"One of the world’s largest open-air art galleries."

Bushmans Kloof guards and conserves over 130 unique rock art sites, which can be viewed only by resident guests, archaeologists or researchers.

The mountains are millions of years old. The people whose culture and spiritual legacy is painted on the rocks were here as long as one hundred and twenty thousand years ago - the Bushman tribes, whose ancestral home was in these mountains.

“South Africa’s rich tapestry of rock art predates the most visited temples and ruins around the world, and is by far the oldest record of human art forms… Many countries have beaches and wildlife, but we also have the cradle of mankind.” – Minister Valli Moosa, Former Minister of Tourism and Environmental affairs (May 2000).

In July 2005 Bushmans Kloof appointed Siyakha Mguni, a dedicated and knowledgeable Rock Art Archaeologist, to the position of Resident Archaeologist and Curator. Mguni is tasked with recording, documenting and researching all of the known rock art sites as well as any potential new sites on the reserve, in order to create a workable model for rock art management on the African continent. This will ensure the integrity of Bushmans Kloof’s sites for generations to come.

Mguni also assists the University of Cape Town's Clanwilliam-based Living Landscape Project, a community based heritage and education project, directed by Prof. John Parkington of UCT's department of Archaeology, aimed at returning the archaeological archive to the Clanwilliam area as material for curriculum development and job creation. This is significant of Bushmans Kloofs' ground-breaking vision for the protection and preservation of this cultural patrimony.