Karreekloof since 1881

Why the name Karreekloof? No one really knows, but it could be because of the many Karee trees that grew in the kloof on the farm.

It is a farm rich in history and formed part of the Anglo Boer War. Many famous people’s footsteps lie here. Time can tell many stories they say.

For Karreekloof time is much needed to understand and appreciate every little detail of information. Fortunately, Peter Wright, the previous owner of Karreekloof, who still stays on the farm, shares endless stories, history, and lifelong experiences through his eyes as well as stories told by his father and grandfather. Four generations since 1822 and still stories are being told.

Karreekloof was once a trading store known as Lilienfeld & Wright. Many of the historical experiences may be of interest to the current generations and those to come. Although farming was the primary activity at Karreekloof, trading with Afrikaner cattle, Catalonian donkeys, and black head Persian sheep was as important.

The famous writer Olive Schreiner spent much of her time at Karreekloof writing one of her famous books, The Story of an African Farm. The Boer War, however, brought its hardships and difficulties to Karreekloof. A British officer Lieutenant Logan of Nesbitt’s horse was shot on the farm, which was buried in the small farm cemetery.

On 17 July 1962 former South African President PW Botha visited the farm leaving a letter in which he thanked the family of Karreekloof for their hospitality and kindness. “I hope that it will rain soon so that the farming interests may flourish,” was his wishes to the Wrights. Always interesting to know, that no matter where footsteps are being left, it always leaves a mark of some sort of history. It all depends on how you leave it.

This is why owner Wiaan van der Linde puts in all efforts to keep every little bit of history alive at Karreekloof through the new facelift and a museum – telling the stories of a long time ago.

Karreekloof a unique Game Lodge

What makes Karreekloof so unique? A place rich in so much history late evening stories around the campfire already play a major role in shaping the piece of earth.

With its wide plains, windmills that are continuously turning around with every day’s mercy. Animals that each find a unique piece in the field to multiply their survival. Plants that can still display their beautiful side through heavy days.

One of the most beautiful characteristics of Karreekloof is the unique Shepard’s Tree. These trees grow in dry areas. The Latin name is Boscia Albitrunca and if I translate the Afrikaans name, ‘witgatboom’, to English, it literally means a tree with a white bottom:) A good name for these trees, as their trunks are white, of course. What makes them so beautiful, are their trunks that bend and turn and have the nicest forms, picture perfect.

With the white walls from home to storage each with their own characteristics and rounded new ‘facelift’, you can get ‘lost’ in thoughts drinking an early cup of coffee on the porch watching the steam slowly evaporating from the cup into thin air.

Appreciate the silence without any noise in your ears, breathe in the fresh air and just blast away from your everyday work.

Every place on earth is unique in its own way, every human being is different. Not all animals and plants have the same characteristics. People can make decisions and choose where the wheels of their cars should turn. May the unique Karreekloof ‘village’, as we call it, take your breath away when driving through our gates.

“I hope you spend your days but they all add up and when that sun goes down, hope you raise your cup.”

 

A Karoo road trip

A Karoo road trip is one of the best ways to travel the vast expanse that is the Karoo.

“Its particular rare mix of rugged mountains, vast open spaces, idiosyncratic little towns, star-studded skies devoid of light pollution, sheep farms, and back of beyond windmills make it road trip country like nowhere else in the world.”

There are many ways to do a Karoo road trip:

Route 62, the world’s longest wine route that winds through the Klein Karoo. The upper Karoo sparsely populated plains southwest of Kimberley.

No matter what Karoo road trip you choose, here are a series of great places to stop.

Kimberley, the surprisingly interesting town and site of South Africa’s Big Hole, Kimberley might have begun as a diamond rush town but today its wide streets are lined with Victorian mansions, museums, galleries, gardens, battlefields and ghost routes aplenty.

Victoria West, its name might hale from the Victorian era. The only thing Victorian about the town today is its charming architecture. It survived both the effects of a disastrous flood in 1871 and the deluge of wagons en route between Cape Town and the diamond rush town of Hopetown, during the late 1880s. Today it’s a typical Karoo dorpie with plenty of accommodation and good antique shops.

This area of little rainfall, blue and cloudless skies, and extreme temperatures may have acted as a barrier to the interior from Cape Town for early settlers.  Today it has come out of isolation to become a major tourist attraction – its immense spaces, incredible mountains, idiosyncratic towns and promise of escape the reason for its popularity.

