About an hours drive from Cape Town, you’ll turn off the R27 (West Coast road) and after a five minute drive, you’ll see a sign to the right saying: Alexanderfontein (Sales and Tastings).

So as rain splattered against our windscreen at 15minute intervals and then abated, we took the afore-mentioned right turn and then bumped along a little dirt road (admiring some very pastoral looking the cows- many of whom seemed to be taking a nap).

This event at Alexanderfontein would mark the first of our three-day long itinerary, planned around the celebration of LIFE the ‘Italian’ way, which meant a blissful 15km meander through Darling fields of flowers and groves and a 10km bicycle ride, with wine and olive tastings to strengthen (both) body and soul.

To remain accurate to the days’ events, I decided to jot down our beautiful experiences using the itinerary as a template. Thus if you (dear reader) should decide to do this same Darling Stagger Hiking Trail, you will know exactly what to anticipate (as all events have been highlighted in bold).

• 11h00 – Meet at Alexanderfontein for welcome and olive tasting

This was an education, also reinforced by the fact that Elsabe Steenkamp (an ex-teacher) hosted the tasting. Banqueted before us was a spread of delicacy: there were bottles of olive oil, olive jam, olive marmalade, and delicate olives…all within our reach. A few facts were enforced (and then reinforced) during the tasting though, and with each (reinforcement) came a slight giggle. To begin with for example, the point was belaboured that we were NOT olive oil connoisseurs but simple novices. To make us feel a little better about ourselves though, Elsabe reassured us that given a few pointers, we could (in-fact) increase our knowledge of what to look for in search of the best Olive.

So as we tasted and smelt, we were pointed towards the recognition of (a good and healthy) colour. To do this, we were made to hold our glasses (in which a few drops had been poured) against the table lantern. The look, Elsabe said, should have been light yellow (as green would have indicated that the oil was of continental origin, therefore also ‘peppery’ in taste.)

Also to look for on any bottle (before committing to a purchase) is a label which stipulates that the oil has been approved by SAOlive. What is significant about this label is that it has to be applied for on an annual basis, meaning that the oil is continuously assessed by the members of this (very strict) committee. Furthermore, if the words ‘Dry Land’ appear on the front of the bottle, it means that the olives were cultivated without the use of an irrigation system, and will therefore have a more concentrated (and rich) taste.    

Finally we got to sip this delicacy, rich with antioxidant (cancer fighting) properties. But before a small swig, we were told to rub the palm of one hand over the top of the glass, and then instantly lift it to our noses. Elsabe said we would smell kikuyu grass, but I was sceptical. Using the rub-sniff technique though, grass I smelt. I smiled, and then chastised myself for the doubtful approach.

Next on the information list (and stressed) was the fact that this was NOT an olive farm but rather an Estate. The difference: was that at an Estate you have to plant, harvest and bottle on site, whereas a farm will import any outstanding (or missing) products or pieces of equipment. And finally (duly noted) was the fact that this company was run (and owned) exclusively by the women in the family (whilst the men worked the remainder of the land).  What industrious, spirited people.

After the tasting, we were then given the opportunity to purchase some of these delectable items, at very reasonable prices. So I bought a small bag of olives for R10 (the flesh of which falls off the pip as opposed to you having to scrape it off with your front teeth) a bottle of the finest (Dry Land and SAOlive approved) oil for R55, and some olive jam, R25. An aside: if you’d like to do the same, you can simply contact the Estate on (022) 492 3171 and they’ll assemble a package of your choice (which you will then need to collect).  

If you do purchase a bottle of Oil though, be sure to keep it at room temperature in a dark cupboard or enclosure, as light is a known destroyer of the liquid. If you do so, the oil should last for between one to two years.

