TENTS ON CITRUS ROW
Claire Keeton enjoys the climbing and biking attractions of a working apple farm
Camping in the koue bokkeveld near Ceres
AT Houdenbek there is (always) a good moon rising. No trouble on the way. The moonshine over the dam at this campsite in the Koue Bokkeveld brings with it a tranquility that belies the energy running wild under the sun.
With its great crags and trails, Houdenbek apple farm, near Ceres, attracts hikers, climbers and mountain bikers — and there is always the chance to discover new routes.
Only one party is allowed to book the campsite at a time so we had plenty of space over Easter for our five tents, pitched in the shadows of three copses of oak trees.
Houdenbek is best in the misty dawn light and in the evening, when everything is doused in gold.
This charm fades slightly in the heat and dust of the day, when the shade at the crags and the cool of the pools up the river beckon.
The Sandrivier Dam is deep but, this summer, the edges have been drying up, leaving trees sticking out of the mud like witches’ fingers. There are also leeches in the shallow water — swim away from the banks or brush them off with sand, if you don’t want to test their medical benefits.
Birds, buck and baboons are also found here. These baboons avoid human contact. They do, however, flaunt their climbing prowess on the cliffs opposite the camp. When we were ascending there one morning, they perched at the top, watching us.
Streaked in shades of cinnamon, this crag is a stroll from the tents and one of the most accessible climbing areas in South Africa.
Spectacular routes without bolts are found higher up in a valley behind the campsite, along with San art on the overhangs.
Adventurers June Fabian and Sandy Maythem-Bailey went exploring one day. They found the soaring Heiveld Arch about two hours’ walk from the camp, yet the climbs eluded them.
My teenage niece, her friend and my nine-year-old son went exploring along a stream that trickles past the camp, finding a rock pool higher up. Back in the nowdeserted camp, my sister chilled with a book ahead of her Two Oceans marathon the next day.
Under the stars at night we opened bottles (and a box) of wine around the campfire, where my climber guy braaied boerewors and friends prepared appetising vegan and vegetarian dishes.
Even though Houdenbek is a working farm with a siren in the morning, at lunchtime and at day’s end, it is — apart from the occasional gusts of wind at night — a profoundly still place.
Conservation areas such as the Cederberg Wilderness and Groot Winterhoek Wilderness almost encircle this area and it is far from the bright lights. Besides the full moon, that is.