Madwaleni Bush Pub & Pool

If you're en route to Tankwa, pull over and have a refreshing drink in our pub. A little oasis in the rugged, remote environment at the end of the Biedouw Valley.

We're right alongside the road just a stone’s throw from the Doring River. There's some welcome shade under the trees that we're re-establishing, and a small pool in which to cool off.

We serve tea, coffee, beers, spirits, cold drinks and, possibly, on request a toasted ham, cheese and tomato sandwich. So if you're passing through, or one of our guests spending some time on our wild bush campings, rustic chalets, or our nature picnic spots we've got you covered.

Seasonal hiking, fishing, river rafting

Braai packs available on request for those of you staying the night.

Madwaleni means 'Place of Rocks', which is literally where you are (look around). But on a deeper, spritual level, it means that you are on your journey, you're not there yet, but right now you're exactly where you need to be...

Uitspankraal arguably gets its name from the 'Great Trek' days when the intrepid 'Boers' set out from the Cape, in the 1800s, in search of a new life and new adventures. They would load all their possessions onto a wagon which would be drawn by oxen; dragging, sweating, and carving their way over the rocky hills and valleys.

At the end of every day, they would unyoke (or ‘uitspan’) their cattle to graze, and after a week of hard driving, they would spend a couple of days in one area to rest and recover. The oxen would be grazing far and wide until a young man was sent out to find and recover them, ready for the next leg of their journey. Uitspankraal is probably one of those regular stops those ox-wagons made through this part of the country, so they introduced a 'kraal' - a rudimentary livestock enclosure to keep the animals from wandering off too far.