Karoo farmstays in the Eastern Cape: Thoroughbred mares, Nguni cows and a "feather palace"

Planning to visit the Eastern Cape Karoo? From your next honeymoon destination to farm wedding venues, Julienne Du Toit shares her curated list of must-visit places in her homeland. 

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Restoring a 200-year-old farmhouse that once belonged to famous trekker Andries Pretorius from near-ruin was a work of love over many years for former owner Johan Minnaar. It had been bought by his grandfather in the 1930s, and the farmhouse structure had deteriorated to a state almost beyond repair.

Read more: Karoo farmstays in the Eastern Cape: Old stables, farm museums and railways

Now in new hands, Letskraal is a model of careful and correct restoration, and is almost certainly the most authentic 1800-era Karoo farmhouse open to travellers.

It is also one of the most beautiful Karoo farmsteads you will ever see, with classic lines and a glorious smooth lawn in summer. 

This is where Sarel Cilliers visited Pretorius, appealing to him to come to the aid of the Trekkers in Natal. Of course, he did, leaving this lovely farm to head north into uncertainty. And as befits such a historical place, there is no electricity. Dusk is a magical time, when the candles and paraffin lamps are lit, the veld purrs with cricket song and the stars outside sequin the sky.

In the words of John Battersby, a veteran South African journalist, presently living in London:

“The place is breathtaking — food for the soul and a profound lesson in the importance of history and engaging the ancestors.”

Facilities: The farmstead has five bedrooms, sleeping 11 people. If need be, another couple can sleep in the old wagon (only in summer). The two rather luxurious bathrooms are outside. There is no electricity, and no cell signal, but candles and paraffin lamps are provided, and there is a gas fridge and stove. There’s a Dutch oven if you’d like to try baking bread the old-fashioned way. Staff come to stoke the donkey water heater twice a day.

Where: About 17km along a fairly rough dirt road accessed 42km north of Graaff-Reinet or 62km south of Middelburg on the N9, just south of the Cradock road junction.

Contacts: Call Amanda Delport on 083 977 8917; letskraal@eastcape.net; www.letskraal.co.za. 

Morning Glory Cottages, Gelykfontein Farm, Venterstad

In the 1950s, around 70% of the country’s thoroughbred brood mares were based between Venterstad, Middelburg, Colesberg and the southern Free State. The reason lay in the Karoo soil — the high levels of calcium, phosphorus and other minerals gave horses strong bones. But when minerals were artificially added to horse feed in the 1970s, the Karoo’s geographic advantage fell away.

There are now only four Karoo racehorse breeders left, and Schalk van der Walt of Gelykfontein Farm, just south of the Gariep Dam, is one of them. The Van der Walt family have been on the farm since 1884, and the racehorse stud was started in 1935.

It is thanks to Schalk’s wife Christa that the guest cottage and four garden suites are sheltered under shady trees, in a lovely garden.

For guests, views of thoroughbred mares with their fillies and colts, grazing in pastures all around, are a real attraction. Guests are welcome to watch the daily rituals of leading the beautiful horses out from their spacious stables and back in at night. 

Farmer Schalk van der Walt was the first farmer (in 1983) to see the potential of Nguni cattle in the Karoo, long before they became popular. Christa and Schalk’s daughter Marene van der Walt is working alongside her father Schalk on the farming, which also includes hardy Rubicon Merinos, Meatmaster Sheep and Indigenous Veld Goats.  

Facilities: Farm Cottage is perfect for a self-catering family and can sleep four adults, with kiddies beds. Then there are four spacious garden suites that sleep two each, with room for children. They have mini-fridges and microwave ovens. There are braai facilities and braaipacks for sale from the farm, or you can order a breakfast basket or dinner basket to eat in your cottage or unit. There is a splash pool.

Where: Just off the R58 between Venterstad and the town of Gariep. Look for the large, handsome fibreglass horse at the entrance.

