Cederberg Mountains – Waterfall Farm, a place to leave the city behind!

The drive to Citrusdal was stunning the little bit of rain the drought stricken Western Cape had received turned the fields an emerald green; the Winterhoek Mountains framed the rolling fields full of growing crops and grazing cattle.

The Cederberg mountains are breathtaking, the higher you climb the beauty is stark with little vegetation, mountains made up of the distinct orange rocks common in the Cederberg. The bright blue skies contrasting against the orange, if you saw these colours in a painting, you would say “that can’t be real” Mountain after mountain greets you as you wind your way through the passes to our destination.

The town of Citrusdal is an odd place, one street with a few shops and banks.  Over a weekend the town comes into its own as the farm workers descend on mass to socialise and stock up on supplies for the coming week, the farms that most live on are a long way out of town.

We stayed outside of town on Waterfall farm a working farm filled with orange groves.  An old farm house with views across the valley, which offered the most incredible sunsets, the kind that makes you laugh out loud as the colours get more vivid as the sun sinks behind the horizon.

The tall, powerful waterfall the farm is named for shoots over the rocks into the still, crystal clear pools of the Boontjesrivier. Guarded by the distinct Cederberg cliffs and chiseled boulders balancing precariously on top of one another.  The water winds its way down to the Olifants River a few km away but had done nothing to help the flow here. The falls and its pools made a relaxing place for a picnic, some chilly swims and thoughts of how lucky we were to be in such a paradise.

The fires at night, kept us warm as we watched the sun slash the sky pink at the end of the day. Good company, meat cooked over the open coals and lots of liquid to wash it all down.  I made a batch of beer from a powder I found in the supermarket that takes 24 hours to brew!!  The trepidation of tasting the fermenting liquid kept us giggling every time I looked at is progress! It was terrible,  a sour beer – yuk! Not a drink to be top of my future shopping lists…

There is nothing better than a weekend in the Wilderness with good friends.