"I am going to stick my neck out and say that Papkuilsfontein is my favourite place to stay in South Africa. And here are my reasons.You stay in an old stone cottage (one cottage also has an outside shower), surrounded by rock, gum tree and wildlife, not another human in sight.

The quality of peace and stillness defeats description. Gas-fire plumbing for baths, hurricane lamps for light - many guests have refused to come back if Willem installs electricity. Then there is the small matter of the gorge and waterfall, which I would have kept secret if I wasn't insistent on your visiting the farm. Your jaw will drop 180meters into the canyon.

Take a picnic to the deep rock pools for swimming above the waterfall (or there is a charming old fashioned "farm dam" built near the cottages for swimming) and you can climb down into the gorge in an hour and a half.

It's a magical place that not many know about and the van Wyks are lovely, friendly people who seem unable to put a proper price on what they have to offer.