I do like a generous size bath and the big oval bath in the lagoon-side safari suite at Mosiac Farm, could fit little ole me and my 6ft man. The only problem was that that neither I nor Man, could reach both the spout and the taps at the same time. We had to run the bath in tandem, him on the taps, me on the spout (not elegant).
But once in, it was all worth it.
Another notable element of Mosiac Farm is the food. It’s great when the chef has the kind of personality that allows him or her to reveal him/herself. Chef Craig Anderson did and revealed that he sources most of the food for Mosiac Farm from within a 50km radius. We ate the softest, most delicately flavoured smoked salmon from Peter Badenhorst’s farm about 10k up the road outside Stanford. This stretch of road also boasts Raka Wines and Klien River Cheese, also appearing on the menu. Jams and preserves are made by the Chef himself and I scored two jars to take home. I have been feasting on grapefruit and Southern Comfort marmalade and Apricot and dark rum jam (he’s not shy with the booze)! I was only sorry I wasn’t there at Christmas when he makes his mulled wine sorbet – sounds delicious?
Mosiac Farm is on the the Stanford side of the Hermanus lagoon in a conservancy area of natural fynbos and still quite a few alien trees. The surroundings of Mosiac Farm contain beautiful indiginous Fynbos, which change in colour and hue depending on the season. At the end of a wet winter when I visited, the lagoon was lapping against the picnic benches and completely submerging some of the boundary fences. It was good to have water so close by and with it a great many birds.
There are two main sections of Mosiac Farm – the 1892 Stanford Spookhuis, built of solid giant blocks of local stone stacked upon each other, which is now the restaurant and conference facility. A couple of self-catering stone cottages are adjacent. Then there’s Lagoon Lodge in safari lodge style, hidden in a tangle of ancient Milkwood trees beside the lagoon edge. Once a tented camp, the wind that whips up from the sea and across the lagoon, rattled the tent fabric to distraction, so the canvas walls were replaced by solid walls that now create cosy little rustic cabins.
Pretty much all safari-style venues offer some activities and Mosiac Farm is no exception. Our afternoon drive was on a private sand road to the Atlantic Ocean’s edge, where whales were jumping far offshore. Having already mentioned the force of the wind, you can imagine the party of foreigners in clothing they thought would suit Africa – summer tops and shorts – freezing their extremities off while staring in the direction of the nearest land mass, namely Antarctica.
The waves were hitting the beach with the amassed force of the whole South Atlantic Ocean and a chill wind came along for the ride. Our guide seemed fairly oblivious to this and set up afternoon drinks and snacks. No warming coco or whisky (both of which I would have gulped down in the same cup if offered), therefore in true colonial fashion, we sipped cold white wine and talked about the weather and watched intently at the ocean until teeth chattered and the whales dived out of sight.
Hermanus is well known for being the best land based whale watching in the world and Mosiac Farm has rights to go to a pristine stretch of beach within a nature reserve in which to look for whales. Not far away at Gans Baai is the other most popular ocean encounter; Great White Shark cage diving.
I chose to stay right were I was at Mosiac Farm and let the old trees and historic buildings murmer their stories to me, or was it the wind telling a few tall stories?