South Africa - Places To Stay

Gansbaai, Overberg - Farm 215 (FTTSA accredited) is a 4 star country house, situated in a 800 ha reserve, on the 'fynbos' road between Stanford and Cape Agulhas. The retreat aims to be one of the pioneers in sustainable hospitality in South Africa. The Fynbos Road meanders through a landscape with the highest density of localised and endemic plant-species in the world. Around the old homestead, standing lonely and somewhat imposing on top of its hill, the new guesthouse infrastructure has been designed to be compatible with the surrounding nature and to serve the primary purpose of Farm 215 - the conservation of a unique piece of the Cape Floral Kingdom on the basis of a small-scale guesthouse.

Accommodation is provided in spacious and comfortable rooms within the Homestead, and in the large, freestanding Fynbos suites. All rooms are fully en-suite with bath & shower, have lounge areas with wood stoves for the chilly winter nights and private outdoor seating areas. Although all rooms afford beautiful views, the Fynbos Suites have totally uninterrupted & fabulous views as a result of the side-by-side design of the rooms and a glass wall on one side of the suites.

The reception cum lounge, is heated by an open fire places and chilled by thick walls and fans. An extensive library offers a variety of literature on the area's natural heritage and history. Terraces and pool area overlook the Kraaiboschdam lake and surrounding vineyards, the ocean beyond the Agulhas Plains and the Overberg-Mountains.

Overberg region near Hermanus

The distance from Cape Town is more or less 200 km. The gate to Farm 215 is about 20 km from the fishing village of Gansbaai on the road to Baardskeerdersbos and Elim and onwards to Cape Agulhas. Only the last 3 km remains a gravel road and is suitable for all normal sedan vehicles.

3 Fynbos suites and 3 Homestead suites
Features below are based on Fynbos Suites

Homestead Suite:
£86 per person sharing (Jan-Oct)
£75 per person sharing during High Season (Sep-Dec)

Fynbos Suite:
£124 per person sharing(Jan-Oct)

Breakfast

Children over 10 are welcome

Land- & boat-based whale watching, shark cage diving, guided horse riding, self-guided walks, guided medicinal walks, 4x4 trails, birdwatching, massages and visit beaches in the area.

Farm 215 (FTTSA accredited) aims to be one of the pioneers in sustainable hospitality in South Africa. The primary objective of Farm 215: the conservation of a unique piece of the Cape Floral Kingdom on the basis of a small-scale guesthouse.

Fynbos Rehabilitation - Step one was the restoration of the natural integrity of the land. The area where the new guest-units are now proudly surrounded by fynbos, was a pine forest only 5 years ago. Stream and wetland rehabilitation have caused a significant increase in water-flow and return of local wildlife.

Sustainable Architecture - The architecture and landscape design aspires to harmonise with nature. The daily management of Farm 215 is done with an eye to nature conservation and minimising the impact of human activity upon it.

Resources & Systems - The guest-infrastructure has been designed to minimise the use of non-renewable energy and to have a neutral footprint on the land. Electricity for most of the guesthouse is sourced through solar panels stored in batteries. Hence hair-dryers in the Fynbos Suite cannot be used, as they take too much current. Some of the buildings are still connected to the electricity grid, but an effort is made to reduce electricity consumption by using energy-saving light bulbs. Water throughout the lodge is heated using solar power.

Waste water - is filtered through sand-banks and routed back to the stream that originates in the same mountain-catchment where the guesthouse water is sourced from.

Waste Management - Waste is separated and recycled at a local recycling station in nearby Gansbaai. Organic waste is deposited in a compost heap and used as mulch in the indigenous garden. Ash from the fireplaces is used as fertilizer in the garden. Only biodegradable cleaning detergents are used throughout the lodge.

Local procurement - Everything is bought locally (a radius of 60 km around the reserve). Only if certain products cannot be sourced locally, they we look further than the radius of 60 km.

Cash payments in ZAR are accepted.

Farm 215 caters for all meals of the day on request. All produce is sourced locally and as far as possible the ingredients are organic. Although close to Gansbaai, one of the last working fishing villages in South Africa, where they can obtain various delicious fish, they only serve fish which is listed on the green list of the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative and will never purchase any fish listed on the orange or red lists.

Farm 215 is in the middle of the Cape Agulhas wine region, the newest of South Africa, and practically all their wines are sourced from local estates (e.g. Lomond) and the nearby Overberg vineyards around Stanford (e.g. Raka) and in the Hemel en Aarde Valley near Hermanus (e.g. Hermanuspietersfontein). Most of the wines are also from vineyards that are members of the Biodiversity Wine Initiative (BWI).