Please can you share, this Unique Sacred Nature Experience - [Latest Update 16 Going – 4 x places Left] - Soulful Long Weekend Away – (4 x days / 3 x nights) - Thursday 1st May 2025 to Sunday 4th of May 2025 (The Thursday, is a public holiday, but you will need to take off work on the Friday, to make the most of the Extended Sacred Experience). Gifberg Holiday Farm Exp @ located on the top of the “Gifberg” Mountain, offering spectacular hiking trails, San rock-art, rockpools and waterfalls.
Various Bushman painting sites can be visited on the hiking trails that put you in touch with the wonders of the Namaqualand nature such as wild flowers, natural pools in which you can swim, a watercourse that is similar to a smaller scale Fish River Canyon, spectacular rock formations and the diverse vegetation that is unique to the Western Cape. There are 30 rock art sites on the farm, seven of which are open to guests. The longest and most intriguing trail is the 19,2 km circular Bushman Trail, which encompasses three rock art sites on its way to the Doring River.
Gifberg Holiday farm is located near Vanrhynsdorp in the Western Cape and located just 3.5hours from Cape Town. This area, the rock art and hiking trails and the rock art on display has been on my bucket list for a long time and one not be to be missed. All the trails on offer will start from the accommodation.
HERE YOU CAN SEE A SHORT VIDEO OF SOME OF THE VIEWS ON OFFER -
WHAT THE AREA IS FAMOUS FOR
The Gifberg rock art site offers San rock art sites that reflect the spiritual culture of these indigenous South Africans, set in mountains which glower over the Knersvlakte (the ‘teeth-grinding plain’ in Afrikaans) in the north of Western Cape province. These sacred sites are linked in a vital way to the life of the ancient San people (once called ‘Bushmen’, The San people lived throughout Southern Africa for thousands of years, and the ancient hunter-gatherers have left a remarkable legacy of art – a legacy which demonstrates that, no matter how simple San material culture might have been, their intricate spiritual culture was key to their ability to live so lightly and yet so successfully on the land over millennia. Paintings at this West Coast rock art site show shamans (healers) and animals bleeding from the nose – healers often bled thus when they went into a ‘healing trance’, which they regarded as death and a return to life.
We will be staying at We will be Staying in 3 x fully equipped Self-catering accommodation @ Gifberg Guest Farm. Accommodation is provided in a variety of self-catering home on the farm. Each home has its own unique location and character. All the homes have well-eqquiped kitchens and braai facilities.
The farm offers a great base location to explore new trails that you might night done before
GIFBERG GUEST FARM OFFERS THE FOLLOWING:
https://www.gifberg.co.za
Hiking trails: Guests can explore the Namaqualand nature with Interesting unique rock formations, spectacular hiking trails that feature bushman rock art sites, natural pools, and diverse vegetation.
As a bonus, Stargazing - for night owls, the unpolluted night skies offer opportunities for spectacular stargazing. As a bonus if it has rained, you will get to see this 380 meter waterfall in full flow, where we are staying
Cost: R 1875.00 per person. The payment will include your accommodation for the 3 x nights, self-catering accommodation, permit fees for the trails where we are staying, organising / facilitator fees and the various guided activities on offer.
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THE HIGH-LIGHT OF THE WEEKEND AWAY WILL BE THE BUSHMAN TRAIL
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This trail and the return hike takes about nine hours hiking, plus time spent at the Doring River. You can swim in the river. The walk follows a watercourse that looks like the Fish River Canyon on a smaller scale. You walk along the edge of the watercourse and later descent into the valley to walk along the river. Several interesting Bushman painting sites are passed on the way.
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MORE ABOUT THE SACRED ART FOUND AT GIFBERG
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For thousands of years southern Africa was populated by an ancient people known to themselves by many names and who had different languages. The colonisers, who first appeared at the Cape in the early 17th century, called them all Bushmen. The meeting of cultures that followed would not end well for a group of hunter-gatherers known as the /Xam. For thousands of years these mountains were part of the home range of a Khoe-Sān hunter-gatherer group known at the /Xam.
On the eastern, more sloping side of the Matsikamma mountains, great lengths of time and a wetter climate cut into the sandstone to form potholed gullies and deep canyons as the golden, tannin-laden water flowed towards the Karoo, looking for a passage to the sea.
The /Xam wintered in the Matsikamma canyons, protected from northwest storms beneath beetling overhangs and in water-carved caves. In these isolated rock keeps, they painted what was important to them and which gave protection from – or guidance into – a spiritual world that has now been lost. Their art is fading but still evocative, mysterious, magical.
In silent testimony to their presence are antelope, elephants, half-animal half-human therianthropes, entoptic lines, nets, dots and the people themselves, dancing. The caves are silent, but the patina on the rocks where they sat or placed their hands is polished glassy by thousands of years of skin on sandstone.
TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK THE LINK BELOW
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-19-requiem-for-the-xam-of-poison-mountain/
The gifboom is a large evergreen fynbos shrub or small tree endemic to the Gifberg of the northern Bokkeveld Escarpment just south of Vanrhynsdorp (northern part of the Western Cape). The fruits are highly toxic and were formerly used by the San for their arrows and also by local farmers to K*ll hyaenas. -
https://pza.sanbi.org/hyaenanche-globosa
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MORE ABOUT THE GIFBERG MOUNTAIN
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Gifberg is an Afrikaans name, gif meaning ‘poison’ and berg meaning ‘mountain’, and relates to the plant Hyaenanche globosa, known as hyaena poison, wolwegifboom or boesmansgif, a large, evergreen, dioeceous, wind-pollinated, re-sprouting shrub of the family Picrodendraceae, which only grows on the Gifberg and adjacent Matsikamma quartzitic sandstone mountain massif. Formerly the seed of Hyaenanche globosa was used to poison hyaenas and also by the local San for their arrows. The Gifberg (Poison Mountain), with the Cedarberg, Bokkeveld and Matsikamma ranges, forms the eastern boundary of the 300km Olifants River Valley, which itself borders Namaqualand and the Atlantic. It is located at an elevation of 1,080 meters above sea level.
On the eastern, more sloping side of the Matsikamma mountains, great lengths of time and a wetter climate cut into the sandstone to form potholed gullies and deep canyons as the golden, tannin-laden water flowed towards the Karoo, looking for a passage to the sea gallery in the world’. Paintings per square kilometre is the highest in southern Africa, if not the world.
MORE INFO ON THE FLORA FOUND HERE -
https://pza.sanbi.org/stoeberia-giftbergensis
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On offer will be a 4 Day / 3 Night stay - From Thursday 1st to Sunday 4th of May 2025 (The Thursday, is a public holiday, but you will need to take off work on the Friday, to make the most of the Extended Sacred Experience. With arrival time will be from 2pm and the weekend away will end on the Sunday at 2pm, offering an extended stay
BOOKED LONG IN ADVANCE DUE TO THE PUBLIC HOLIDAY & THE POPULARITY OF THIS VENUE
This Extended Sacred Nature Experience not is not to be missed.
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LIFT SHARING TO THE VENUE
“Meeting Point is located about 3h30min or 322km Central Cape Town CBD via the N7.”
Where possible, there will be opportunities to share transportation and save on petrol costs when travelling to the venue.
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SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES ON OFFER:
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PLEASE NOTE - This walk on offer will be an INTERMEDIATE to a HIGHER LEVEL OF FITNESS SOULFUL WALK due to the types of trails and distances over the three days. The accent in the steepest section would be like doing Kasteel Poort to the top of Table Mountain or a trail like Mont Rochelle Reserve Franschoek heading up via Du Toitskop Peak or a trail like Panorama Hiking Trail - Jonkershoek Nature Reserve.
Some fitness is required for this trail, if in doubt please call. Please note the extended distance and we will be a quicker pace than normal. Extra time is added along the way for extra stops - If you need to ask me any questions about the walk, you can call me or whatsapp me on - 072 327 2840
This trail will offer a unique chance to experience this trail and explore its beautiful surroundings, not to mention, connecting with like-minded people.
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WHAT IS ON OFFER
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FIRST TRAIL
Circular Gifberg Bushman Rock Art Trail offering epic Views – [20.22km]
https://www.mapometer.com/walking/route_5548700.html
This trail starts out from the accommodation and follows the Gifberg River following the edge of the watercourse that looks like the Fish River Canyon on a smaller towards the Doringriver. The waterfalls can also be seen on this section that include Klein Valley Waterfall, Gifberg Waterfall and Wolfkloof Waterfall.
On this section of the trail, we will stop and view 3 of the important San Sacred Cave Rock Art Sites. These Caves are the following. First Cave, Sleepers Cave and the Fertility Cave
At the Doring River, we cross over the Gifberg River and head up the plateau again, passing the Ribbok Waterfall and back to our accommodation.
HIGHLIGHTS ON THE TRAIL
@ First Cave, which features faint paintings of a group eland. Sleepers Cave a few hundred metres further on. Sleepers Cave is an overhang featuring some striking, well-preserved
images estimated to be 400 years old, including a long panel of sleeping figures, many covered with karosses painted in rich yellow ochre, with bows and arrows and quivers above their heads. Fertility Cave, a vast shelter that was apparently used for initiation ceremonies.
@ Gifberg Waterfall and the many deep potholes beneath the waterfall – See Video -
Here is an 3D Fly-over View of the Trail on offer -
https://bit.ly/4cWGgWu - If using your phone you can zoom into the trail or even rotate the view of the trail to give you a better idea of the trail on offer.
