THE KEISIE VALLEY AREA

Meaning 'sweet water' in the language of the Khoisan, the nomadic hunter-gatherers who inhabited the area over 50 000 years ago, the Keisie is a 18km-long valley enclosed by the foothills of the Langeberg mountain range in the Little Karoo, the semi-desert inland region to the south of the Karoo in the Western Cape, one of the world's most unique arid zones and South Africa's largest ecosystem.

Rich Pickings

Nature dazzles in this land of extremes, where the silence is so pure you can hear the flowers grow and the stars so near it's as if you have only to reach out to touch them. The dry climate, together with the naturally limed soils, is ideal for the cultivation of vineyards, grown predominantly on the high slopes in the fertile alluvial soil along riverbanks. The Klein Karoo Wine Route , which stretches along the Cape Route 62 from Montagu in the west to Langkloof in the east, is arguably the most diverse of South Africa's wine regions and its various microclimates enable winemakers to produce a wide variety of quality wines, including dry wines, fortified wines and pot-stilled brandies. World-class Port and South Africa's champion Muscadel are specialties among the fortified wines produced here, along with a host of outstanding red and white wines, which vary from full-bodied Cabernets to lighter styles for easy drinking.

Olives, too, thrive in this climate and the area produces the full spectrum of these versatile fruits, from Manzanilla and Mission table olives to Frantoio and Coratina oil olives, all prized for their coveted monounsaturated fats and high Vitamin E content. Stone, citrus and soft fruits as well as squashes and gourds are also grown in abundance here, and come spring, the valley is awash with white and pink apricot and peach blossoms.

Land of Plenty

The valley is home to many species of birds and small animals, including the black eagle, dassies, baboons, duiker, rhebuck, klipspringer, steenbok, otters, badgers, karacal, bat-eared foxes, tortoises and even the occasional leopard.

The area's vegetation is hardy renosterveld (rhinoceros bush), one of the major vegetation types of the Cape Floral Kingdom, the smallest and most diverse of the six recognised floral kingdoms of the world, and a World Heritage Site. A very large selection of indigenous wild flowers ' from proteas, ericas and aloes to lilies, watsonias, and gladioli (Gladiolus Stephanie is endemic to the area), can be seen at all times of the year thanks to perennial streams that flow through the area.

The Keisie Valley also has an enormous geological significance, the many vertical rock faces, a prime example of the famous Cape fold mountains, revealing where 450 million years of history have been sliced open and to expose a landscape that was once buried beneath the land-locked Agulhas Sea and glaciers of Gondwana. It was when some of these Devonian rock layers were laid down that the very first plants and reptiles left the sea to populate the land forever.

Of infinite sight-seeing and special-interest appeal in its own right, the Keisie Valley is also an ideal base for exploring this very unique region of the Western Cape, with the historic towns of Montagu, Ceres, Worcester, Robertson, Bonnievale, Swellendam and Barrydale all within easy access.