Location
The farm sits on both the Southern and Northern sides of the Groot Winterhoek mountain range, West of Uitenhage. It’s in between Groendal nature reserve to the East and West and also encompasses the Zungu Mountains to the South and the start of the Karoo to the North.
Size
Made up of 9 titles, the property is approximately 5562 hectares in extent.
Description
This property is perhaps one of the last true stretches of pristine Wilderness outside of the Baviaanskloof. Despite its relative proximity to the Urban centres of Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth, it remains extremely remote due to the formidable escarpment that guards the phenomenal private access road to the property. The property encompasses a large stretch of both the Zungu and Groot Winterhoek ranges with its vast
plateaus, before plunging down into the Kwazunga gorge where the river of the same name has carved itself a picturesque meandering valley. The surrounding topography is as dramatic as it comes, with a series of deep and heavily wooded drainage lines interspersed with often knifelike, elevated ridges interspersed with flat well grassed plateaus. Multiple cliff faces orientated to multiple compass angles adorn the property and of these, many have evidence of expansive cave and overhang systems.
The river itself is one of the prettier you will encounter and even during the extended drought of the last 8 years, it maintained a few permanent pools and currently once again enjoys a healthy flow rate forming a series of picturesque cascades and deep, shaded pools. There is 9km of actual Kwazunga River traversing the property with lots of tributaries and drainage lines perpendicular to its meandering course, some of which also boast permanent water during normal rainfall years.
Veld types
This farm is ecologically diverse consisting of no fewer than 4 of the country’s eight biomes. The fynbos biome is found on the elevated soils on the ridges, the subtropical thicket biome on the more fertile soils to the North and in the fire protected valleys. The grassland biome occurs mainly on the flat and sloping surfaces of the foothills and the forest biome mostly in the sheltered moist ravines along the drainage lines and the Kwazunga River. Grass species found are predominately couch grass, the aristida species, a healthy covering of Themeda (“Rooigras”), intermittent stands of hetrapogon and merxmuella. The shaded, more nutrient rich stretches along the valley floors have a good covering of pannicums, eragrostis curvula and what I believe to be sporobolis.
Plant species found include:
Fynbos biome - various proteas (e.g. broad-leaf sugarbush and pincushions), ericas and restioids. Two species of indigenous cycads (mainly Encephalartos longifolius) - survivors from an ancient era, are found in concentrations I have not encountered elsewhere in the province.
Subtropical thicket biome - Sweet thorn, Shepard Tree, Jacket Plum, Common guarri, Sneezewood, Cabbage tree, Wild olive, False olive, Boerboon (Schotia afra), Num-num, Euphorbia and Spekboom.
Forest biome - White stinkwood, Red stinkwood, Outeniqua yellowwoods, Tierhout, Cape ash, Cape fig, Cape plain, White ironwood, Milkwood, Gardenia, Candlewood,
Kamassi and ferns etc.
Karoo biome - Grazing is supplemented by a variety of edible karoo bushes and herbaceous succulents.
Rainfall
Due to the watershed effect of the Groot Winterhoek mountain range the annual average will range from 500mm in the South to 350mm in the North.
Improvements
The farm boasts a massive stone lodge in excess of 1100m2 with mostly double volume ceilings throughout plus 10 fireplaces. The lodge has 4 huge bedrooms and all are en-suite with private lounging area plus there’s a fifth more compact bedroom and a guest toilet. The large farm style kitchen has solid timber cabinets plus there’s a pantry. Living areas are similarly of a grand scale and include: 2 lounges, conversation nook, 2 dining areas and a billiards room. There is a nearby workshop, meat processing area and staff accommodation totaling +- 215m2. There is no Eskom power since the owner preferred to go off grid with solar and generator power.
The farm has an abundance of water in the form of various springs plus water is pumped (solar) from the permanent river to an elevated reservoir. There is also an equipped borehole with water being piped to a cement reservoir which in turn feeds a large drinking trough/pan. There’s a weir on the one neighbouring farm that can be used for gravity feeding sweet water to the farm and historically this water was used to keep 2 earth dams topped up for flood irrigating the +- 3ha of old lands.
The access roads and internal road network are mostly well maintained and easily traversable allowing access to most corners of the farm. The farm is enclosed by a combination of game and stock fencing plus some areas are open to the reserve.
Wildlife species
Includes: Kudu, Bushbuck, Impala, Mt. Reedbuck, Klipspringer, Duiker, Grysbok, Bush pig, Cape Mountain Leopard and Cape clawless Otter as well as other smaller mammals. In addition there have been reported sightings of Eland which move in and out of this unrestricted space.
Bird species of special interest include Green Turacos (Knysna loeries), Half Collared Kingfisher, Scaly throated Honey guide, Cape rock-jumper, Orange-breasted Sunbird, chorister Robin as well as Black and Martial Eagle.
Conclusion
True wilderness in Africa is becoming an increasingly rare commodity. True wilderness within 100km of a major city and airport is almost unheard of. It is only the massive sandstone bastions that guard the entrance to this secret valley, and the resultant limited public accessibility, that have protected this space from the irreversible “progress” that accompanies commercial agriculture. To put a value to this type of property is a very subjective and individualistic matter, as for anyone who yearns for the type of absolute solitude, unparalleled privacy and pristine ecological diversity this wilderness has to offer, it simply doesn’t get any better than this.
Price
Price - R 54 million (+ VAT).
Read more...
Photo Grid
Show Contact Number
