Fauna

Although in years past, wildlife became almost extinct because of overzealous hunting by the inhabitants, the numbers are ever increasing due to rigid control by Cape Nature and us. Baboons are numerous, but Grey Rhebuck, Klipspringer and even Kudu are all becoming more obvious. 

Small carnivores like Rooikat, Cape wild cat and the river mongoose also appear ever so often. 

The spoor of the native leopard is frequently seen, but being very shy and nocturnal has not been physically encountered in the recent past. The Leopard Trust of South Africa has set up cameras on our property to monitor the movements of the big cats. They captured a couple of nice pictures of different leopards on the farm at night – so we definitely know they are there!

Birdlife is abundant and the Kloof boasts at least 150 well-recorded species. On our own property we are lucky to have a nesting pair of endangered black eagles.

 

Flora

The Swartberg and surrounding areas are of climatic extremes, with very cold winters and extremely hot summers.

The vegetation is quite diverse: ranging from mountain fynbos and riverine shrubs to renosterveld and Karoo-veld. A unique feature is the abundance of succulents, which makes it a favorite to visiting botanists.