Just in-case you were wondering: ‘Light’ Olive oil is NOT lower in calories, as all olive grades have approximately the same number of calories. ‘Light’ or ‘Extra-Light’ olive oil has simply been refined to remove the defective flavours and colour characteristics and then has had a small amount of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) added back (to make it look and taste a little bit like olive oil). It therefore cannot be called EVOO and with regards to quality: it is inferior to a Virgin Oil and usually flavourless.

• Drive to Ormonde to taste some local wines and have a light lunch.

Ormonde is a private cellar, owned and run by the Basson family, whose roots penetrate deeply into the history of Darling. Helping them is winemaker Michiel du Toit, who concentrates his efforts on three ranges Alexanderfontein, Ormonde and Ondine, each ‘vinified using different techniques’.

Seated at a long, wooden table, we tasted six wines (the best of which was the Ormonde Theodore Eksteen). What made these wines unique was the fact that the grapes had been grown 10-15 km’s away from the sea, again on what is known as ‘Dry-Land’. So instead of irrigating, the winemakers (like the olive growers on the farm next-door) had relied only on the moisture brought in by the sea-breeze, resulting in less water and therefore a slightly more concentrated taste in the glass.

Towards the end of the tasting, Michiel then alluded to the fact that the Ormondewine estate (and in-fact much of the area surrounding Darling) is a proud member of the Biodiversity (Biosphere) group. To explain: biosphere reserves are territories (identified by UNESCO) flourishing with endangered flora and fauna. So after having ‘identified’ these areas then, land-owners would then be approached and asked if they would like to integrate their land into the reserve, thereby committing themselves under the banner of ‘responsible governance’ to conserve whatever (animal or plant) was to be found on that particular stretch of land. And that (ladies and gents among you) is what a Biosphere is, and what both Ormonde and Alexanderfontein are proud members of.

• Settle into your comfortable guesthouse, Darling Lodge, in the heart of Darling, your home for the next two nights (http://www.darlinglodge.co.za)

And this we did. The lodge was a four-star residence with the most comfortable bed and feathered pillows. At the end of what would be a long, wet afternoon; it was a treat to come ‘home’ to…but that was only later.

• Sunset cycle from !Kwa ttu tented camp down to the sea on the Yzerfontein farm track and along the coast to Yzerfontein.

A short note on !Khwa ttu (a San name). Located a short distance from the R27, it is a celebration of San culture both past and present, with a mandate to: ‘restore and display San heritage, culture, folklore, visual arts, cosmology and languages’ and to educate the general public about the world of the San man. In addition to this, it exists to provide training to San (descendants) in literacy, entrepreneurship, tourism, health issues, community development, craft production/marketing and gender awareness.

This being a second visit, I instantly identified that ‘warm, fuzzy feeling’ of recognition and a growing respect for this little community and their endeavours to preserve and cultivate what they inherently knew was a precious thing: their Culture.

So that’s !Khwa ttu. Now it was here where we were handed our bikes, soon to commence on a 7km cycle from the San Heritage site to Yzerfontein Beach. Seven kilometres isn’t necessarily long, but what added to the ‘length’ was the fact that it rained for (almost) the entire duration of the ride. So note that if you embark on this expedition during the spring, be sure to equip yourself with water-proof pants, jackets and hoodies because failure to do so will only result in a potentially uncomfortable memory. Believe me.

So arriving at the coastline we hopped off our bikes and strolled towards the water’s edge: a beach deserted, touched only by a few rays of the setting sun- expansive. And all the way along, we found evidence of the San having etched out a living in the area: a chipped and chiselled stone (which most likely would have been used as a knife to cut food with). On this stretch of Biosphere coastline, history breathed a story.

• Transfer back to tented camp for West Coast Fish Braai with Tannie Caroline

The basic idea surrounding these trails is to get the local people involved (an idea I love) and hence Tannie Caroline’s inclusion. To train and help Tannie with the cooking that evening was a couple from Scarborough who began a company called Chefs on the Move, and who catered for our first outstanding meal as well as lunch the following day.