‘ Roads were made for journeys, not destinations’

Karreekloof since 1881

Why the name Karreekloof? No one really knows, but it could be because of the many Karee trees that grew in the kloof on the farm.

It is a farm rich in history and formed part of the Anglo Boer War. Many famous people’s footsteps lie here. Time can tell many stories they say. For Karreekloof time is much needed to understand and appreciate every little detail of information.

Fortunately, Peter Wright, the previous owner of Karreekloof, who still stays on the farm, shares endless stories, history, and lifelong experiences through his eyes as well as stories told by his father and grandfather. Four generations since 1822 and still stories are being told.

Karreekloof was once a trading store known as Lilienfeld & Wright. Many of the historical experiences may be of interest to the current generations and those to come.
Although farming was the primary activity at Karreekloof, trading with Afrikaner cattle, Catalonian donkeys, and black head Persian sheep was as important.

The famous writer Olive Schreiner spent much of her time at Karreekloof writing one of her famous books, The Story of an African Farm.

The Boer War, however, brought its hardships and difficulties to Karreekloof. A British officer Lieutenant Logan of Nesbitt’s horse was shot on the farm, which was buried in the small farm cemetery.

On 17 July 1962 former South African President PW Botha visited the farm leaving a letter in which he thanked the family of Karreekloof for their hospitality and kindness. “I hope that it will rain soon so that the farming interests may flourish,” was his wishes to the Wrights.
Always interesting to know, that no matter where footsteps are being left, it always leaves a mark of some sort of history. It all depends on how you leave it.

This is why owner Wiaan van der Linde puts in all efforts to keep every little bit of history alive at Karreekloof through the new facelift and a museum – telling the stories of a long time ago.

 

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

sandwich

Bread, butter and Cheddar cheese

Here’s a way to make this classic sandwich in a nonstick pan:

Ingredients

Directions

Preheat skillet over medium heat. Generously butter one side of a slice of bread. Place bread butter-side-down onto skillet bottom and add 1 slice of cheese. Butter a second slice of bread on one side and place butter-side-up on top of sandwich. Grill until lightly browned and flip over; continue grilling until cheese is melted. Repeat with remaining 2 slices of bread, butter and slice of cheese.

Tip:

Aluminum foil can be used to keep food moist, cook it evenly, and make clean-up easier.

KAROO CUISINE

eating

Eating and drinking in the Karoo is a culinary experience not to be missed.

The Karoo is a large area with many towns! The region offers a variety of traditional and wholesome Karoo dining experiences to suit all tastes and budgets! From the deliciously diverse flavors of South Africa’s indigenous and multi-cultural rainbow cuisine to culinary specialties from all over the world.

The Karoo is well known for its Lamb.

It is believed that Karoo lamb is tastier and more flavorsome than lamb from other regions, the reason being the different types of shrubbery which the sheep in this region feed on. The fragrant bushes in the Karoo impart an unmistakable ‘herbiness’ to the lamb. Here, the sheep roam freely on farms eating the Karoo vegetation to their heart’s content!

Braaivleis (BBQ): The word braaivleis is Afrikaans for “roasted meat.” The word braai (pronounced “bry”, rhyming with the word “cry”; plural braais) is Afrikaans for “barbecue” or “roast” and is a social custom in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. It originated with the Afrikaner people but has since been adopted by South Africans of many ethnic backgrounds.

The word vleis are Afrikaans for “meat”.

Bobotie: Bobotie, a staple of South African cuisine. It is believed to have originated with the Dutch and gets its name from the Indonesian word “Bobotok”. Bobotie has been part of the South African cuisine since about the 27th century. Back then it was made mainly with mutton and pork which were combined.

Nowadays it is usually made using either beef or lamb mince. Dried fruits such as raisins and apricots can also be added. Flavored with mild curry, the mince is then topped with a milk and egg mixture and baked in the oven. Usually served with yellow rice with raisins.

http://www.south-africa-info.co.za/country/article/279/karoo-cuisine

Safari Stories

To wake up in the morning hearing no noisy car alarms or the honking of an annoying motor vehicle is a song in my ears!

What’s better than to wake up in the bush to the chorus of a new day. The birds are tuning their loud instruments for the morning show. The bush orchestra is ready to play their daily tune of spectacular music.

“Nowhere on earth (and possibly space either) can the senses as well as the emotions wallow in a combination of stimulate such as are found in the African bush. -Peter Hathaway-

The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner makes you feel that a holiday is just as good as an African Safari.