Contacts: call Lynette Henson on 072 773 0066 or 087 550 2550; info@morningglorycottages.co.za; morningglorycottages.co.za.

Bloemhof Farm Guesthouse, Graaff-Reinet

As you’re driving along the N9 between Middelburg and Graaff-Reinet, you may glimpse a red-roofed house, far away in a fertile valley.

This is the ‘feather palace’ homestead of Bloemhof, a 5,000-hectare sheep, Nguni cattle and game farm, intermittently owned by the Murray family since 1838. 

The architecture of the Bloemhof house is similar to the Oudtshoorn ostrich feather palaces, built in the Edwardian style with Cape Dutch and Victorian influences, complete with wide-planked yellowwood floors. The wraparound stoep offers spectacular views of sheep grazing, horses in the meadow, and the distant mountains around Graaff-Reinet.

The 10-bedroom house was built in 1912 by Arthur Murray at the height of the Feather Boom, a couple of years before the infamous Feather Bust. Arthur’s great-grandson Julian lives there now, the seventh-generation farming Murray on the land. Some of the old bedrooms have now been converted into living rooms.

This is a place where you can walk or cycle along farm tracks, explore the old shearing shed and an old abandoned farmhouse; have a sundowner on the deck in the garden. Julian can show you some of the most historic parts of the farmstead and house (which may or may not feature a ghost).

Facilities: The high-ceilinged, elegantly furnished guest accommodation (only available in peak holiday seasons and for events like the Stoeptasting weekends in Graaff-Reinet and Nieu-Bethesda) can sleep between four and twelve people. There is one double-bedroom en suite, while the rest share two private bathrooms. 

Where: Bloemhof Farm is 32km north of Graaff-Reinet, on a good gravel road leading off the N9. It is also conveniently close to Nieu-Bethesda’s tar road.

Contact: Call or WhatsApp Julian on 082 325 6037; bloemhof@yebo.co.za. 

Wheatlands Country House, Graaff-Reinet

During the feather boomtime of the early 1900s, Karoo farmer Arthur Tucker Parkes built his beloved wife Lily a gracious new home. It was an ostrich palace in every sense of the word, well-appointed with spacious rooms, stained glass windows, pressed ceilings and wood-panelled walls, a piano and a drawing room.

This has now become the guest accommodation at Wheatlands Farm, about 50km south of Graaff-Reinet. Some rooms are en suite, others share a bathroom. The furnishings make you feel as if you are staying in your posh aunt’s comfortable home. 

Wheatlands is still farmed by the same family (the Parkes and the Shorts, who have owned it since 1849), now in its eighth generation. These days, though, it is more about sheep and Angora goats than ostriches. Wheatlands was one of the very first mohair farms in the Eastern Cape, and retains a proud tradition of producing fine quality mohair.

The family’s generosity was also legendary. Arthur Parkes once chased over several hundred goats into Ebenezer Hobson’s lands after his neighbour lost thousands in a freezing storm just after the Anglo-Boer War. 

“Please take them. I cannot stand the brutes,” he lied.

Facilities: The entire farmhouse sleeps 12 people in two en suite rooms, four twin rooms and two shared bathrooms. You could either self-cater or request meals (which are delicious). The dining room and lounge have fireplaces for cosy winter evenings. There is WiFi, and you should definitely request a pin for the Karoo Sundowner Spot. If local teams are playing a cricket match on the farm, don’t miss it.

Where: Wheatlands is 50km south of Graaff-Reinet, 8km off the R75 between Graaff-Reinet and Jansenville. 

Contact: WhatsApp or call Kirsten Short on 072 251 9022; enquiries@wheatlands.co.za.

For an insider’s view on life in the South African Heartland, get the Karoo Quartet set of books (Karoo Roads I-IV with black and white photographs) for only R960, including taxes and courier costs in South Africa. For more details, contact Julie at julie@karoospace.co.za