This is our final morning at Bushman’s Kloof before heading into South Africa’s wine region. Our morning rock art drive is to the Brandhoek shelter. We have another couple joining us on the drive along with Nigel and Allison. The walk to the site is pretty cool with fantastic rock formations.
Brandhoek is a small shelter used by the San and a tight fit for our group. Lot’s of contortion are required to see many of the paintings! The art has some interesting features. Most of the figures are male with some carrying quivers, bows & arrows but another (also male) appears to be holding a ‘digging stick’, used by woman to dig up bulbs & roots. Mysterious. Another interesting image is of a female ‘goddess figure’ with a mantis-like head. Very unusual.
A nearby shelter is thought to be one used more recently by the KhoiKhoi tribe and contains nothing but handprints on the rock faces. The prints are very small, as were the Khoi..
After our rock art drive we enjoyed a final breakfast with 2 of our favorite waiters (one had a great name – ‘Honor’) then it’s back to our villa to finish packing before our driver Taryn comes to collect us for the drive back to civilization. Staying at the Kloof was a real treat.
Our next stop is a 3-hour drive to the town of Stellenbosch (‘Stells Forest’) and the start of our wine touring days. Along the way we paused at a popular rest area at the top of the Pakhuispas Mountain Pass for a bathroom and snack opportunity. There are some interesting folks around these parts.
We are staying at the ‘Bonne Esperance Guesthouse’ in downtown Stellenbosch for a few days. Built in 1907 as a private home, it is a beautiful example of the late Victorian architecture common in the area at that time. Since then, it has been restored and expanded into a two-building complex built around an English style courtyard. The staff was able to secure us a coveted reservation at The Fat Butcher, normally booked months in advance. This place is known for its steaks and wine list. We both ordered the Grosvenor – a prime filet with foraged mushrooms and a yummy sauce paired with a Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon. Probably the best steak we have ever eaten.
We finished the evening with a glass of wine on our porch overlooking the courtyard.