In clothes warmed only slightly by the fire, we huddled around a neatly set and rustic table. And on my plate (lit dimly by a slow-burning lantern) wasWest Coast Snoek, sweet potato, butternut and a seasoned green salad. Opposite me there was Andre, an enthusiastic young resident-student from !Khwa ttu who entertained us with his passionate conversation which revolved around music…and travel.

Driving away that night, one of the other journalists commented on the inherent pride and sense of value the people at !Khwa ttu have, and this not only in themselves but so too in their culture: a pocket of moral and seemingly innocent individuals in an otherwise deteriorating society.

The next day, Ivan (our local ‘San’ guide) also displayed this same sense of pride and even authority. There was no shame or shirking away from what he (inherently) knew was a prized African heritage. In South Africa, it seems that whilst some hide their heritage or cultural identity in shame, others flaunt it. Here at !Khwa ttu though, there is an intricate balance and the embracing of a Heritage filled with Hope.

• Return to Darling and enjoy a relaxing evening at the guesthouse: To dream sweetly a-top feathered pillows.

Day 2

• 08h00- A delicious breakfast served at the guesthouse.

I can vouch for ‘delicious’, and we even had a choice of scrambled, poached or fried egg.

• Transfer to !Kwa ttu for introduction to San history and medicinal knowledge (9am)

Regarding !Kwa ttu’s‘history’, this was displayed through an exhibition called: ‘Once Upon a time is now’. A tactile combination of preying mantises, eland, and words on windows; the instillation documents the history of the San with a special emphasis on their fascination with the Mantis (once revered as a god and therefore bigger in stature than the eland).

• Commence with walk to Darling (11am)

The word ‘walk’ might seem slightly deceiving though, as 13km were divided both into an ‘Italian’ stroll as well as a determined ‘put one foot in front of the other’ type of meander. Although to be fair, when I felt the latter, I would pick my eyes up off the ground to capture the rolling hills and deep valleys surrounding us…flowers which had sprung up in colour on the road ahead, tortoise every five meters. Thankfully, no snakes appeared (even though much of my imaginative time went in to picturing what would happen if indeed confronted). 

As mentioned, the point of this walk (and the three days as a whole) was to experience the countryside the ‘Italian way’, and synonymous with Italian are the words ‘good food’. So set under a marquee, in the vicinity of an olive plantation and under a blue sky and slight wind there waited for us a table: laden with homemade bread and butter, gourmet salads, prize olive oil and to drink, Darling brewed beer. At 3pm and after hours of walking, it was a pleasurable sight.

Bellies full, we then sprawled out like gods in the grass, unwilling (well me personally) to move one inch. But this we had to, as we still had another hours walk back to Darling, through vineyards of what was to become Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot.

Cresting a hill about forty minutes later, we finally looked down at the town, as a white steeple glistened and hills rose up behind her. A welcomed sight, because with no restroom facilities in the stretches of plantation, my pride would not let me go al-natural and I therefore welcomed all that was civilised and sanitary (promised in the now near-sighted Darling).

As we trotted the last few steps of our 13kms through Darling, I snapped away at everything quirky and ‘unusual’ to the Capetonian eye:  a goose on a front-door, dirt roads through the centre of the town, an empty street.

• Walk to Aunty Ivy for dinner and a taste of the “voorkamer festival”.

Aunty Ivy and her friend callthemselves the iAfrica Drama-queens, andtheir ‘theatre’is a small house on the outskirts of Darling, Ivy’s home.  

Knitting their way through Afrikaans tales of their childhood, the pair recollected their firsthand versions of life in Darling, a time when fathers would borrow a camera from a friend and then develop a family portrait in black and white.

They laughed at one-another’s stories of winters’ hardship and their innovative ways of keeping warm, jerseys too small pulled tight over little balls of fist, as they ran kaalvoet in the early morning before school.  And as stories kept tumbling their way through the room, we sat watching, with the scent of hand-picked jasmine filtering through a cool September night. It was a beautiful moment, as the two friends created knitted jerseys, and re-created shared memories of an old, almost forgotten sub-cultural era.

