The owners of White Bridge Farm Accommodation joined us recently on one of our Magical Moonlight rides - this is what they had to say. (original posted on Facebook)

UNBELIEVABLE EXPERIENCES FOR VISITORS TO ENJOY:
Last night we were yet again privileged to enjoy a spectacular moonlight ride with Jo and John Lister from Horse About.
It was a perfect evening and since we were all reasonably experienced riders on this occasion, we went for a beautiful canter through the vineyards until we reached the foot of the mountain.
Here we took the forest path and slowed our pace to a stead walk in single file as it was by now pretty dark. We entered the thicket and could no longer see anything as the darkness surrounded us. This was a real lesson in trust between man and horse. Suddenly the moon crested and all the leaves on the surrounding trees turned a shimmering silver. We lost the moon again as we moved closer to the mountain and it appeared again as we moved the other way. In this way we experienced the "moon rising" about 5 times during this magical experience with the night jar calling in the back ground.
When we finally broke through and exited the forest on the far side, the moon was by now fully up and we headed through a paddock of cattle. We continued in moonlight on another bush path taking us past a tree which has signs of having frequently been visited by a leopard. This I have witnessed on a previous ride in the daylight.
We finally arrived at a wonderful new gathering place under some large trees where John and Jo have created wonderful log tables and chairs and a tethering pole for the horses. It was the first time that this site had been used by guests. We felt very privileged when we dismounted here to enjoy some wine and snacks as we looked over the valley below and, listening to the silence and toasting our good fortune with gratitude. Thank you Jo and John for sharing.
This wonderful experience, along with sun set rides, family morning rides, proposal or romantic rides etc. can be enjoyed by anyone visiting this valley and we are very grateful that the Listers have this wonderful activity to offer our guests.

Suprisingly many people, dont know that the winelands extends beyond Stellenbosch and Paarl - and boy are they pleasantly suprised! The Witzenberg Valley home to Tulbagh, Wolseley, Ceres and Prince Alfred Hamlet is very conveniently located to Cape Town, the Route 62, Riebeek Kasteel and easily incorporated into a visit to Aquila, Fairy Glen, Kagga Kamma and more. Stop over en route to the Cederberg or when travelling between West and East Coast. The roads are great and you are assured a warm country welcome!

We are very excited that our spekboom hedge line is growing spectacularly. Spekboom is frequently referred to as “the Tree of Life” or the miracle plant, due its ability to capture carbon and assist in restoring natural ecosystems. Also known as “olifantskos” (elephant food), spekboom’s other beneficial qualities include improving soil quality, reducing erosion and stimulating the return of biodiversity in an area thanks to it’s soil binding and shading nature. Bees are also shown to be very productive honey makers when the spekboom is in flower.

Spekboom has the unique ability to switch its photosynthetic mechanism from that of a rainforest plant in wet conditions to that of a desert cactus in semi-arid conditions, making it highly efficient for its environment.

Spekboom is also considered a valuable feed for livestock and horses, but according to an 1896 journal farming industries in the Cape Colonies “Where animals are well fed and pampered, they sometimes lose taste for this excellent natural food”.. far it would seem our equestrians are in the well fed & pampered category, we will have to wait and see if Donki takes to sampling.