Meer inligting - More information

Tuesday, 5 November 2013

Houdkop - a misnomer in the wrong language

About 20 km north of Piet Retief is the 28 hectare property of Pieter and Elsie de Villiers. It is just 2 km from the Emahlatini border post. They are real entrepreneurs and apart from cattle, sheep, and a small forest plantation, they host a guest house on the farm. Pieter is also a maize merchant and built houses for the Wildlands foundation near the Tembe Game Reserve. 

Their love and enthusiasm for the area is contagious and Pieter spent a great deal of the evening entertaining us with his knowledge of the area, including Swaziland. He grew up in the maize producing area of Bultfontein in the Freestate, but moved to this wood producing area more than 18 years ago and loves it.

They have several self-catering units on the farm and can host up to 22 people. Meals can be provided on request. Fire wood is supplied in abundance and there is even a small dam with fish for the keen fisherman such as my son in law. Fishing rods are supplied.

Although the guest house is called Emahlatini Guest Farm, the name of the farm is still Houdkop, as was the name of the border post until recently. Houdkop is a German word for a small hill with wood. But in Afrikaans, houtkop has a derogative meaning and the name of the border post was changed to Emahlatini, which is a Zulu word meaning small hill with wood.

With the very reasonable rates, this is a convenient stopover when using the Emahlatini border post.