What a gorgeous find! I was looking for somewhere not too long a drive from Cape Town and saw this place advertised on Instagram. Amazingly what you see on their social media feed, is what you get. Bokrivier, near Riviersonderend, is a Pecan nut farm and also has free range cows (sadly to be eaten). The cottages are newly fixed up, well decorated and very comfy. We stayed in Choctaw cottage, which stands a little off from the other cottages, next to the wonderful veggie patch. There is a comfy double bed, large bathroom and well kitted kitchen. There is also a living area, which has a table and bed/couch, so you could have more than one couple stay there. There is a braai outside and a wood-fired hot tub. We have never experienced a hot tub, it's not a popular thing in the Western Cape, so that was fun. There is also a lovely big lawn for throwing ball for doggos and lying watching the sunset.
You can faintly hear the freeway and farming activities in the area, it's not loud though and if we didn't have panic mechanic Pi we probably wouldn't have noticed.
The farm is surrounded on the one side by the Riviersonderend mountains, so the views are lovely. The farm is not what you normally think of when you think of a farm in SA - bare open ground with crops or livestock out in the open. This farm has loads of trees! And there are paths between the enclosures, so you can explore the whole farm on foot, wandering through the rows of trees, past the cows and horses, through the river and around the dams. There is a lovely little picnic spot by the river, where they have set up a braai site and some chairs. It has a little swimming hole too, which is great on hot days. You can also play in the big dam, where there are a couple of boats and what looks like an old windsurfer base that can be used as a SUP. Dash enjoyed jumping onto this while Andrew was trying it out, not for a ride, but to attack the oars (we play weird games with our dogs).
If you are into more vigorous activities, like trail running or hiking, there is a lovely route up the river to a waterfall. Going from the house on the farm roads or along the firebreak, to the waterfall and back around the dams is about 8-9km. The kloof you run up is lovely and lush, with beautiful Overberg fynbos. The waterfall seems like it would flow all year, since we stayed at the end of summer and it was still going strong. Though the pool is a little shallow for humans to swim in. If you wanted to you could probably walk further up the mountain from the waterfall and bundu bash all the way to the top, which we will do on our next stay, when Pirate and I are niggle free. After chilling at the waterfall for a bit you can go back down towards the dam. Next to the dam is a funny little 'umbrella' on a hill. It is a lovely steep climb and has beautiful views over the farm, the mountains and the farm next door. A lovely spot for a sunrise, if it's not too cloudy and misty.
If you want to do something other than explore the farm the tiny town of Riviersonderend is 10mins away. There are a couple of restaurants and (in our view) over-priced Ou Meul bakery.
Greyton is about 20-40min drive, depending on if you are enjoying the views or not. The main road there is full of restaurants and coffee shops and was bustling on the Sunday we went through. There is also a chocolate shop with yummy goodies and an artisanal brewery which has really good beer. A lot of the places allowed dogs, so it is quite a happy little town.
We thoroughly enjoyed this peaceful stay and will definitely be back for more adventures and views. Dash would love to go back for more games with Brown Doggie the boy farm dog, who like all farm dogs doesn't have a collar so we didn't know his actual name. Andrew also agreed to a horse ride next time, as he has never ridden before and the horses and environment are perfectly serene for a first time.
