Flowers, Wine and Theatre
Spend time exploring the village, with its many quaint antique, craft, gift shops and galleries. Visitors can also visit the Darling Museum, the orchard nursery and a gallery showcasing the talents of local artists.
Explore Pieter-Dirk Uys’s eccentric universe in the old station building transformed into a restaurant, playhouse and art gallery. !Khwa ttu is an ecotourism venture owned and operated by the San people.
Join a guide to learn about their oral and spiritual heritage, how to track animals or study their traditional and medicinal plants. The centre is situated close to Yzerfontein. Four flower reserves and more than 1 000 species of flowering plants is why you should not miss spring and the Darling Veldblommeskou in September. Stop at Darling Wine Shop for a tasting before heading off to your favourite estates along the Darling Wine Route.
The town is also home to the Darling Brewery, a microbrewery specialising in a wide range of delicious beers. It’s been in operation since 2010 and has won numerous awards. Each beer in their range is designed in honour of an endangered species. The brewery is open to the public to enjoy a fantastic craft beer tasting experience.
Buffelsfontein shares a boundary with the West Coast National Park and offers great game drives and bird watching as well as a short but fun 4x4 route. Originally founded as a tribute to the butter industry, Darling Museum now trips you into a bygone era. Darling also offers three birding routes that will delight twitchers. Sip on a hand-crafted beer at the Slow Quarter or explore the nearby fishing village of Yzerfontein.
Art in All Forms
In a rather unorthodox demonstration of the common wisdom that behind every great man there is a great woman, South Africa's premier stand-up satirist, has let that woman take centre stage. Pieter-Dirk Uys, in his drag persona of Evita Bezhuidenhout, is South Africa's unofficial first lady and the country's conscience in a kaftan.
He bought the old corrugated-iron railway station in Darling, some 70 km from Cape Town, painted it pink and transformed into a cabaret venue named Evita se Perron - ('platform' in Afrikaans.) Along with Uys' own inimitable brand of talent, the venue showcases a variety of acts in a space that has been painstakingly put together as a bad taste tribute to the bad old days.
This little farming town of vineyards, wheatfields and wildflowers now has fifteen resident artists practising various disciplines. Evita se Perron hosts an annual Arts Festival in September to exhibit some of the talent. And in keeping with the artistic flair of the town, the community puts on a Passion play every Easter Weekend.
Charming All Year Round
Darling takes its name from Sir Charles Henry Darling (the then Lieutenant-Governor of the Cape), with some of the beautifully restored Victorian homes dating back to 1853. Ancient trees line streets where you can browse for collectables, indulge in a cream tea or have a ‘skinder’ at one of the local coffee shops, farm stalls or restaurants. Darling is conveniently located only 75 km from Cape Town along the West Coast road. The sea is 23 km away at the coastal town of Yzerfontein.
Darling forms part of the West Coast Biosphere Reserve, and its environments is a kaleidoscope of wheat fields, vineyards and immense beauty of wildflowers in spring. Darling is the ideal escape for anyone wanting to experience the warm hospitality and interesting sights that South Africa is known for. It is a delightful little country town, offering a wide array of wonderful attractions. The older part is blessed with regal Victorian houses, some of which are guesthouses.
By Jacques Marais
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