The re-awakening of this beautiful land continues, with the Lodge at its centre as an oasis of luxury – a peaceful haven surrounded by water, shade, rolling lawns and botanical gardens.

It embraces and incorporates something that was never destroyed in these hills: the spiritual atmosphere - a kind of benevolent energy that pervades every rock and stream. This earth-power is what captivated the Bushman soul and made him revere these hills. Today’s visitor to Bushmans Kloof can experience an environment similar to that encountered by the ancients as they contemplated this extraordinary wilderness.

The mountains are five hundred million years old. They were here when the first life forms began to colonise the earth. Water once covered these antediluvian plains and the petrified ripples of ocean bed and shoreline remain, their energy transformed into silent sandstone crags.

After unimaginable voids of time, the reddish sandstone was eroded by wind and rain into a fantastical landscape of strange shapes and turret-like formations. Finally, aromatic fynbos and indigenous cedars covered the mountains. The slow growing, primeval African conifers gave the mountains their current name. At the climax of its creation, the rich vegetation supported in perfect balance a population of birds, fish, reptiles and mammals including elephant, black rhino and lion. The quagga and his cousins roamed the vast spaces along with thousands of antelope, from tiny steenbok to majestic eland.

Small, nomadic people shared this paradise too, and their legacy of delicate, mystical paintings bear witness to the awe they felt at this abundance and the rituals they used to connect with Creation.

Then newcomers, both black and white, arrived to lay claim to the ancestral lands of the Bushman tribes. By 1910 the San culture was lost, their hunting grounds empty save for new crops of grain and the tame cattle, sheep and goats. The cedars were fashioned into fence posts and furniture, and the quaggas gave up their existence for grain bags and rugs.

But the mountains waited.

Redemption

In 1991, in the foothills of the Cederberg, Bill and Mark McAdam purchased the seven farms that, together, became Bushmans Kloof - a valley encompassing 7,500 hectares of overgrazed and severely neglected land. Then they banished the sheep and let the glorious natural fynbos slowly recover.

The Homestead - 1995

They renovated and extended the manor house, mended eroded gulleys, destroyed alien plants, and in consultation with ecologists and wildlife experts, implemented a long-term veld management programme. Indigenous animals were carefully reintroduced, including rare and endangered species such as the Cape Mountain Zebra, the Cape clawless otter and the Clanwilliam yellow fish. Hundreds of indigenous trees were re-planted.

Six years later, Bushmans Kloof Lodge was opened to the public and in 2000 it was accredited to membership of the prestigious Relais & Châteaux association.

In July 2003 it received world acclaim for the first time when the USA’s leading travel glossy magazine ‘Travel and Leisure’, voted Bushmans Kloof as one of the Top 25 Eco Lodges in the world.

On 31 January 2004, the private Tollman Family Trust acquired the property. The Tollman family are renowned hoteliers of South African origin. Their Red Carnation boutique hotels are found in the UK, Europe and the USA. This change in ownership brought with it a desire to ensure the continuation of the same core principles and compassion for the land, animals and flora. The new owners also brought a passion and understanding of operating some of the finest hotels in the world to Bushmans Kloof, to take the property to even greater heights. They are committed to sharing with travellers the unique qualities of South Africa, its heritage, its people, culture and the enormous choices and diverse experiences available in the country today, of which nearly all of these traits can be found at Bushmans Kloof.

In 2004 Bushmans Kloof received the coveted 'Grand Award' in the USA's Andrew Harper's Hideaways Report of 2004, as well as a range of other prestigious international awards: 5th Top Hotel in the World (USA Travel + Leisure August 2004), and 4th place in Top Hotel in Africa and Middle East category, as well as Top 15 Small Hotels category (USA Travel + Leisure August 2004) and was nominated as one of the Top 500 Best Hotel and Resorts in the World (USA Travel + Leisure – January 2005).

The Homestead - 2004

In July 2004 the United Nations World Heritage Committee officially recognized the Cape Floral Region as a WORLD HERITAGE SITE. Bushmans Kloof, encompassed within this area, is proud to be part of a conservancy of global importance.

In April 2006 Bushmans Kloof was nominated and positioned in the top three in the International Tourism for Tomorrow awards 2006, which was held in Washington DC during the 6th Global Travel & Tourism Summit.

The re-awakening of this beautiful land continues, with the Lodge at its centre as an oasis of luxury – a peaceful haven surrounded by water, shade, rolling lawns and botanical gardens.

It embraces and incorporates something that was never destroyed in these hills: the spiritual atmosphere - a kind of benevolent energy that pervades every rock and stream, and which other cultures might call 'feng shui'. This earth-power is what captivated the Bushman soul and made him revere these hills. Today’s visitor to Bushmans Kloof can experience an environment similar to that of the ancients, as they contemplated this extraordinary wilderness.

The Revival spreads

The re-birth of Bushmans Kloof has had a positive impact on the surrounding farming communities. The estate has taken the lead in forming the 160,000-hectare Agter-Pakhuis Conservancy project, where farmers are encouraged to recognise the potential of eco-tourism and convert degraded farmland into blossoming conservation areas.

Several conservation programmes and research projects have been established in the area, for much remains to be done if species extinctions are to be halted and reversed.

Bushmans Kloof has played a significant role in extending eco-tourism to beyond the Cederberg, introducing both foreigners and South Africans to a long-forgotten land.

Although the teeming primeval paradise will never fully return, a new natural balance is being established in the ancient mountains - one where nature and mankind can once more be of mutual benefit.

And so we invite you to Bushmans Kloof - to experience something you have never done before.