The best kept secret of the Western Cape

They were sent out on an expedition to find Monomotapa, the fabled city of gold. The scouting party was led by Pieter Cruythoff and Danish surgeon Pieter Meerhoff. Some 75 km out of Cape Town, with Table Mountain still in sight, they made their way through Bothmanskloof and found themselves gazing at a valley of great beauty. "We came into the lovely valley east of the Riebeek's Kasteel, where we rested. The same day we saw 13 horses, 5 rhinoceros and thousands of hartebeeste," Meerhoff wrote in his diary. He had just named the massive mountain which dominates the valley in honour of his commander. The 'horses' were quagga, and the year was 1661.
The spectacular scenery of Riebeek Valley still casts its spell on visitors as it did 350 years ago. The imposing mountain's name is Kasteelberg (Castle Mountain) now, while Riebeek Kasteel is the little town hugging the lower slope. Small residential areas are dotted among vineyards, olive groves and orchards. Springbok are grazing on patches of grass.

The tranquil rural atmosphere has been described as traditional and yet not short of sophistication. Just take the Short Street Good Food & Wine Market, held on the last Saturday of each month, which offers nothing less than fresh oysters and champagne, along with cured duck, local cheese, home-made preserves and bread. There are excellent restaurants, quaint little shops, gifts, antiques, art galleries, even two spas and there is luxurious accommodation.
The Royal Hotel made it onto the list of "the 50 most fabulous places to visit in South Africa". Built in 1895, it is also one of the oldest hotels in the country. To find such carefully preserved colonial opulence, complete with attentive doormen wearing white sun helmets and safari shorts, in a tiny town of about 2700 souls, is totally unexpected - and a good reason to come for a visit more often.
For budget accommodation try the Old Jailhouse! This lovely cottage for two once contained the holding cells to the Victorian police station.
Also part of Riebeek Valley are Riebeek West, slightly higher up on the slope and the hamlet of Hermon on the way to Wellington.

Award-winning winesWithin ten years after the expedition which did not find Monomotapa gold had set eyes on the fertile valley so different from the seemingly inhospitable Swartland to the west, the first settlers arrived. Among them were French Huguenots who started the long history of viticulture in Riebeek Valley.
The prominent wine farms Kloovenburg and Allesverloren were established during this early period.
Allesverloren ("everything lost") burnt down in 1704, leaving the owner, a courageous widow, with nothing. Since then, however, the fate of Allesverloren has been a particularly happy one. This estate produces award-winning wines, as does Kloovenburg. The grapes are largely grown without irrigation, which results in a low yield but high quality. Especially Shiraz, Chardonnay and Port have put Riebeek Valley on the map. The 'younger' wineries are Riebeek Cellars, Meerhoff, Het Vlok Kasteel, Pulpit Rock, Old Dalby and Roundstone.
Olive chocolate salamiAnd then there are olives in Riebeek Valley!
Make a paste of olive oil, cocoa and sugar, add almonds and various secret ingredients, roll it into sausage shape - and there you have it, the Olive Chocolate Salami. It is rich and delicious, and a slice of this extraordinary creation is a great way to end a special dinner.
More tantalizing olive products, made by Michael and Juliana Meredith, are available at the Olive Boutique in Riebeek Kasteel: there is olive mustard and olive tapenade, or olive paste and the Boutique's famous Kalamata Olives in Blueberry. Visitors are welcome to taste - not only olives but also a carefully chosen local wine which perfectly matches the olive product. And they are welcome to try the irresistible range of fragrant olive body oils and lotions which are Michael's speciality.
Despite the Cape's much-cited similarities to Mediterranean places olives are still a relatively new crop around here. In Riebeek Valley they were introduced by Springbok rugby legend Piet Spiere du Toit at Kloovenburg. Others followed his lead and today the valley boasts four of the country's top producers plus two olive oil graders trained in Italy, and it has established itself as the primary olive producing region in South Africa. Olive trees are also grown in many private gardens - apparently it is quite easy to make your own olives. The annual Olive Festival was introduced in 2001, celebrated on the first weekend in May in Riebeek Kasteel and Riebeek Wes. Laidback rural tranquility is then replaced by organized chaos for three days.
Birthplace of political adversariesRiebeek Kasteel has its De Oude Kerk museum, a typical collection of farm implements, pieces of furniture and clothing, while Riebeek West prides itself to be the birthplace of Jan Smuts. But what a mission to find the Jan Smuts Museum at the western end of Riebeek West: a tiny sign points the way from the R311, which is Voortrekker Road in Riebeek West. To save you the trouble of going backwards and forwards past the vast cement factory where you would never expect to find a museum, it is good to know that the birthplace of one of South Africa's greatest statesmen is in fact on the grounds of the PPC cement factory now. All that is left of farm Ongegund, where Jan Christiaan Smuts was born on 24 May 1870, is a big, well-kept garden with huge old pepper trees, figs, lavender and geraniums and the Cape Dutch cottage at one end of the large lawn. Take some time not only to step into the house but also to view the exhibition of photographs and newspaper cuttings illustrating his life.
After studying law in Stellenbosch and Cambridge Jan Smuts became a member of Paul Kruger's government, in 1907 he joined the cabinet of Prime Minister Louis Botha. Smuts helped to write the constitution under which the Union of South Africa was established in 1910 and founded the South African Defence Force. He was elected Prime Minister in 1919.
In 1948, two years before his death, Jan Smuts lost the general elections to D.F. Malan - who was also born in the Riebeek Valley, on 22 May 1874 on farm Allesverloren.
Quaggas and BuffalosAs you leave Riebeek Kasteel and drive towards the imposing mountain ranges on your way to Wellington you find Hermon on the fringe of the valley. This tiny hamlet came into existence when several train stations were erected on the new route between Wellington and Worcester.
If you are not in a hurry, stop at Bartholomeus Klip for game viewing and exceptional food. This working farm with a 10 000 acre fynbos nature reserve is teeming with antelope and zebra. You can also see zebras from the Quagga Project, aimed at re-breeding this subspecies of the plains zebra. By 1880 the quagga had been hunted to extinction. Bartholomeus Klip is also involved in a leopard breeding programme and in a buffalo programme which has produced a herd of 60 animals.

Christina Rockstroh