India House

Wellington, Cape Winelands, Western Cape, South Africa

POA

Farm

Rainer Kloos

Property Consultant

Office +27 21 790 0972‬ or ‪+27 79 595 0080‬

“A boundless, utopian paradise”

Bastiaanskloof is a private nature reserve, situated in the historic and dramatic mountain pass of Bainskloof, one-and-a-half-hour’s drive from Cape Town. The spectacularly sheer and winding Bainskloof Pass, 28km in length, was built by Andrew Geddes Bain (known as the ‘man with the theodolite eyes’), using convict labour and primitive tools, such as picks and shovels, sledgehammers, handheld rock drills, steel wedges and gunpowder to hack and blast through almost impossible terrain – a remarkable feat of engineering.

It took 1608 working days or 53 days per kilometre, from February 1849 to 14 September 1853 to open the way to the north via Michell’s pass to Ceres and the Karoo beyond. The pass cost about R100 000 to construct. It was tarred in 1935 and declared a national monument in 1980. Today, Bastiaanskloof remains a pristine place of beauty and contains over 800 species of fynbos tree, shrub and plant species and a wide range of fauna, including leopard, klipspringer, black eagles, angulate tortoises, African clawless otters, giant musk shrews, spectacled doormice,blackbacked jackals and Cape horseshoe bats, among others. In late winter,there are king proteas in bloom and in spring and summer, orchid-like disas near the water.

This private nature reserve boasts access to spectacular mountain hikes and trails and two main perennial rivers, the Witte river and the Bastiaanskloofriver. Both of these rivers have beautiful waterfalls and natural pools and are still sparsely populated with indigenous Cape galaxias, Cape kurper and Breede River redfin and has five lovely areas for swimming.

The property forms part of the Boland Mountain Complex in the Cape Floristic region, one of eight areas in South Africa designated by UNESCO as World Heritage sites. Places as unique and diverse as the wilds of East Africa’s Serengeti, the pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the baroque cathedrals of Latin America make up UNESCO’S World heritage site.

In summer, the highlight of anyone’s visit is to take a dip in the cool, clear water to cleanse, invigorate and relax. The riverbanks are ideal places for picnics. In the evening, guests cook up a storm, set the table outside under the stars and enjoy long drawn-out meals with plenty

of wine and conversation. In winter, evenings are spent inside playing games, snug and happy in front of the fire. Some are up before sunrise for a walk and others lie in with a book. And if you can rouse yourself, you can access invigorating mountain trails near the pass.