Later, Ivy chipped her way through a song which I suspect she had not intended singing for us. It was about her family’s Army Jas (jacket). As a little girl Ivy would lie in bed, cold. Then later, when her dad got home from his late-night shift he would take off the only jacket the family owned and cover her with it. It was a valuable jacket, a shared commodity. A few years later, Ivy expressed interest in becoming a nurse and so to raise the money needed to send her to high-school (the foundation she obviously required to further her education), her father sold the jacket. Years later, Ivy qualified as a nurse and now, she sings its praise. I admired her for perseverance, and the way Life had smiled on her. A woman of character.

Dinner: Ivy had spent hours cooking for us. A home-made chicken pie, salad, pickled West coast fish and to end with: tea and Apple pie. Her home may have been on the outskirts of Darling but to me, this personified the heart of the town.

• Walk or transfer back to the guesthouse.

Sleep time, I welcomed!

Day 3 

• Explore Darling Historic background (Historic walk includes a visit to Darling Museum)

Truthfully, museums bore me. Yet this one seemed to whisk my imagination into Darling’s 18th Century: horse-drawn carriages, the butter-maker, ball-gowns. The museum was divided into different ‘rooms’ of the house but also included what resembled a chapel, school-room and even a surgery. In the surgery, I read about the town’s Dr. Nieuwoudt.

According to this document, Nieuwoudt seemed a predictable, conscientious sort of person who would keep two carriages: one he used and the other (accompanied by horses fresh on the trot) waited for him at home in case of an emergency. A century ago, the towns hypochondriac kept Nieuwoudt busy so one day (after a long shift) he was again summoned to her house. On the way there though, Nieuwoudt was forced to confront and kill a large snake which he then stored away in his doctor’s bag. Arriving at the house, he then released this snake (dead though still twitching) into the Madam’s bed. The hypochondria (it seemed) miraculously disappeared.

• 11h30 – Check out and drive to Waylands Nature Reserve and Groote Poste historical farm just outside Darling (en route back to Cape Town).

Due to the weather Waylands was (sadly) cancelled, yet despite this fact, day three still ended on a perfect note.

On our way to Groote Poste we decided to visit the orchid show (held annually since 1917 by the Duckitt family) and flowers abounded. But as I sat at the entrance to the show watching people stream in (at a cost of R25 pp), I marvelled at how differently these country couples get to spend their Thursdays. Here, the (general) stress and movement of a Thursday spent in urban Cape Town faded in significance as I watched people totter up to the entrance, smile and then slowly head in to point and pose next to large and ornately decorated bouquet of this (unique) flower.  What a Beautifully different Thursday this was.

• Enjoy a final lunch in the lovely old Groote Poste homestead

Prior to our arrival, there had been much banter and talk about one of the waitresses here, an older lady, full of charisma and chirp (with an apparent soft-spot for one of our guides, Ivan). This was the truth, as she made me giggle my way through a perfect home-cooked pesto pasta.

Ordering the dish I had been slightly hesitant in my expectations, yet needn’t have been. The pasta was al dente, covered with enough green sauce to satisfy. I was so impressed. On the cuisine, it should be mentioned that in just three days I gained a healthy 2kgs worth of taste, and decadent flavour.

Seated on my lap during lunch was a six week old Sheepdog from a neighbouring farm, bought three hours earlier by Ivan. It slept comfortably, and I marvelled at the pastoral experience: dog in lap whilst eating a bountiful meal, a practise I’m sure would have been exercised many a time in this, Simon van der Stel’s original hunting lodge.  

The dog stirred, the clock struck two and soon, with cappuccinos and dessert devoured, we said our good-byes (not forgetting our gleeful waitress:).

• Travel safely back to Cape Town.

This we did but to Darling: I shall soon return!