Swellendam trips and tours

Nestled in the Langeberg foothills with wheat fields rolling towards the Breede River, this is a town that briefly declared itself an independent republic in 1795. South Africa's third-oldest settlement wears its history lightly: whitewashed Cape Dutch facades line oak-shaded streets, the 1747 Drostdy houses period furniture on cow-dung floors, and the surrounding countryside is youngberry country, ripe for picking at Wildebraam before sampling their aniseed and choc-chilli liqueurs. Just outside town, Bontebok National Park tells one of conservation's quieter triumphs – the elegant bontebok was reduced to just 17 animals in 1931; today, over 3,000 roam the Cape.