Sandile's RestStutterheim, Eastern Cape, South Africa Selfsorg | (POA) |
Sandile's Rest is a one hundred-hectare mountain retreat with its own trout farm, timber plantations, indigenous forests, streams, wetlands, and wildlife. Once arrived, the sights, sounds, and smells will make you feel a world away.
There are two trout dams on the premise, plus you have at your disposal the 108ha Gubu and 9ha Maden dams for fly fishing. Local wildlife is abundant but you'll need to be quiet to spot the animals. Summer is great for long, lazy days with a bit of fishing but the cooler months are the real-time for trout and cuddling up in front of a cheery fire, sipping sherry while watching the mist roll in. Our Canadian style log cabins put the ?R? in romantic.
Scenic walks through the plantations and indigenous forests will lead you between stinkwood, ironwood, and yellowwood trees, plus at least 80 other tree species, some of which are labelled so that you can look and learn. There are streamside trails too where the tinkling water is the music and the pretty plants set amongst the rocks, the show. Or one can just chill at a wetland, soaking up the serenity and waiting to see what will come and go. There are more than 100 bird species to watch out for, including the very special (and now very rare) Cape parrot.
Take a picnic, take a stroll or a quick trail run; you choose the pace. For the more adventurous we have horses and mountain bikes. For the fisherman, there are the two farm dams, one with bass and rainbow trout, the other with rainbows only, and once you've had some fishing practice you can try the nearby Gubu and Maden dams for a change of equally breathtaking scenery. If the kids get restless, there's still always the beach or the movies, 95 km away.