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Discover Kaapsehoop
Heritage • History • Nature • Wild Horses
Documenting and preserving the heritage, history and living landscape of Kaapsehoop & the De Kaap goldfields, its people, its graves, its wild horses, and years of story.

DISCOVER KAAPSEHOOP JOINS THE GREAT SOUTHERN BIOBLITZ 202627–30 November 2026Discover Kaapsehoop is joining the Great So...
14/10/2026

DISCOVER KAAPSEHOOP JOINS THE GREAT SOUTHERN BIOBLITZ 2026
27–30 November 2026

Discover Kaapsehoop is joining the Great Southern BioBlitz 2026: Lowveld — and we're inviting you to help us document the living mountain.

For four days, photograph the wild things you encounter around Kaapsehoop — plants, animals, insects, fungi, birds and more — and upload your observations to iNaturalist.

Want to join in?
1. Download the free iNaturalist app and create an account.
2. Find and follow our Kaapsehoop biodiversity projects here:
Discover Kaapsehoop on iNaturalist
3. Start practising now — photograph something wild and upload your first observation.
4. Save the dates: 27–30 November.

You don't need to know what you've found — the iNaturalist community can help with identification.

Look closer. Get curious. Help us document the living mountain.

Kaapsehoop is not just a destination. It is something to be protected.

THEY BROUGHT AN ORCHARD TO KAAPSEHOOP BY OX WAGON. 🍐And against the odds, it flourished on the mountain.The peaceful pic...
13/10/2026

THEY BROUGHT AN ORCHARD TO KAAPSEHOOP BY OX WAGON. 🍐

And against the odds, it flourished on the mountain.

The peaceful picnic spot we know today as the Pear Orchard isn't simply a pretty name. It really was an orchard.

According to the Lambourn family history, young pear and apple trees, together with grape vines, made the long journey from the Cape to Kaapsehoop by ox wagon.

Imagine that journey.

Then imagine planting them high on this misty escarpment — and watching them thrive.

The trees produced plentiful fruit, giving us a wonderfully different glimpse of old Kaapsche Hoop. Not prospectors and diggings this time, but orchards, fruit trees and everyday family life on the mountain.

The Lambourn family records that Leonard Lambourn later took over the orchard ground from the man who had originally planted it, although the identity of that first planter is something we are still researching.

And there is documentary evidence to add to the story: in 1934, government records show that a lease held by L. Lambourn over a portion of the farm Kaapsche Hoop No. 43 was extended.

Today the purpose has changed.

The fruit-growing days have largely disappeared, but the name survived.

People still spread their blankets beneath the trees, unpack picnic baskets and spend an afternoon at the Pear Orchard — often without realising why it is called that.

So next time you're there, look around and picture it:
Pear trees. Apple trees. Grape vines.
Brought from the Cape by ox wagon.
And growing on a mountain in Kaapsehoop.

That's the history hiding in plain sight.

Do you remember the Pear Orchard when fruit trees still grew there? Does your family have photographs or stories? We'd love to hear them.



Kaapsehoop is not just a destination. It is something to be protected.

Before Kaapsche Hoop had a name…Long before the first stands were surveyed, before prospectors arrived and before a vill...
12/10/2026

Before Kaapsche Hoop had a name…

Long before the first stands were surveyed, before prospectors arrived and before a village appeared on this mountain, people already knew and moved through this landscape.

Today, on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we recognise that the story of this mountain began long before its name appeared on a map or its history was entered into official records.

The stone sites, ancient pathways and wider landscape around Kaapsehoop form part of a much older human story — one that deserves careful research, respect and protection.

At Discover Kaapsehoop, we continue to search for the evidence that helps us understand all the layers of this mountain's past.

Our commitment is to acknowledge what is documented, investigate what remains uncertain and distinguish historical evidence from legend.

The establishment of Kaapsche Hoop in 1882 marks an important chapter in our village's recorded history, but it is only one chapter in the much longer story of this landscape.

History did not begin when someone started writing it down.

It was already here.

Kaapsehoop is more than a destination. It is a landscape of natural, cultural and historical significance — a heritage worth understanding, respecting and protecting for future generations.

Discover Kaapsehoop | Preserving the Past. Protecting the Future.

