to do so: when he came knocking at Constantia, Cloete had, reluctantly, to pay up. Today, visits to this impressive cave can be arranged but, thanks to Cloete and many others from yesteryear, few dripstones remain as they have been cut out to make handles for canes and knives.

Gansbaai This harbour town is well known for its shark cage diving and whale watching from land and sea. An entertaining story from the area concerns the Bulwark which ran aground here in 1963. Its cargo was barrels of wine which seemed like manna from heaven to the community. There were many drunk people that day, and many barrels of wine were buried in the sand dunes, some never to be found. Come Sunday, there was much embarrassment and shame, except for one church leader who had not been there that day. He broke the sombre mood of the congregation by confessing that his only misgiving was not having been there to enjoy the blessing provided on that (April Fool’s) day!

Danger Point:

The ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman (made popular by the film The Pirates of the Caribbean), was first officially reported sighted off this point. It was here that the ill-fated ship, the Birkenhead, sank. Kleinbaai is where some of the best shark cage diving in the world takes place. There is a rock in the bay (about 200 m offshore) called Black Sophie after a ‘madam’ who brought a wagonload of prostitutes up from Cape Town to help counteract the loneliness of the guano workers on Dyer Island, thus averting a strike.

Cape Agulhas: has the second-oldest lighthouse in South Africa and is the southernmost point of Africa, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. Its name means ‘Cape of Needles’, perhaps because the Portuguese navigators found that here their compasses pointed true north without any magnetic

deviation, or because of the sharp rocks.

The view from Witsand overlooking Cape Infanta, the Breede River, Infanta and the low laying Potberg mountain.

Struisbaai: is a great tourist place offering unusual activities like feeding massive skates by hand. David Hidden of Land’s End became one of the first winemakers to mature his limited-edition wine under sea water off one of Struisbaai’s reefs.
Arniston: is a historic fishing village, officially known as Waenhuiskrans (wagon-house cliff) after the large limestone sea cave by the same name. On the beaches you may still find pumice stones which floated 7000 km as a result of the 1883 volcanic eruption of Krakatoa. During WWII, Nazi supporters supplied fresh produce and diesel to the U-Boats and legend has it that there were clandestine tennis matches played on the beach with the Germans.
De Hoop Nature Reserve: Once one of Cloete’s farms, this is one of the premier nature reserves of the Overberg, teeming with game including the rare bontebok. This reserve’s natural features include the 15 km long and 500 m wide lagoon (which is great for birding) and Potberg; it is also the home of the well-known Whale Trail. Other attractions are long sea cliffs and seemingly endless sand dunes.

Witsand: Port Beaufort and Infanta are all located at the mouth of the Breede River. This area was once a bustling port but, today, it is a sought-after holiday destination. Here too, during WWII, the local shopkeeper supplied diesel to German U-Boats.

Zoetendalsvlei is named after the ill-fated Zoetendal which was wrecked off Struisbaai in 1673. It is here that the survivors got fresh water on route to Cape Town. Around this freshwater vlei, reported to be the biggest (8 km by 3 km) and southernmost in South Africa, the merino sheep industry flourished; this is where Van Breda and Reitz had their main farms.

Bredasdorp and Napier

These towns, situated unnaturally close together, would have been one but for the rivalry between Pieter van der Bijl and Michiel van Breda who had made their fortunes on the back of the merino industry. Each wanted a church (around which a town would be established) to be built on his farm. To settle the dispute, the church authorities decided two churches would be built. Bredasdorp was named after Van Breda; Van der Bijl’s town was named after the governor of the Cape at the time. (Sir George Napier was a military man who had lost an arm and had a stiff leg as a result of action in the Peninsular War. As if these were not problems enough, on his arrival at the Cape, he was a widower with five children!) The rivalry between the towns lasts to this day. Bredasdorp has an impressive shipwreck museum.