The trail starts from where we are staying. The permit fee for this trail is included in the cost of the weekend away
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SECOND TRAIL
Circular Gifberg Gifboom Trail – [7.50km]
https://www.mapometer.com/walking/route_5548703.html
This trail takes you through some spectacular rock formations, San Rock Art sites and fynbos only found in this area. There are also some stunning views over the plateau.
HIGHLIGHTS ON THE TRAIL
@ On this trail, you will also see the Gifboom (Euphorbia virosa) after which the area has earned its name. The gifboom is a large evergreen fynbos shrub or small tree endemic to the Gifberg of the northern Bokkeveld Escarpment just south of Vanrhynsdorp (northern part of the Western Cape). The fruits are highly toxic and were formerly used by the San for their arrows and also by local farmers to K*ll hyaenas.
https://pza.sanbi.org/hyaenanche-globosa
@ Some epic views over the Plateau
@ You will also see rock art sites along this trail
Here is an 3D Fly-over View of the Trail on offer -
https://bit.ly/4dK080c - If using your phone you can zoom into the trail or even rotate the view of the trail to give you a better idea of the trail on offer.
The trail starts from where we are staying. The permit fee for this trail is included in the cost of the weekend away
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THIRD TRAIL
Circular Gifberg Pothole Route – [2km]
https://www.mapometer.com/walking/route_5548702.html
This is a Circular Trail that follows a section of the Gifberg River. The potholes compare with Bourke’s Luck Potholes. In the Wet Season the trail turns into a miniature Bourke's Luck in the floral wonderland of Namaqualand. There are also some interesting bushman paintings on this route.
HIGHLIGHTS ON THE TRAIL
@ The potholes on our trail compare with Bourkes Luck Potholes - A Natural Beauty in the Blyde River canyon, Mpumalanga South Africa. Here you can see a video of the Bourkes Luck Potholes -
Here is an 3D Fly-over View of the Trail on offer -
https://bit.ly/4gbZLxe - If using your phone you can zoom into the trail or even rotate the view of the trail to give you a better idea of the trail on offer.
The trail starts from where we are staying. The permit fee for this trail is included in the cost of the weekend away
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OUR ACCOMMODATION
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We will be Staying in 3 x fully equipped Self-catering accommodation @ Gifberg Guest Farm.
https://www.gifberg.co.za/
The chalets are furnished with a combination of double and single or three-quarter beds, as well as private bathrooms with showers. Linen, towels and cleaning supplies are provided for convenience. The kitchens are equipped with two-plate stoves, fridges, cutlery and crockery. Some of the chalets also have fireplaces or fans and heaters.
A large communal hall is equipped with a central barbecue area with chairs and tables, and guests can start their day with freshly-ground coffee at the Oppi Dek Coffee Shop while enjoying the fresh country air and the serene view. On those hot days, guests can also cool down in the pool or just relax on the lawn under the trees.
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SHARED TRANSPORT
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The self-catering accommodation where we are staying at is located near Vanrhynsdorp in the Western Cape, via the N7 or 3h30min or 322km from Cape Town. Wherever possible we will share the Transport in getting there.
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BOOKED LONG IN ADVANCE DUE TO THE PUBLIC HOLIDAY & THE POPULARITY OF THIS VENUE
This is a Southern Cederberg Nature Experience not is not to be missed.
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PLEASE NOTE:
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"VERY IMPORTANT" -- Please email first or call me directly (Do not just mark yourself as going on Facebook / Meetup) to check for availability and to book on -
aWFpbiB8IGF3YWtlbmluZy1pbnR1aXRpb24gISBjb20= or for more info, contact Iain Macdonald on Tel: 072 3272840 - When making a booking, please can you send me your cell number, email address, name & surname and number of people going. You can also send me a message on "whatsapp"
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PLEASE NOTE JOINING REQUIREMENTS FOR WEEKENDS AWAY
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Anyone can join the day adventures or come on the Sunday hikes that I offer ;-)
Unfortunately for the weekends away, anyone is welcome to join as long as you have done TWO of the regular Sunday Walks in the last 12 months before booking for a weekend away or a multiday hike trip. If you have down two of the walks in the past 12 months but have not walked in a while, ONE of your last walks needed to behave done in the past 6th Months before the event.
As we are a hiking group firstly, the weekends away, are offered first to those that come more regularly
This structure / qualifying requirement has been put in place, so that I can gauge your fitness levels and determine whether you will be able to cope with the hike on offer. The main reason for joining on hikes before booking for the event, is that you will know some of the regulars going
Joining in on at one of the walks before the event, also enhances the sense of soulful connectedness, as you will know some of the people going. The weekends away offer a combination of adventure of soulfulness, relaxation, group sharing of the day’s experience and time out is allocated for quiet time. By joining a walk I also get a chance to meet you and you will get to know what is on offer in person. This weekend away will be suitable for moderate levels of fitness. Extra time on the trails on these weekends away provides time to connect with the beauty of nature, including plenty of opportunity for taking pictures. There is also own time allocated on these weekends to explore the beauty of place where we are staying. Often there is an opportunity to swim, if it’s warm enough.
