A Blackboard Menu in the Drakensberg

1999. Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse, in the Kamberg Valley below the Drakensberg.

That is me on the left in the photograph, standing with Richard Poynton beside his famous blackboard menu. Twenty-seven years later he is still there, still cooking. And Cleopatra is still one of the most memorable places to stay in South Africa.

I look at this picture and see someone paying close attention. I did not know then how much a few nights in a mountain valley would shape the way I think about looking after people. I know it now.

A blackboard menu tells you a great deal about a place. It tells you the food is decided by the person cooking it, and that the person cooking it is right there. You are a guest in someone's home, and your host cares what you eat tonight. That kind of hospitality cannot be copied from a manual. It has to come from someone who loves what they do.

What I took from places like this has stayed with me ever since. The best hospitality is personal. It comes from people who love what they do, cook with care and make every guest feel at home.

Since 2003 I have worked in property. I have built a private wine estate, a wildlife safari lodge, hotels, guest houses and over 200 homes. Across all of them, the lesson from that valley has held. Buildings and views matter. What guests remember most is how they were looked after.

There is a lesson in staying power too. Twenty-seven years on, Richard is still in that kitchen. Consistency like that is rare, and it is how a place earns its name. Guests can tell when the people caring for them have been doing it with love for a long time.

It is the standard I try to hold Visitors to Africa to. We offer private journeys for one to six guests and small groups of up to twelve. Every trip is planned personally, and every stay is chosen because of the people behind it. A beautiful room is a good start. A host who cares is what makes a stay worth remembering.

When I choose where our guests will sleep, I still ask the question I learned in the Kamberg Valley. Who runs this place, and do they love what they do? If the answer is yes, the rest tends to follow.

If you would like to travel through South Africa this way, staying with people who care about every guest, I would be glad to hear from you. Get in touch and we can start planning your journey together.

John Sparks