‘The full African moon poured down its light from the blue sky into the wide, lonely plain. The dry, sandy earth, with its coating of stunted ‘karroo’ bushes a few inches high, the low hills that skirted the plain, the milk-bushes with their long finger-like leaves, all were touched by a weird and an almost oppressive beauty as they lay in the white light.

In one spot only was the solemn monotony of the plain broken. Near the center, a small solitary ‘kopje’ rose. Alone it lay there, a heap of round iron-stones piled one upon another, as over some giant’s grave. Here and there a few tufts of grass or small succulent plants had sprung up among its stones, and on the very summit a clump of prickly-pears lifted their thorny arms, and reflected, as from mirrors, the moonlight on their broad fleshy leaves.’

An African Safari, take the joyride and smell the fresh air.

Karreekloof

Karreekloof and the long-lost history that lies ahead.

There is not a day that goes by and yet another story is unveiled about Karreekloof. History always makes the heart grow fonder.

The beautiful words by Mr. Hewett wrote on the 10 November 1956 (an old school friend of Mr. Peter Wright former owner of Karreekloof)

Karreekloof

Twilight descends on the desert plains;

The crimson cloak of eve enfolds the hills –

Billows of gold in the dying light –

Far, far away the retiring sun

Hovers on the brim,

And beyond the plains of evening

A new day sprouts.

High in the nights sky a lone vulture wheels

And plummets to his prey;

The pining sheep stand clustered

Round a trough

Slaking the parched thirst of the desert.

Set in a modest valley like a gem

Lies an oasis silent and replete

And the voice of Nature

Enhancing the Solitudes.

Karreekloof a Unique Game Lodge

What makes Karreekloof so unique? A place rich in so much history late evening stories around the campfire already play a major role in shaping the piece of earth.

With its wide plains, windmills that are continuously turning around with every day’s mercy. Animals that each find a unique piece of the field to multiply their survival. Plants that can still display their beautiful side through heavy days.

One of the most beautiful characteristics of Karreekloof is the unique ‘witgatboom’. These trees grow in dry areas. The Latin name is Boscia Albitrunca and if I translate the Afrikaans name, ‘witgatboom’, to English, it literally means a tree with a white bottom:) A good name for these trees, as their trunks are white, of course. What makes them so beautiful, are their trunks that bend and turn and have the nicest forms, picture perfect.

With the white walls from home to storage each with their own characteristics and rounded new ‘facelift’, you can get ‘lost’ in thoughts drinking an early cup of coffee on the porch watching the steam slowly evaporating from the cup into thin air. Appreciate the silence without any noise in your ears, breathe in fresh air and just blast away from your everyday work.

Every place on earth is unique in its own way, every human being is different. Not all animals and plants have the same characteristics. People can make decisions and choose where the wheels of their cars should turn. May the unique Karreekloof ‘village’, as we call it, take your breath away when driving your car wheels through our gates.

“I hope you spend your days but they all add up and when that sun goes down, hope you raise your cup.”

Food lovers

Potjiekos (“Small pot of food”) originated with the Voortrekkers, evolving as a stew made of venison and vegetables cooked in the potjie.

Traditionally, the recipe includes meat, vegetables, and potatoes all slow-cooked with various spices. Traditionally, the liquid should never be added to the pot and the contents should never be stirred, as the lid keeps all liquids and flavors circulating throughout cooking. Usually served with rice or “mielie pap”.

LAMB CURRY POTIJIE

Lamb curry potjie is a real favorite of most South Africans! Especially in the winter time and when you want to entertain large crowds without having to spend hours in the kitchen. The recipe serves six.

750g x 2 cubed lamb ( you can use half beef and half lamb, but it is nicer if you use only lamb)

4-5 sweet potatoes peeled and cut in large chunks

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander seed

1 teaspoon chili jam

2 teaspoons garam masala

1cm ginger peeled and grated

6 garlic cloves crushed

2 bay leaves

1/4 ground turmeric

1 tablespoon oil

2 onions chopped

800g tin peeled tomatoes

Liquidize the tin peeled tomatoes in the food processor. Fry the onions in the oil remove the onions. Use the same pot to dry fry the herbs and spices for a moment. Add the onions and the liquidized tomatoes. Add the meat bring to boil. Cook for 1 hour on the stove top with the lid on the pot. If too dry you can add half a cup of water. Add sweet potatoes cook for another hour or till sweet potatoes are tender. The sweet potato thickens the sauce. Eat and enjoy. The mild curry freezes well.