About Us
Moving to Bereaville from a high crime suburb in Cape Town, in 2005, was probably the best decision I have ever made. It took a while to get used to the almost zero crime rate in the village with no need for high walls or alarm systems. Children play in the streets and walking out at night is not dangerous, although normal precautions are recommended. People are friendly and accommodating. What a pleasant change from the Big City!
Sustainable Tourism Accreditation
After much hard work, we are extremely proud to have been accredited by the South African Tourism (SATOUR) as an Eco-Tourism destination.
It has always been our aim to become a sustainable, Green Toursim destination and we will continue with our endeavours to incorporate a much larger portion of our little village into this initiative.
You will also find us on Eco Atlas, which is one of SA's first genuine information websites on anything ECO.
Here you will find many businesses who all have sustainability as their priority.
Restoring a little Gem
The cottage looked ready to disintegrate but after three further years, and several floods it still stood and it was decided to restore it back to its pristine, original structure and extensive research in the archives was undertaken.
The lean-to kitchen was removed, 'new', used Oregon pine windows in a traditional style were fitted, the old reed ceiling was removed, and a concrete (level!) floor and corrugated roof were installed.
Other than some necessary modernisation, great care was given to maintain its heritage status. Original adobe bricks, saved from the renovations on the adjoining house were used and old recipes were followed to make adobe plaster. Other locally sourced materials, e.g. wood, reeds and stone, help to create a traditional, country atmosphere.
Taking cognizance of the environment, the interior toilet is a composting system, although there is an out-house behind the building with a flush toilet – for the ‘city folks’. Hot water is supplied via a gas geyser and a solar system is planned in the near future. The electrical installation has been kept to a minimum and installed in such a way that it is not an eyesore – paraffin lamps are provided for a real earthy atmosphere. The ancient grape vine has been lovingly nurtured back to life and is again growing abundantly, bearing fruit, albeit the grapes are only good for making vinegar. The original grape arbour was replaced with a large private patio and braai facility.
You may want to visit the Restoration page for full details of the restoration process.
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Our Vision
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Having grown up in a self-sufficient, sustainable home it came naturally to live this way once more but as a child one does not always take note, thus re-membering everything took some time.
It started with trying to bake my own bread - the first loaf could happily have killed someone, it was like a brick - but perseverance had its rewards. From there I learnt to preserve my own food, bottling fruit, dehydrating excess produce, even making my own cosmetics and toothpaste. Now I keep chickens for eggs and fresh meat comes from the rabbits.
The incredible wastage in our western civilization has always appalled me, so recycling has become my first choice. Besides the fun of finding the unexpected treasure, hunting around scrap dealers and secondhand stores is great fun. I also found that the quality of used building material is simply much better than the newly produced bad quality one normally finds.
From growing my own food the natural move was to saving seeds and from this has grown a small, but very varied range of collector's and heirloom seeds, of which I sell the excess.
Before long people were asking me to help them with all kinds of projects. They also wanted to change their lifestyle to a simpler existence.
From this the idea of using the cottage to show guests how easy and pleasurable it can be to live simply, was born. Many people dream of doing this but they are used to all the trimmings and change means leaving one's comfort zone. My vision is to entice guests into further thought where they will hopefully make a start, no matter how small. This kind of change does not happen overnight but if one starts with some small changes, others will soon follow.
The children are the ones who most enjoy the freedom country living brings with it. Parents notice them catching tadpoles or finding some horses next door to ride or even pigs to feed. Even die-hard technology addicts have been known to leave their gadgets unused for a while. What could be more interesting than bottle feeding an orphaned lamb or watching a little chick hatching?
I am happy to spend time with interested people to demonstrate food preservation methods, discuss how to grow a vegetable patch, or maybe even how to restore an old cottage they may have acquired. Passing on my knowledge, learned from many mistakes and disasters along the way, could be of much use to someone not knowing where to start.