BOTRIVIER...
The picturesque village of Botrivier, located in a fertile valley at the foot of the Houwhoek Mountains, is famous for its community character. The river Bot threads through wildflowers and fynbos, historic wine estates and wheat fields.
In the early days, the Khoikhoi inhabited the area and were instrumental in how Botrivier got its quirky name. A place of crossing on the Bot River originally served as a spot where the Dutch inhabitants bartered butter with the Khoikhoi tribes, hence the river was attributed with a ‘buttery’ name from both sides: the Afrikaans Botter and the Khoikhoi Couga, meaning “rich in fat” – or “lots of butter”!. The name was maintained and today this river flows through the town into a large lagoon, which forms a marsh at its mouth.
With its river, mountain, gorges and dams, Botrivier is teeming with outdoor explorative and adventure opportunities.
THINGS TO DO:
- Take your vehicle along the Houwhoek Pass for a scenic drive through the mountains, and beautiful fynbos, passing by several farms and a beautiful country hotel.
- Visit Cornell Skop farm for a chance to walk with lions and see cheetahs run.
- Pop in at the Botrivier Hotel’s pub with its quirky collection of bric-a-brac.
- Visit the Beaumont Family Wines estate – previously the historic Campagnes Drift Farm set up by the Dutch East India Company as an outpost that gave travellers a place to rest and replenish supplies. You’ll still find the old staging post here, as well as a watermill from the early 1700s that’s one of the country’s few working examples.
- Sample some of South Africa’s finest and award-winning olive oils.
- Purchase locally ground flour, dried flowers and fresh fruit.