THE FARM
The conservancy currently consists of 5800 hectares consisting of numerous individual farms thereby providing abundant habitat for the wildlife. The conservancy is also located in the malaria and Bilharzia free Eastern Cape which is also a relatively disease free area since it is based in the hardy Karoo.
We at Klipplaatsdrift farm predominantly with Merino sheep, Brangus cattle and furthermore we have over 20 species of antelope on the conservancy including animals such as Cape buffalo, Sable Antelope, Golden Wildebeest, Eland, Copper Springbuck, Lechwe along with numerous other species of plains game.
We are the 4th generation on the farm and originally moved to Klipplaatsdrift farm in 2015 after Shaun’s dad, Nasie, gave over his reign to his sons. Farming has always been in our DNA and that is why we traded the city life for “quality of life”.
Klipplaatsdrift was originally predominantly a stock farm until we had a dream of sharing our quiet, quality, farming lifestyle with the hustle and bustle that is in need for a taste of the outdoors and easy pace. A place where one can push pause and enjoy the smaller things in life, where your soul can rest and recharge.
It is also an interesting fact that the Vlekpoort River that runs past the lodge derived its name many years ago when at last light, antelope skinsplaced on the ground and hung on the bushes could be seen shining in the flats from the Bamboes Mountain Range at last light. The antelope skins reflecting the last rays of sunlight were said to look like “Vlekke” and hence the name Vlekpoort River.
PLANS
Putting our dreams onto paper. Our first draught was done early 2016 where Nastasha (luckily she is an interior architect) started with the plans after Shaun had a walk about next to the Vlekpoort river finding the perfect spot for the lodge. We fell in love with this specific spot overlooking the Vlekpoort River where Fallow Deer are often observed along the river banks or even the chants of a Fish Eagle can be heard overhead.
BUILDING
The first brick was laid on March 2019. Our biggest aim was to make use of local materials. Shaun’s dad used the farms bulldozer (D6C) for bush clearing, still trying to keep as much trees and brush as possible.
We made use of our own staff to dig foundations and for the laying of the foundations and surface beds. The very same staff went on to build the main lodge and 4 chalets with the use of some local labour. This allowed the local labour to learn and acquire skills they once never had putting them in good stead for many years to come.
Shaun installed the roof of the main lodge and chalets whilst keeping a watchful eye over the whole process (he is a Professional Civil Engineer after all). All the windows and doors were installed by Shaun and our staff, this was quite tricky but nothing was too big or small for them to handle.
All our bricks we sourced in the townships close to us (Steynsburg, Molteno & Burgersdorp), to support and uplift the different surrounding communities. Most of the timber we used in the lodge and chalets came from our farms. This even included the Poplar tree slab that we used for our bar counter.
Nasie had saved this slab knowing it would come in hand somewhere along the way and this it did. All in all we can say this was a family dream that required serious team work to allow the dream to finally become true.
