Quiet, forgotten backroads in the middle of nowhere often yield some of the most fantastic opportunities for holidaymakers in South Africa.
This was definitely the case with Moolmanshoek in the Ficksburg district of the eastern Free State. Set in a tranquil valley fed by the Witteberg, Moolmanshoek is like history coming to life. It’s a horse-breeding farm steeped in a long and distinguished ancestry.
Moolmanshoek is also a pristine nature reserve and natural heritage site with its own sandstone farmhouse offering 15 four-star en-suite rooms on 3 000ha of rolling moors and open veld.
The impressive Visierskerf which, at 2 407m is the third-highest mountain range in the country, dominates the skyline and pastures are dotted with springbok, black wildebeest, blesbuck, zebra, ostrich and a variety of other game species indigenous to the area. The flora includes rare African bamboo which grows in abundance on the farm.
What makes Moolmanshoek really special is a small, cute creature which millions of people around the world have fallen in love with – the meerkat. Walk with Meerkats, a tourism-based programme aimed at bringing people into close contact with nature, is based at Moolmanshoek.
“The experience of walking with wild meerkats in their natural habitat leaves people awestruck and with an enormous sense of peace and closeness to nature. I have watched guests who were jaded after the big-five experience reawaken after a few hours of walking with these charismatic little creatures,” said Wendy Wilson, who heads research into meerkats.
The programme includes conservation, tourism, filming and research to enrich all those involved. Wendy and her assistant, Shelton Kanyoka, habituate wild groups of meerkats to human presence so they accept people in their lives as just another part of their landscape.
The result is that Moolmanshoek’s meerkats, seeking a high point from which to perform sentinel duty, will often choose the head of a seated person as the perfect spot.
“I have lived and walked with meerkats for two years in Springbok (South Africa) and the Makgadikgadi Pans (Botswana),” said Wilson. “One of my greatest achievements is the many hours I have served as a meerkat sentinel post. The daily scent marking that I undergo by the dominant male is testimony to the fact that I am completely accepted within the meerkat family.”
Meerkat adventures notwithstanding, there’s much more to do at Moolmanshoek, with game drives, hiking trails, fishing, abseiling and horse trails to name but a few.
But the meerkats definitely steal the show. Children, especially, are captivated by the meerkats and adults are reduced to a childhood state in their levels of excitement and awe at being able to interact with the often playful critters.
You learn all there is to know about the meerkats, their diet, their habits and what hunts them, and can sit for hours on end while they forage around you, climb on you and generally treat you as one of the family. At the end of the day you get to go back to the lodge and a roaring log fire and a sumptuous home-cooked meal.
The atmosphere in the farmhouse is perfect for unwinding and the place is an absolute haven from the pressures of everyday life in the urban fast lane and a sure-fire cure for city-slicker stress.
The game drives, like the rest of life here in this forgotten corner of the country, are leisurely affairs designed to encourage a full appreciation of the incredible scenery. Nothing is rushed, everything takes place in its natural way and the days seem to run into one another effortlessly, capped by some of the best-quality sleep possible, brought on, no doubt, by the purity of the air.
It’s impossible not to relax here and, for that reason alone, Moolmanshoek is one of South Africa’s true hidden treasures.
The lowdown:
Moolmanshoek is 35km away from Ficksburg and 20km from Rosendal in the eastern Free State. It’s a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Johannesburg, four hours from Pretoria and two-and-a-half hours from Bloemfontein.
Prices start at about R550 per person sharing for dinner, bed, breakfast, a light lunch and selected activities.
A cheaper option exists for just a dinner, bed and breakfast experience with prices starting at about R400 per person per night sharing.
Moolmanshoek offers horse safaris too, with accommodation either in the lodge or in self-catering hiking huts from R150 per person per night with a minimum booking of four riders. You can take part in either full-day (R450), half-day (R220) or two-hour (R170) horse trails, accompanied by a well-trained guide.
The Walk With Meerkats programme is an extra activity not included in the Moolmanshoek rates. For info on the meerkats and current rates, visit www.walkwithmeerkats.co.za or contact Wendy Wilson on 082 924 8543.