🌐 https://kaapsehoop.net

TRAILS TO KAAPSEHOOPDixon. Lambourn. Nel. Topham. Latré.Behind these names lies a remarkable trail through southern Afri...
11/10/2026

TRAILS TO KAAPSEHOOP

Dixon. Lambourn. Nel. Topham. Latré.

Behind these names lies a remarkable trail through southern African history — and eventually, to Kaapsehoop.

In 1843, Benjamin Dixon and his family set off by ox wagon on an extraordinary journey north, crossing the Orange River and reaching the country around present-day Walvis Bay.

Their pioneering story survived in family records and was later documented in the published genealogy Die Dixons van Namakwaland.

The Dixons were not a Kaapsehoop family. But generations later, Benjamin's great-granddaughter Elizabeth Anna Dixon married Odiel Latré.
Their son was Richard “Dick” Latré.

And Dick's trail would eventually lead to Kaapsehoop.

Here another set of histories came together when he married Laurette Nel — bringing together the Latré and Dixon line with the Nel, Lambourn and Topham families, whose stories were already intertwined with old Kaapsche Hoop and the De Kaap.

Look through the generations and a wonderful pattern begins to emerge.
Pioneers. Prospectors. Travellers. Hoteliers. Record-keepers. Community builders.
People who made their own paths — and, importantly, left enough behind for us to follow them.

Perhaps trailblazers really is the family word.

It appears again in the next generation with Shane Latré, a Springbok Scout.
The photographs accompanying this post come from the family archive: Richard and Laurette Latré with their young family on the Kaapsehoop mountain — a landscape that would become inseparable from the Latré name.

Over the next few weeks, we'll open those archives and tell some of the stories behind these names.

Not because they belong to one family tree.

Because they belong to the history of Kaapsehoop.

And we'll begin with quite a character...
Eddie Topham — hotelier, bottle-store owner and Laurette's great-uncle.
His story is next.

Kaapsehoop is not just a destination. It is something to be protected.

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 🌿Sometimes, we all need a moment.A moment to stop.To step outside.To breathe.To walk.To notice.T...
10/10/2026

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 🌿

Sometimes, we all need a moment.

A moment to stop.

To step outside.

To breathe.

To walk.

To notice.

To listen.

Time spent outdoors can give us space to slow down, move our bodies and reconnect with the world around us.

Here in Kaapsehoop, that might mean walking among the rocks, listening for birds in the forest, watching the mist move across the mountain, sitting quietly among the wildflowers — or simply taking the dog for a walk.

Today, on World Mental Health Day, make a little time for yourself.

Step outside. You don't have to go far.

And remember to check in on the people around you too. Sometimes a walk and a conversation can mean more than we realise.

🌿 Walk • Breathe • Notice • Listen

Kaapsehoop is not just a destination. It is something to be protected.

🐦 TOMORROW WE BIRD KAAPSEHOOPTomorrow, Kaapsehoop joins birders around the world for October Big Day 2026.From our grass...
09/10/2026

🐦 TOMORROW WE BIRD KAAPSEHOOP

Tomorrow, Kaapsehoop joins birders around the world for October Big Day 2026.
From our grasslands and forest edges to the rocky escarpment — slow down, look up and listen.

Whether you’re hiking the mountain, walking through the village, enjoying a coffee or simply sitting in your garden, record the birds you see and hear on eBird.

📅 Saturday, 10 October 2026
📍 Kaapsehoop, Mpumalanga
📱 Look • Listen • Record

Keep the Discover Kaapsehoop Bird Checklist handy as your field reference:
Kaapsehoop Bird Checklist - https://kaapsehoop.net/experiences/kaapsehoop-bird-checklist-pdf/

Tomorrow, every bird counts.

What will Kaapsehoop reveal?

Kaapsehoop is not just a destination. It is something to be protected.

🦅 WHERE ARE KAAPSEHOOP’S CROWNED EAGLES?Here’s a challenge for Habitat Week: LOOK UP.SAFCOL records document Crowned Eag...
08/10/2026

🦅 WHERE ARE KAAPSEHOOP’S CROWNED EAGLES?

Here’s a challenge for Habitat Week: LOOK UP.

SAFCOL records document Crowned Eagle Nest No. 18 — Kaapsehoop, Berlin Plantation. That nest was recorded as abandoned in 2009, but later monitoring still recorded Crowned Eagles in the Berlin area — without locating their new nest.

