A Feast of Fynbos
Text and Pictures: Romi Boom. Article from the Spring 2013 issue of Wild Magazine.
In the heart of Agulhas National Park, truly isolated and remote, Rietfontein Guest Cottages wait to be discovered.
A flamboyant Cape sugarbird male ignores my presence and lands with aplomb on a bright orange pincushion. I’m a lone witness to the blissful sucking of nectar from this jewel of the veld. What gorgeous creatures!
Having quenched his thirst, the sugarbird flits off. A few seconds later a female arrives. She is drab but equally comfortable in my company. I get a few shots of the thirsty bird with the Rietfontein farmstead in the background. An ancient stone ring wall is all that separates the accommodation from the splendour of protea and heath shrubland.
Rietfontein, one of the original and oldest Strandveld farms, is situated 63km from the Cape Agulhas Lighthouse off the Struisbaai / Elim road. A stock post was established here in the late 1700s, against the southern slope of Soetanysberg, from which the coast can be viewed. The historic homestead was built as a “langhuis” (long house) and has been carefully reconstructed after its destruction by veld fires. It offers the best of both worlds: modern comforts and a far-off retreat from the hustle and bustle of civilisation. The Langhuis’ three two-bed units, each with its own bathroom, kitchen and braai facilities, are cosy and homely. The old barn houses another two-bed unit and a function room, making the venue ideal for small groups.
The plant diversity in this part of the park is amazing. The Agulhas Plain has some of the largest surviving lowland heathland and renosterveld in the country. Soetanysberg alone harbours seven different heathland types on its slopes and ridge. Proteas, ericas, daisy-type Asteraceae and restios abound.
From Rietfontein to the coast is a short 4 km hike or drive past inland saltpans and freshwater wetlands. Near one of these, I enjoyed a memorable sighting of a black harrier in flight with a small snake that it had caught moments before. It had me in raptures, just one more highlight in a weekend of glorious solitude.
Reservations: R615 a night for 1-2 people until 31 October 2013. Book with Agulhas National Park on 028 435 6222.
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