Graaff-Reinet. Fossils from millions of years ago. The Valley of Desolation.
And the Drostdy Hotel. This historical town is worth exploring.
The fourth oldest town in South Africa deserves more than a stopover on the drive down to the Cape.
Established by the Dutch East India Company in 1786, Graaff-Reinet was originally established as a trading post, expanding trade inland from the Cape. This Eastern Cape Province town was the starting point for Great Trek groups, and here you’ll find more national monuments than in any other town in the country. So there’s history. And it’s everywhere. And it makes for a fascinating – and massively enjoyable – destination.
Base yourselves at the grand, gorgeous Drostdy Hotel, which was built in the early 1800s and turned into a hotel in 1878. A century or so later, it was bought by Anton Rupert (who grew up in the town) in conjunction with Historical Homes of South Africa. After Rupert’s death 20 years ago, it was refurbished and donated by the Rupert family to the SA College of Tourism.
The hotel is glorious … with firm nods to the historical Cape Dutch influence and traditional Karoo aesthetics. It’s all plush armchairs and sofas and acres of botanical and bird prints, walls of antelope skulls and antique writing tables, and carefully curated ornaments. The gardens are magnificent, landscaped to perfection, with sculptures in the grounds, and many rooms – once old workers’ cottages – grouped around central, private pools, with loungers to relax in and quiet little nooks to hide with a book and a bottle of wine.
Talking wine, there’s an elegant cellar, The Vinoteque, lined with bottle after bottle of exceptional wine … this is Rupert country, after all! A lovely option is a private wine tasting with the resident sommelier … a tasting of four or five wines takes about an hour; the charcuterie board served with this gives added appeal.
Graaff-Reinet appears to have a good restaurant on every corner, but we wouldn’t bother leaving the hotel. Breakfasts (don’t hesitate to order the eggs Bennie with salmon on a potato rosti), lunches (if you finish the Wagyu beef burger, you’re a hungry bugger) and dinners (the lamb curry and pearl barley risotto vie for top spot, while the three-course set menu is fine, fine dining) are served in De Camdeboo – a proper old-school restaurant – or out on the pretty verandah if the weather plays nice.
If you’re feeling sociable and festive, there’s a cozy bar (if it’s chilly, be sure to explore the warm cocktail options … hot chocolate with Baileys went down a treat); if you’re after a little quiet time, there’s a library and lounge, or head to the hotel’s Africology spa, the inviting Wijnkamer wine shop, and the Imibala Art Gallery, which showcases local artists and has regularly updated exhibitions featuring diverse collections for viewing and for sale.
A private wine tasting. A Wagyu burger. And an Africology spa treatment.
Happy days.
After all that, you’re exhausted … and the bedrooms and suites hold massive appeal. Decorated in typical Karoo style, they’re fabulously luxurious … vast comfy beds, enormous baths that take forever to fill (blissfully indulgent), some smaller bachelor-size rooms ideal for business travellers, others more generously sized with dedicated relaxing areas … all with every amenity you could wish for, and then some! And there are a few pet-friendly rooms, for those travelling with their best friends.
Rooms from R2400 per room (low season, two people sharing) per night, which includes breakfast.
Details: drostdy.co.za, or 049 892 2161
Don’t leave town without …
A visit to the Valley of Desolation in the Camdeboo National Park – one of the town’s main tourist attractions. More than 100 000 people visit annually. Majestic dolerite cliffs and columns – believed to be a product of volcanic forces that have taken 200 million years to form – breathtaking views over the Karoo that are far more beautiful than its name suggests. There are also a few hikes with viewpoints and a picnic spot … Ask The Drostdy team to pack you up a picnic basket and spend a few hours there. Spectacular sunsets! Also look out for the wildlife … gemsbok and kudu, buffalo and Cape Mountain Zebra, and birds for Africa.
Another must to add to your itinerary is a visit to Karoo Origins – The Fossil Centre. In 1934, Dr Sidney Rubidge, a Merino farmer in the area, was asked by his 10-year-old daughter, Peggy, what fossils were and where they were found. The two went off searching and found a collection of ‘bony-stones’, one of which revealed recognisable features … three parallel bones, which eventually proved to be the three front teeth of a large carnivorous reptile.
This discovery was the start of Rubidge’s fossil collection, one that bought him worldwide recognition. Five months ago his grandson, Bruce Rubidge, opened The Fossil Centre – just across the road from The Drostdy, a no-expense-spared research and exhibition centre with hundreds of fossils – discoveries from rocks in the area that go back 300 million years. You can see fossils that give evidence of a mass extinction that happened 252 million years ago, with 90 percent of the species at that time being obliterated within a relatively short space of time. It’s a mind-boggling experience … a journey into the world a million years ago, one filled with incredible creatures that lived long before the dinosaurs, including the ancestors of tortoises, lizards, mammals and humans. There’s an animated video, and visitors can watch a technician exposing fossils from the surrounding rock. The centre is an NPO, which plans to provide education outreach, and a walk-around or guided tour that will fascinate visitors of all ages. So worthwhile!
Not much of a weekend away without a little shopping… and credit cards will burn at the boutiques in the town. Decor, leather goods, delis, sensational mohair knits and throws – this is prime Angora goat farming area and is known for mohair and delis. Hello You is highly recommended for lunch or a snack, and pop into the Afrikanis Rum Tasting Room for a bottle to take home.
Details: Karoo Origins The Fossil Centre – fossilcentre.co.za
Valley of Desolation – sanparks.org