Elim: This mission village was established in 1824 on the well-watered bank of the Nuwejaars River in the Sandveld area. It is named after an oasis mentioned in the Bible (Exodus 15:27).The need for the establishment of a new mission station arose because Genadendal and Mamre on the West Coast were full. Land was purchased from a farmer who had bought it from Sampson Dyer. Adjacent land was later bought directly from Dyer to accommodate an influx of new members due to the ending of slavery in 1834. A visit to this village reveals a place preserved in time with historical buildings and a traditional way of life. For 150 years, Elim’s main source of income was dried sewejaartjies (everlasting flowers) used for funerals and by churches in Europe. The petals were also used as pillow and mattress stuffing. The introduction of pigs to this community in 1930 by a German started the well-known Elim processed meat business. Another business that Elim is known for is thatching: their thatchers are renowned throughout South Africa.

Salmonsdam Nature Reserve

This mountainous nature reserve, renowned for its gorges and waterfalls, is named after the captain of the ill-fated Birkenhead. It offers accommodation and day visitors are welcome.

Caledon is known for its hot springs which were in use long before the first European explorers arrived. In 1710, the first house was built, solely for people using the springs. In the 1890’s, its water was entered into the World Mineral Spring Contest at Chicago where it took first place. This town was once called Zwarteberg but, in 1813, Sir John Cradock renamed it after the Earl of Caledon. It also holds the distinction of being (in 1891) the second town to establish an annual flower show. One of the latest additions to Caledon is the wind farm (with 95m towers and 54m long blades) at Klipheuwel.

Botrivier: (Bot River) was one of the oldest trading sites and also one of the first designated loan farms in the Overberg. The Khoi-na called it Gouga (meaning ‘butter’) as some say it was a good place to fatten their sheep; others say the Dutch traded items for Khoi-na butter here. This is a link with the current name, as ‘bot’ is from botter, Dutch for ‘butter’. In 1839, two men tried to emulate Joseph Barry’s Breede River success story on the Bot River but, after one attempt, the business was scrapped. Most people know about the horses of the Camargue in France. Bot River has its own wild horses, as horses from a British garrison still roam the countryside. During WWII, Catalinas and Walrus Amphibian flying boats were based at Fisherhaven to combat the German U-boat scourge.

The bontebok that nearly went the way of the bluebuck

Lighthouses of the Overberg

Cape Infanta:
This lighthouse is located in the De Hoop Marine Reserve on the headland at the mouth of the Breede River. It stands 15 m high and is built of aluminium lattice work. It has a group flash of 3 every 20 seconds with a light range of 24 nautical miles.

Cape Agulhas:
This is the southernmost lighthouse in Africa. Michiel van Breda, a local farmer, pushed for its establishment owing to numerous shipwrecks. The present lighthouse, designed by Charles Michell (see Sir Lowry’s Pass), was built of limestone in 1849 in the

Egyptian revival style. It stands 27 m high. The light has a single flash every 5 seconds.

Danger Point:
Located near Gansbaai, at the site where the famous Birkenhead sank in 1852, this lighthouse,

commissioned in 1895, is a 45 m masonry tower. The light has a range of 27 nautical miles, with a group flash of 3 every 40 seconds.

Cape Hangklip:
Hangklip (hanging rock) lighthouse can boast of being the most powerful lighthouse in South Africa. It was constructed in 1960 of concrete with a height of 22 m. The light has a range of 25 nautical miles, with one flash every 10 seconds.

Malgas pont is the last hand-operated pont in South Africa

Waenhuiskrans, the limestone sea cave at Arniston

Grabouw and Elgin: Grabouw was named after the birthplace in Germany of Wilhelm Langschmidt on whose farm the village was established. (He had 23 children, including 3 sets of twins!) The first plots were sold in 1848; in 1852, a bridge was built over the Palmiet which brought business to the small town. A medical doctor, Sir Antonie Viljoen, bought a farm (Oak Valley) in Elgin in 1899; to the consternation of the local (mainly pig) farmers, he planted over 4000 oaks and 1000 fruit trees, thus starting the valley’s deciduous fruit industry (the history of which is depicted at the Elgin Apple Museum in Grabouw). The Molteno brothers (sons of the Cape governor at the time), the Rawbone-Viljoen family and Edmund Lombardi (who created Appletiser) have also been instrumental in promoting fruit farming in the area, which also supports forestry and offers activities such as hiking, kloofing, fishing and mountain biking.

Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve: (a UNESCO site) covering 100 000 hectares, is home to the most complex biodiversity on our planet, with over 1800 different plant species, 77 of which occur nowhere else. It encompasses many different types of terrain, and has accommodation and trails on which the magnificent fynbos can be seen up close. Within the reserve is Steenbras Dam, built in 1921 to increase Cape Town’s water supply. It has since been enlarged, and is used for generating electricity, as is the Palmiet Pumped Storage Scheme (Rockview Dam), commissioned in 1979 and then regarded as a leading example of environmental engineering.

Greyton
This quiet corner in the Riviersonderend mountain range has become popular as a weekend escape for city dwellers and has a small permanent community. In 1791, Weltevreden was granted as a loan farm to MW Theunissen. It passed through a number of owners before being divided into 120 narrow plots with a leiwater system for cultivation. By 1854, all the plots had been sold or let. This quaint little settlement might have been rather different today if Thomas Bain, the renowned pass builder, had built a pass over the mountain connecting Greyton with McGregor. You can walk this route on the Boesmanskloof Trail.

Riviersonderend: (river without end) The Vigne brothers (who were related to Lady Anne Barnard) emigrated from England in 1842 and acquired Tygerhoek, which remained in the family for 120 years. Riviersonderend was established in 1922 when Edith McIntyre sold the farm (then Tierhoek) to the church council to establish a congregation. Nuwedorp was the first name suggested but an Afrikaans variation of the Khoi-na name ‘Kanna-kam-kanna’ (meaning ‘water, never-ending water’) was chosen.

Swellendam
This town, the third-oldest in South Africa and capital of the Overberg, is built on seven hills. It has been home to five South African presidents or their families. In 1745, it was named after Governor Hendrik Swellengrebel and his wife, Helena ten Damme. In 1682, Oloff Bergh reported that all the wood had been cut out of this area. Today, you can still see remnants of these mighty forests while visiting the Marloth Nature Reserve, which includes the six-day Swellendam hiking trail. The town is rich in history, with many historical buildings to visit.

Suurbraak: was established in 1812, close to a 1734 VOC outpost, at the request of the Attaqua chief who wanted a mission station started in his area by the London Missionary Society. Dr John Philip and subsequently three generations of the Helm family served the mission station. Today, Suurbraak is known for the manufacture of brooms for tourists and ‘Van Gogh’ chairs. One of its claims to fame involves dogs; early explorers at the Cape noted that Khoi-na dogs had an unusual ridge of hair down their backs. Charles Helm cross-bred these with European dogs to get the type of dog he wanted. He subsequently took some of his dogs to Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) where the breed, which became extremely popular worldwide, became known as the Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Buffeljagsrivier
Here, Baron van Imhoff established the first VOC outpost in this area to maintain some control over the burghers as they pushed ever eastward, and for protection from raiding Khoi-na groups. Today, this valley is known for its deciduous fruit orchards. The Buffeljags Dam, with fishing, birding, water sports and a zip-line, is a must for tourists.

Tradouw Pass: This spectacular 17 km pass was once a footpath for the Khoi-na. At the request of John Barry and farmers on the other side of the Swartberg, the government gave the go-ahead for Thomas Bain to build a road, which was finished in 1873. The pass was named Southey Pass but the local people kept to the original Khoi-na name, Tradouw (meaning ‘women’s path’).

Bontebok National Park: In 1837, there were only 27 bontebok left on the planet. On his farm, Nachtwacht, near Bredasdorp, Alexander van der Bijl made it his goal to increase the numbers. By 1927, there were 77 in the area and 44 at Swellendam. A dedicated reserve for these buck was called for, resulting in the establishment of the Bontebok National Park just outside Swellendam. Part of the park is on the site of the old horse-racing track.

Malgas was Joseph Barry’s port up the Breede River. It suffered economically with the collapse of his business empire and the coming of the railway. There was, therefore, no need to build a bridge, so the pont that has operated since 1860 remains the only means of crossing the river. (It is the only hand-powered working pont in South Africa today.) Malgas is now a holiday destination for those who relish the quiet life.

Napier, the arts and culture centre of this region