contrasts and cuisine

The afternoon storm clouds were gathering and it was time to make the descent. It was also time for the local antelopes to take their last drink of the day and we saw eland and water-buck not far from our path. Frans continued to answer all our questions with patience and enthusiasm, and we were ungenerously smug to hear that many of his clients turned back half-way failing to make the climb. It certainly is not an afternoon stroll in the park, but the views and the intense pleasure of being amongst those extraordinary paintings with all their attendant mysticism and history more than made up for stiff joints. Good boots and a hiking stick were invaluable.

(left) the view from the top. (above) the cave shelter at Montusi. (below) the yellow weaver

And so back to our base at Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse - an out-of-this-world experience of the finest food and eclectic furnishings. At about 6.30pm the guests gather by the dam for pre-dinner drinks and a lecture (how many lectures can you take in one day?) This time the lecture was by Richard, the owner/chef who went through, item by item, describing what we were about to eat and how it would be cooked and served. This is gourmet paradise. The food is innovative and memorable and outside the restaurant window the (male) yellow weavers keep up their non-stop work of house-building, flying in and out of their precariously hanging nests. The female only enters the scene when the nest is built, and if she is not satisfied the poor male has to start all over again. Nothing new there, then. Very demanding and very spectacular - a perfect accompaniment to a perfect dinner and a perfect end to our all too short stay in the Drakensburg Mountains.

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