Uniondale and the Kamanassie Mountains

Uniondale is a small Klein (Little) Karoo town that is certainly off the beaten track.  Most South Africans whizz by, possibly stopping for petrol, but most often paying little attention to a town and area that offers much more than just a quick glance in the rear-view mirror can offer.  For those of you from over our borders it's way off the tourist radar.

If you're a fan of the outdoors and enjoy a bit of piece and quiet this area is a must see.  The Kamanassie Road is around 10km's from town and there are plenty of comfortable places to spend the night.  I recently visited Lansrivier and stayed in one of their beautifully restored farm cottages.  There's plenty of adventure to be had during the day and at night the inside fireplace keeps the winter chill at bay.

We pretty much kept to ourselves during our time at Lansrivier, which is a relatively easy thing to do.  Our only visitors were a few inquisitive sheep.  To revisit humanity we decided to head into town on day 2 and stopped outside Cracklin Rosy, a little coffee-shop/restaurant that had an interesting look about it.  Their menu catered to all tastes, with burgers, toasted sandwiches, pizzas and freshly made cakes.  I decided to go for the Oxtail Potjie (stew) which delivered way more than I was expecting with great layers of flavour and tender meat.  A real win.  Susan, the owner, has given me a flop-proof chocolate sauce recipe.  Give it a go.

Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup sugar
2. 4 desert spoons cacao
3. a half cup of boiling water
4. 1 desert spoon butter
5. a pinch of creme of tarter
6. 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

• boil sugar, cacao, water and creme of tarter together for 5 mins
• make sure you keep stirring because this can boil over quickly
• cool down and stir in vanilla
• pour into a jar that seals tightly
• this will keep for a few months in the fridge