South Africa self drive holiday, food and wine

Community
The route takes visitors to some less-travelled villages. Many have drawn artists and craftspeople and their work can be seen in the various markets and galleries along the route. Employment in these areas is scarce and income from visitors who purchase locally crafted items is much valued.

The Farmhouse’s enthusiastic nature conservation officer has encouraged the formation of an Eco-Schools club at a nearby school, which makes regular visits, and leadership camps have been held in the reserve for local high school children.
Environment
The game reserve is recognised for its work in reintroducing locally extinct hippo, elephant, buffalo, cheetah, lion and various indigenous antelope species to the reserve, conserving indigenous rock art heritage and for initiating an ambitious rehabilitation programme that aims to introduce white lions into the wild. This rare animal has been virtually wiped out in the Timbavati region, where they are endemic. The reserve has integrated some wild tawny lions with the white lions in order to increase the success of the white lions to be self-sustaining and free-ranging.

This trip uses some luxury boutique accommodations where the focus is on organically produced food, sustainable tourism initiatives and genuine hospitality. For instance, the Farmhouse is acknowledged as a member of South Africa’s Fair Trade in Tourism because of its 4000 hectare fynbos nature reserve. It is home to many rare plant species, an important population of the endangered geometric tortoise, herds of eland, springbok, bontebok, black wildebeest, red hartebeest and zebras from the world famous Quagga Project.