And this isn’t just old history. Crowned Eagle monitoring continues because finding active territories and new nesting sites matters for their conservation. BirdLife South Africa specifically identifies observations from birders and collaboration with local communities and landowners as valuable to monitoring.

So… where are Kaapsehoop’s Crowned Eagles now?

👀 SPOTTED ONE? REPORT IT TO DISCOVER KAAPSEHOOP.

Send us:
When you saw it • approximate location • photo if you have one.
Please DM precise locations rather than posting them publicly, particularly if you suspect you've found a nest. Never approach or disturb a nesting bird.

We’ll collate credible sightings so they can be shared with the appropriate local conservation/monitoring network.

And with October Big Day this Saturday, there couldn't be a better time to start looking skyward. BirdLife's own Kaapschehoop guide specifically tells birders to watch the escarpment for Crowned Eagles.

LOOK UP. REPORT. HELP US FIND THEM.

Protect the habitat. Protect the species. Protect the mountain.

NEW — Adam’s Calendar: Second EditionThe Second Edition of the Discover Kaapsehoop Adam’s Calendar — Inzalo Yelanga: The...
08/10/2026

NEW — Adam’s Calendar: Second Edition

The Second Edition of the Discover Kaapsehoop Adam’s Calendar — Inzalo Yelanga: The Birthplace of the Sun visitor’s guide is now available as a 46-page digital PDF.

Completely revised and expanded, this edition explores the extraordinary story of the stones while carefully separating science, documented history, legend, living tradition and personal experience.

Explore the SAHRA investigation, the geology of the stones, Credo Mutwa, the modern Adam’s Calendar story, Inzalo Yelanga, astronomy, sound, magnetism and the site's growing significance as a living place of pilgrimage.

46 pages · Second Edition · 2026
Get your digital copy here:
Adam’s Calendar — The Complete Visitor’s Guide PDF https://kaapsehoop.net/experiences/adams-calendar-the-complete-visitors-guide-pdf/

Some places you visit. This one visits you back.

WALK THROUGH THE STORY OF KAAPSEHOOPIn 2025, Discover Kaapsehoop created the Kaapsche Hoop Self-Guided Heritage Trail — ...
07/10/2026

WALK THROUGH THE STORY OF KAAPSEHOOP

In 2025, Discover Kaapsehoop created the Kaapsche Hoop Self-Guided Heritage Trail — a free digital heritage experience designed to help visitors discover the history of the village for themselves.

18 stops. 45–60 minutes. No booking. No guide fee.

Take your phone and follow the route through old Kaapsche Hoop, discovering the buildings, people, businesses and stories that once shaped life on this mountain.

The trail has been built from archival and historical research, with each stop telling another part of the village story. The entire trail can be loaded onto your phone before you set out, making it usable even through areas where mobile signal disappears. And most importantly, it is free for visitors to use.

Created not only to preserve Kaapsehoop's history, but to encourage people to spend time in the village — walk its streets, visit its businesses, stop for coffee, browse, eat, explore and discover what makes this little mountain village extraordinary.

SCAN. WALK. DISCOVER.

Explore the free Kaapsche Hoop Heritage Trail
Created by Discover Kaapsehoop · 2025

Kaapsehoop is not just a destination. It is something to be protected.

HOW TO JOIN OCTOBER BIG DAY FROM KAAPSEHOOPThis Saturday, 10 October, birders around the world will be recording the bir...
07/10/2026

HOW TO JOIN OCTOBER BIG DAY FROM KAAPSEHOOP

This Saturday, 10 October, birders around the world will be recording the birds they see and hear for October Big Day 2026.

And you can take part right here in Kaapsehoop.

You don't need to be an expert birder. All you need is the free eBird Mobile app and a little time outdoors.

Before Saturday:
1. Download eBird Mobile and create your free account.
2. Download our Discover Kaapsehoop Bird List to use as a field reference.

On Saturday, start an eBird checklist, select the correct location, and record the birds you can identify by sight or sound. When you've finished, review and submit your checklist.

Download the Kaapsehoop Bird List:
Kaapsehoop Bird Checklist - https://kaapsehoop.net/experiences/kaapsehoop-bird-checklist-pdf/

Whether you spend twenty minutes watching birds from a garden or head out onto the mountain with your binoculars, your observations can contribute to citizen science.

Look. Listen. Record.
Every Bird Counts.
Kaapsehoop is not just a destination. It is something to be protected.

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