Focus on Hogsback — a magical town ideal for weekends away and extended stays

Magical Hogsback

This month we focus our atten­tion on the magical little town of Hogsback in the Eastern Cape, home to numer­ous accom­mplished artists — pot­ters, paint­ers, musi­cians and poets — who have chosen the beauty of Hogsback over the rush of city life. Hogsback offers so much as a week­end des­tin­a­tion or exten­ded hol­i­day stay — think explor­ing the vil­lage, fab­ulous hik­ing trails, moun­tain bik­ing, horse rid­ing, bird watch­ing, and moun­tain climb­ing — these are only a few of the things that draw people to Hogsback time and again. Magical views, peace and tran­quil­ity add to the mix of what makes Hogsback such an appealling getaway ...

View our col­lec­tion of art­icles and fea­tures, view the pho­to­graphs of Hogsback and decide for your­self ... Continued

Middle Earth explored — what they're getting up to in Hogsback

There was some­thing about Middle Earth being sign pos­ted as an organic nurs­ery that had us driv­ing down a little obscure drive­way whilst in Hogsback recently. Besides, we couldn't let the Tolkienesque name of 'Middle Earth' go unex­plored, and so it was, on a rather hot morn­ing (the warmest we'd exper­i­enced so far) we found ourselves fall­ing out of our car in a rather ram­shackle drive­way to clasp the firm hand­shake of Dennis ... Continued

Just what they're getting up to in Hogsback

Starways pot­tery and the Rose theatre — You don't expect to find a theatre in Hogsback. Not only is it a theatre, albeit a little one, but it's open air, in the middle of a glade of pine trees, and named after the Elizabethan theatre of the same name. The Rose was London's most his­toric theatre, built in 1587 by Philip Henslowe on Bankside in Southwark and home to many of Shakespeare's productions.

The Rose at Starways is sim­il­arly built mainly of tim­ber, with earth for the walls and, although I would ima­gine this ver­sion is a lot smal­ler, it is anchored securely by two pine trees con­veni­ently set on either side of the theatre's entrance. It's all really rather quaint. There is light­ing, a sound sys­tem and a series of tables and chairs hewn from logs of wood ... Continued

Hogsback's eco shrine — a voice for the Earth

Eco Shrine Avenue

There is some­thing of the sac­red in Hogsback in the Eastern Cape. Perhaps it is the eth­er­eal prox­im­ity of dense, indi­gen­ous forests that hint at faery folk, or its remote­ness that make it so. But few people leave here without some ele­ment of repar­a­tion, even if it is simply their faith in the beauty of nature that is restored.

The approach to the eco shrine, which the artist Diana Graham calls the 'Voice of the Earth Eco shrine', does much to rein­force this impres­sion. It is a tun­nel formed by lean, leafy Hazelnut trees that cre­ate a vor­tex through which one moves from one time into another. Or so it seems ... Continued

Hogsback's labyrinth — travelling within whilst staying in the same place

I was over­awed by the labyrinth set in the gar­dens at The Edge in Hogsback in the Eastern Cape. I've sub­sequently read someone else's unim­pressed com­ments and am struck anew by how two people, look­ing at exactly the same object, can have two such oppos­ing exper­i­ences, des­pite the obvi­ous beauty of a place.

The labyrinth is set vir­tu­ally on the edge of a cliff with the most spec­tac­u­lar views of the val­ley below, the Amatola Mountains, and an expanse of sky that together have a for­mid­able visual impact. Even if you know noth­ing about labyrinths, and do not intend trav­el­ling its path­ways, its set­ting alone resounds with an intan­gible qual­ity that is imme­di­ately calm­ing, and yet exhil­ar­at­ing. It cel­eb­rates life, the uni­verse and everything – to quote Douglas Adams ... Continued

I ♥ Hogsback because ...

I ♥ Hogsback because …

Hi, I’m Ingrid from Granny Mouse House Guesthouse and self-catering Cottages in Hogsback in the Eastern Cape.

HOGSBACK IS BEST KNOWN FOR for its high alti­tude, 27 awe­some water­falls, moun­tain views, walks and hikes, clean air, indi­gen­ous forests, artistic com­munity and afford­able, friendly hos­pit­al­ity.
GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT The Arboretum (Collection of rare trees in a wood­land Park set­ting) because it is beau­ti­fully land­scaped, has an eas­ily access­ible water­fall as a back-drop and com­mands views of the 3 Hogs moun­tains).
THE BEST SNOW PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Kettlespout water­fall, which over­looks the val­ley below and moun­tains oppos­ite.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT The Edge look-out point and labyrinth and at The eco-shrine ... Continued

Hogsback — a town of pure magic and mystical atmosphere

Madonna & Child Falls

Not many people know much about Hogsback, or where it is, for that mat­ter, which per­haps is just as well given that its charm is some­thing one might want to pro­tect, and because the very essence of Hogsback is its almost oth­er­worldly silence, where it lies high up in the Amatola Mountains, sur­roun­ded by cen­tur­ies old indi­gen­ous forest.

All I knew about Hogsback, as we wound our way up the steep moun­tain roads covered in  fine mist and rain at the begin­ning of December, was that I had read and heard enough to want to visit, and that we were prob­ably in for a far colder week than my suit­case full of sum­mer clothes was going to allow — des­pite our kind landlady's good inten­tions at hav­ing emailed us to say that sum­mer had even­tu­ally arrived in the vil­lage! Continued