Cape Town to Knysna, en route, the Western Cape hinterland.

If you wish to get away from everything and relax amidst stunning scenery, or prefer to meet the eccentric characters of local communities, there are miles of undiscovered pleasures to be had when traveling the vast expanses of rural South Africa. The best of the Western Cape's hidden gems are found off the beaten track, with news of them spreading via the local grapevine, but I so loved my stays at two particular guest farms that they deserve to be shouted about here.

Traveling east from Cape Town and then heading inland to the mountains and away from the tourist magnets on the coast, you'll find creative communities and an expansive welcome from waiting hosts. The first recommended stop is 'MaLplaas', (translation: Mad Farm, www.malplaas.co.za) in Botrivier where Lil and Mark, the deeply chilled proprietors who stay out of your way unless you beg them to play, offer an eco-friendly retreat in their beautifully decorated cottages, appointed with stylish objets d'art, and set in a secluded valley in a private nature reserve. Solitude and stillness can envelop you here, or if you'd prefer to get close to the wildlife, or carouse with even wilder locals, partying with the best of the Cape Town underground music industry DJ's, musicians and poets is rustled up for you at the drop of a hat. Lil says: "We are the only guest farm at the end of Africa catering for vagabonding nutters - they travel too!" This is indulgence without guilt as MaLplaas even offers carbon offsetting of travel costs with its indigenous tree-planting scheme.

Further on in the journey toward the Garden route, head inland at Mosselbay to find the Ruiterbos community (www.ruiterbos.com) and Peter and Christine Watt’s Percheron stud farm 'Outeniqua Moon' (www.outeniquamoon.co.za), where indulgence takes a less chilled, more family-oriented form. Here you'll be welcomed into the farmhouse to enjoy Christine's superlative cuisine or taken on coach rides for tea and cake on the hills by huge, gentle workhorses, the endangered Percherons that the Watts are dedicated to protecting. "Their survival is more important to our collective consciousness than we realize. They are our last link to a world that depended on horsepower and not machines to feed people" says Christine, who encourages her guests to cuddle the dozing colts. The views are magnificent, from horseback or from the honeymoon suite, looking out across the valley to the blue mountains, and the rooms are truly unique, with eccentric artwork and quaint decorative touches that feel like home. A contemporary bohemian take on 'ye olde colonial homestead', with the warmth and generosity of the hosts seeming equally otherworldly. In the Outeniqua Mountains the spirit of yesteryear lives on.

www.malplaas.co.za
www.ruiterbos.com
www.outeniquamoon.co.za

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