Algerynskraal is a working stock farm on the R62 between Barrydale and Ladismith, in the Klein Karoo. The camper sits on it, roughly seven kilometres in from the gate along a gravel farm road that climbs through the hills.
It is important to be clear about what that means, because “farm stay” covers a wide range. This is not a lodge with a farmyard attached and it is not a game reserve. It is a farm that works, with a camper site on it, and the animals you meet are the farm’s animals rather than an attraction laid on for guests.
What lives in the home pens
- Camels. The unexpected ones. They come to the fence and stand looking at you with total confidence.
- Alpacas. Kept alongside the camels, and considerably more nervous about the whole arrangement.
- Angora goats. The Klein Karoo is mohair country and these are the animals the region was built on.
- Cattle. A small run of young stock in the yard.
- Donkeys. Unbothered by anything, including you.
- Free-range chickens. Including a rooster with strong views about what time the day starts.
None of this is fenced off from the camper in the sense of a viewing platform. You walk out of the caravan, across the lawn, and the pens are part of the landscape you are in.
The river
There is a river within walking distance of the caravan. It is a Karoo river, which means it runs when it has rained and sits in pools when it has not. Worth the walk either way, and the most likely place to see something wild that is not a bird.
The landscape
The farm sits in open Karoo veld with mountains on the skyline in most directions. The vegetation is low scrub and grass, the ground is red, and the long sightlines are what give the place its character. From the chairs under the pergola you can see for kilometres and the only structures in that view are the farm’s own.
That openness is also what makes the sky so good after dark. There is no town close enough to put a glow on the horizon.
Being a good guest on a working farm
Three things, none of them complicated:
- Close every gate you open. Livestock on the wrong side of a fence is somebody’s whole afternoon.
- Keep dogs with you. Full detail on the pet friendly page.
- Stay out of the working pens. Look from the fence. The camels are large and the goats are faster than you.
The people
The farm is inhabited and the hosts live on it, which is why guests consistently describe the assistance as quick and friendly. You are not checking into an unattended unit. You are staying on somebody’s farm, a short distance from their house, and that is a different and better arrangement than a key in a lockbox.