Blanco Holiday Farm and Guest Resort – one of my favourite places in the Eastern Cape. Easily accessible but in the middle of nowhere. It’s up there … in the mountains … near Tarkastad … close to where my mate Rob Porter comes from. Man … it’s close to Cradock. Pronounced Kra’dik.
My old Maritzburg varsity mate Chris Laubscher and his gorgeous wife Kim Laubscher own and run Blanco. Been there for years. Lekka place. Stopped over when I moved down from Joburg. That road trip in Augustus.
Anyway, I can taste the lamb from here. Proper farm fare. Rest and solitude good for the soul. A caring soul on hand to look after little ones too. And all out exhilaration if you want it. Running and biking and horsing. And bowls. All that mooi stuff. And the pub afterwards. If you want it. Rubber arm … Lekka gooi. Otherwise have a doss. And relax. An oke can sleep forever in that mountain air. Yrrr … can’t wait to get back there.
If you’re heading to Blanco this weekend for the trail-run, enjoy. You the lucky ones!
GRAEME HOLMES
Before moving back to Grahamstown in Oct 2017, Graeme was a bank executive based in the big smoke and craziness of Joburg. He has 20 years’ experience in the Payments Industry. He is a Chartered Accountant, has a Masters in Management by Research (MMR) from Wits Business School, and attended an Advanced Management Programme (AMP) offered by INSEAD (The Business School for the World!) in France.
Graeme is the founder of The Grahamstown Project. It’s simple. He says, “Grahamstown is a microcosm of South Africa. If we can’t get this place to function properly then the whole country is stuffed. Many of the troubles we experience as a country today have their roots here in Grahamstown. it is here where black and white people first engaged in conflict on the African continent. It is here where 9 wars of dispossession over 100 years took place and virtually destroyed the amaXhosa nation. But we are where we are. I don’t have a British passport and the boat-trip back to where my ancestors came from is exorbitantly expensive. Furthermore, this is my home. I am a son of Africa. We must work together to redress the injustices of the past and move as one into a brighter future.”
Graeme is an avid historian, writer, vlogger and public speaker. Like and follow the Facebook page. Join him on a tour. Contact him. He would love that.