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==> TOTAL COST & HOW TO BOOK
Cost: R1875.00 per person.
This will be a self- catering option, with shared communal lunch and dinner.
Included in the payment will be your self-catering accommodation for the three nights and the various guided activities on offer.
Please note that bookings will be on a first-come first-served basis with payment, so book early to avoid disappointment.
There will also be allocated own time for relaxation or Soulful reflection time out and star gazing opportunities under the night sky.
I look forward to you joining us. Love and blessings. Iain
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BANK DETAILS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
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Please email full details with confirmation of payment including
aWFpbiB8IGF3YWtlbmluZy1pbnR1aXRpb24gISBjb20=
STANDARD BANK
Iain A. Macdonald / Current Account
Account number - 070336709 /
Branch Code - 020909
Corner Lower Long and Hans Strydom Street
Cape Town – South Africa
Please email full details with confirmation of payment including
Full Name and Surname
Contact numbers
Number of People
Occupation
Level of Fitness
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TERMS OF BOOKING
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For these group events payments are made in advance for Accommodation or Adventure Activities or Permits, hence no refunds are on offer. ONLY IF I HAVE A WAIT LIST and the Spot gets refilled, the person joining, would need to have met the joining requirements, as listed in invite
If you can't make it for one of the adventures it is recommended that you find a replacement yourself, as I cannot guarantee that a replacement will be found.
I also reserve the right to re-schedule or cancel a tour should the minimum number of people not be attained or if the booking is cancelled by the outsourced operator or due to the weather not being suitable; in this case a full refund will be offered.
PLEASE NOTE - When you book please note the joining requirement of having walked at least one Sunday walk in the last 6 months prior to the event. If you run out of time and do not walk you will not be able to attend. You will then unfortunately have to forfeit your booking and the above cancellation policy will apply.
For more info or directions, contact Iain Macdonald on Tel: 072 3272840 or
aWFpbiB8IGF3YWtlbmluZy1pbnR1aXRpb24gISBjb20= - Please note that bookings will be on a first-come first-served basis with payment, so book early to avoid disappointment.
"Please note -- No Pets or Children allowed on this Soulful weekend away
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=> What is included:
Accommodating 24 guests comfortably in 3 x Cottages that are fully self-catered accommodation. Linen is provided. You need to bring your own Towels.
=> What is not included:
Food for meals. You are welcome to bring your own coffee / tea / soft drinks / alcohol / snacks.
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Kitchen: Fully Equipped
Electricity: YES
Bathroom: Warm/cold water available
Pots, Cutlery and crockery supplied: YES
Linen supplied: YES
Towels Supplied: NO
Swimming Towels Supplied: NO
Fireplace: YES
Swimming: YES
Walks/Hikes: YES
Special interests: Birding, views
Braai facilities: YES
Bathroom Facilities: Shared bathroom.
No Smoking in Rooms:
Cell Phone Reception: YES
Wifi: YES
No cell phone reception in Cederberg mountains
WIFI Hotspot facility available at a cost.
The signal is not very strong, if we made the WIFI free to everyone it would be too weak for anyone to use.
Braai wood for sale
Fresh Ice for sale
Tap water drinkable.
Electricity: Eskom, solar and gas
Kitchen equipped: Eskom power points for all appliances including fridge/freezer, microwave and toaster. Electric oven and gas hob with four burners
MEALS ---
Breakfast and & lunch each person will organise for themselves.
However dinner for both nights will be a bring- and-share. We will do a braai on 1 of the nights and we will do a vegetarian option group share on two of the other nights. Bring your own meat and drinks, wine, ect. However we will each bring a side vegetarian dish to share with the group.
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==> LEVEL OF FITNESS
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@ -- For the walks on offer an Intermediate level s of fitness is required, which includes some steps along the way.
@@@ If you can walk up Lion’s Head with ease you can manage this route
@@@ -- If you have any doubts about the type of walk or pace in terms of fitness level, please call and I can advise accordingly.
@@@@ -- Extra time has been allocated for breaks along the way and to enjoy the spectacular scenery below
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==> DIRECTIONS
FROM CAPE TOWN
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Directions to site:
From Cape Town
• Take the N7 towards Malmesbury – 290km
• Take the R27 exit on the right towards Vanrhynsdorp/Calvinia – 350m
• Turn left onto Van Riebeeck St/R27 – 140m
• Take the 1st right onto Voortrekker Rd – 550m
• Take the 1st right and follow J Huisamen – 22,2km
• Turn left – 5,9km
More details to be sent out closer to the time with map included.
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