I scribble down directions and head towards Clanwilliam. There, I spend the night at the exclusive Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve, an internationally acclaimed, 16-room, five-star haven to wellness and indulgence. Rates start at ZAR3,050, or about $375, per person.

At dawn, I fire up the Fortuner and edge along a paprika-colored mountain road to Wupperthal, found 27 kilometers beyond Clanwilliam in the remote Tra-Tra Valley. The town dates back to 1830 and was established by German Rhenish missionaries Baron Theobold von Wurmb and Johann Gottlieb Leipoldt, a shoemaker by trade and grandfather of famous South African poet Louis Leipoldt.

In fact, the shoe factory is still in operation. In the heat, the Bougainvillea appear to wobble bright blossoms over the whitewashed houses. Other than a few historical buildings, a bakery, grocer, and a Redbush Tea factory shop selling