Swiss Villa, Nieuwoudtville

Home, James, and don't spare the horses...

Our drive back to Cape Town was long, rough, and fast. Home was calling. But we covered a couple of passes between Nieuwoudtville and Clanwilliam, where of course I didn't stop on the scary windy drop-offs to take pictures, though I wish I had. These are at the bottom of two...

And below is the curiously named Swiss Villa at Nieuwoudtville, where we spent our final night on the road. Really nice - we had very good food, thanks to Margie, as well as crackling fires, sumptious, snowy white (my favourite) beds, and met Dr. Marius Barnard and his wife Inez, who were also staying there - a treat. Also two guys who were school inspectors, working for the ANC and traveling through the Northern Cape. All around the same table, it was very interesting. I am not generally a happy sharer of tables.

This was the first lawn I saw during the whole trip, by the way.

Back to the food, though. We met many versions of South African food on our trip. Most were very poor and boiled to death (Kamieskroon Hotel: opt for self-catering in the hotel there - the food is terrible and the coffee worse, though I am fond of the place).

At Swiss Villa Margie's lamb knuckle stew was delicious, the vegetables still had some crunch (except the white sweet potato which was sweetly soft) and it all smacked of my mother's new favourite description of mine pertaining to food: integrity. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

A lot of accommodation is offered in Nieuwoudtville and we've sampled our fair share. Swiss Villa is tops. I would ignore the guy who corners the market in rentals in town. Just saying.