A Little Guesthouse 3.14

WHEN, WHO & HOW?
CHECK-IN: 2PM to 8PM
CHECK-OUT: 10am
WE WELCOME: All ages, professionals & families.

TESTIMONIALS
'5 STARS … an oasis where we could relax after a 6 hour trip.'

'5 STARS. A lovely personal touch, switching on our bed lamps, we arrived after dark. Thank you!'

'5 STARS. So special to be woken up by birdsong and lions roaring from afar!'

'5 STARS. The stillness, excellent security, professional personnel ...'

'5 STARS. Our unit was good & clean & fresh, with excellent linen, cutlery, crockery and amenities. Thanks so much.'

ABOUT YOUR STAY @ A LITTLE GUESTHOUSE

WHERE GUESTS BECOME FAMILY

Enjoy your own access to your self-catering unit, with patio. A Little Guesthouse is situated next to a kopje (hillock), which adds to its rustic atmosphere.

Each unit has an en suite shower room, air-conditioning, gas heater, free WiFi, good quality linen, comfy red blankets, electric blankets, summer fans & towels. Kitchens are equipped with general kitchenware & electric appliances including fridge, stove, microwave, electric frying pan, toaster & kettle.

NOURISH YOUR CREATIVE SOUL

For your convenience we have added to the lounge area a dining table/desk and chairs, comfy lounge chairs, a flat screen TV with 40 selected DSTV channels, including sports channels, KYKNET & movie channels. Self-catering amenities are standard features of all units.

Each unit has secure under cover parking inside the premises & a private patio with braai facilities.

Sleeping capacity varies from unit to unit. Refer unit-specific descriptions, below, in this respect. Units 1 through 5 pay homage to the ancestral rivers flowing into the Van der Merwes' present day hospitality & business acumen: Groenewald, Aucamp, Jackson & Van der Merwe.

UNIT 1 – GROENEWALD
Honouring the Groenewald lineage: the importance of family & entrepreneurial spirit.
Sleeps 3 adults, double-bed & 3/4 sleeper couch.

UNIT 2 - AUCAMP
The Aucamp tradition contributed a family focus on the importance of education. They say opposites attract, and the Aucamp – Jackson attraction is no exception. National Party support coloured the Aucamp political and world-view.
Sleeps 3 adults, 2 single beds & 3/4 sleeper couch.

UNIT 3 - JACKSON
The Jacksons, having changed their name, remained more liberal in their political outlook and staunch South African Party (SAP) supporters.
Ask the owners about a twist in the Jackson tale:
Round table discussions, emphasising business & family – a Jewish tradition. A Jewish family came to South Africa during the 1910s. They changed their name to Jackson, to avoid labeling and persecution as Jews, in South Africa.

Sleeps 3 adults, 2 single beds & 3/4 sleeper couch.

UNIT 4 – SELMA'S REST
Named after an independent, self-driven individualist in the family. A competitive, unpredictable spirit, combined with surprising fun-filled moments and love for horses.
Sleeps 2 adults, king-sized bed, convertible to 2 singles.

UNIT 5 – VAN DER MERWE
Sport and competition have been passions in the Van der Merwe genealogy for at least four generations, and possibly more.
Sleeps 4 adults, double & 2 single beds. An additional bed, added upon request (the unit then sleeps 5).

PET POLICY
Unfortunately, no pets are allowed.

DIRECTIONS
From the N1 highway, take the Nelson Mandela off-ramp, direction Boshoff (away from Bloemfontein CBD). Turn right at John Williams Motors and then right again at the Afrikaans Baptistekerk. Follow 5 signs, past Route 66 pub & grill (on your right), and the miniature church building on your left. After the 'Road Closed' sign, turn right and arrive at your destination.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BAINSVLEI
Andrew Hudson Bain was a prominent member of Bloemfontein's small population, in the mid to late 1800s. An Englishman from the West Indian Islands, Bain came to South Africa's dry climate for health reasons. He became a big game hunter in central South Africa, acquiring sixteen properties in the newly founded Bloemfontein. He owned eight farms in the greater Bloemfontein, of which he called one Bainʼs Vley, his homestead from 1849 to 1870. Bainsvlei, today, describes an area comprising small holdings where the original farm was situated.

Just after the 1848 proclamation of the Orange River Sovereignty, between the Orange and Vaal rivers, it was reported that Andries Pretorius, Voortrekker leader, was about to invade the territory.
Major Henry Douglas Warden, founder of Bloemfontein in 1848, and British Resident of the Orange River Sovereignty, instructed Bain, a member of his Executive Council, to seek help from Colesberg. The latter was rewarded with a farm for his efforts.

Bain surveyed and pegged out Bloemfontein. His layout took the form of long streets, parallel to the stream running in a north-south direction. Shorter streets were at right angles to the long ones. Bloemfontein expanded northwards of the stream. Bain's plans went only as far north as St Andrews Street.
He supplied wood to the town, was described as intelligent, sociable and pleasant, and was instrumental in establishing the first bank in Bloemfontein.

In 1860, commemorating the visit of the first British Royal to South Africa, Prince Albert (aged 16), second son of Queen Victoria, Bain organised one of the greatest hunting expeditions in recorded history on his farms Bainʼs Vley and Hartebeestehoek, west of Bloemfontein. A shooting party of 25, working with Barolong tribesmen, drove about 30 000 head of game (quagga, zebra, wildebeest, kudu, ostrich, eland and other antelope) towards the Bain's Vley homestead. Stampeded through a narrow pass on the farm, the animals were slaughtered at random. Around 1 000 animals were killed on the day and thousands more (estimates range between 5 000 and 10 000) during the following days, by the Barolongs.
Thomas Baines documented the hunt with a painting titled The greatest hunt in Africa, which was featured in The Princeʼs Progress.

Andrew Hudson Bain, a man who settled in the area before Bloemfontein was founded, leaving an indelible mark on the town's development, sold Bainʼs Vley around 1868, moved to the diamond fields and died in poverty in Boshof, near Kimberley, in 1894.