TRAVALIA
Guest Farm Accommodation
in Three Sisters, Hantam Karoo & Upper Karoo,
Northern Cape, South Africa
This overnight accommodation is conveniently situated on the N1 at Three
Sisters, near Richmond.
At Travalia Guest Farm we are proud of our clean and comfortable overnight
accommodation. Tourists and Holidaymakers can, without any hesitation book at
Travalia, because excellent service, a neat clean and comfortable bed with a
warm bath /shower is our guarantee.
Travalia Guest Farm is situated 500metres from the N1 highway and 1km south of
the Shell Ultra City Three Sisters .It is situated on a farm with a very
peaceful atmosphere, lovely gardens, green lawns and a play park for energetic
children.
Tasty meals are available in the form of braaipacks, consisting of Karoo Lamb
chops and sausage or traditional meals such as leg of lamb .bobotie, chicken pie
etc. Braai breads are also made for clientele as well as the provision of wood.
Travalia Guest Farm is fully licensed and cool drinks beer wines etc are
available at the main reception. Breakfast and other farm produce are sold at
the farm store.
Each one of our 20 spacious rooms are equipped with a fan/heater, it s own
bathroom, braai facilities, as well as electric blankets for the cold Karoo
winter nights. Our luxury and deluxe rooms are air conditioned, with a bath and
a shower. One cottage sleeping 8 people is equipped for self catering purposes.
There is a comfortable lounge cum TV room in the farm house where one can watch
DSTV or just relax with a book or magazine. New friends are made in front of the
cozy old fashioned farm fire. To maintain the farm atmosphere, a dam on the farm
has been transformed into a swimming pool which can be enjoyed and many walk,
jogging, hike and mountain biking trails can be used.
Sheep and cattle are farmed on the farm as well as a game namely Kudu,
springbok, blesbok, and a variety of smaller antelope.
The Herholdt family started the business in 1989(and are still running it today)
and now 20 years later are sleeping 13 000 guests a year are you one of them?
We are wheel chair friendly and are there to spoil you.
We are also pet friendly
Three Sisters farm Store:
The large Farm Store 80 meters from the N1 has a restaurant where Karoo fare can
be enjoyed .take home our Karoo Super Lamb, cut and packed for your convenience.
The Farm Store also has a wide variety of Biltong, Droëwors (dried sausage),
Nuts, Dried Fruit, Estate wines (specializing in the Van Loveren Estate),
homemade rusks and much much more.
History: Built on traditions and hospitality
By the time diamonds were discovered in 1868, many traders, travelers, peddlers,
explorers and missionaries were already quite familiar with the Karoo. There
were already well established routes into the interior.
One of the main arteries to the North passed through the present-day guest farm,
Travalia. The N1 vaguely follows a similar route and like the N12, the old
Diamond Way swung to the left at Three Sisters and round the small outcrop of
hills to continue on to Brakfontein, a coaching stop en-route to Victoria West.
The first reliable services to the diamond fields were well underway by 1870.
Coaches passed the point where Travalia’s buildings are situated and rushed on
to Brakfontein for refreshment, fodder and fresh horses.
Much more casual transport had at one time plied the route, but once diamonds
were discovered, running any sort of transport to the diamonds fields became a
cutthroat business. Operators moved as quickly as possible with all vehicles
crammed to capacity.
There are hair-raising tales of men clinging to the outsides of coaches as they
careered along the poorly made, rocky roads of the last century.
Obviously passengers who became ill became an unacceptable burden. There was
simply no way to attend to them and no time to stop. So such unfortunates were
simply dumped along the road, if possible at a farmstead, but, if not, they
simply had to take their chances.
Such was the fate of young George Hamman. He and his friends were off to seek
their fortunes at the diamond diggings. They were traveling in one of the rapid,
rough and ready conveyances of the day and it was a particularly cold winter.
Young George who had started the journey with a chill developed pneumonia.
In the coach his racking cough worsened, he began to perspire, a raging fever
starred and George started shivering. He was obviously in a bad way and no one
knew what to do with him, so he was simply put off the coach before he could
infect other passengers.
The driver and his friends made him as comfortable as they could in the shade of
a huge boulder at the side of the road. But, as the other passengers were
becoming disgruntled, they had to hasten away. Anyway they were convinced his
chances of recovery were slim and that he was destined to die.
Unbeknown to him, a ragged, almost naked little band of tiny brown people had
been watching him from a distance for quite some time, excitedly clicking and
chattering every time he moved or groaned.
They did not trust white men, this race having hunted their ancestors and almost
wiping them out. These white people did not understand Bushmen ways, nor that
had they long lived on these Karoo plains, feeding off the game. But, as the
farmers moved into the region the vast herds of game moved northwards.
For a while the Bushmen followed the herds, but the farmers were stocked and
they found it much less trouble to simply steal sheep and cattle. In time they
became such a nuisance that the farmers hunted them, hoping to drive them
permanently away.
So the little Bushmen band, whose heritage was so filled with legends of these
pale devil people, carefully watched the man lying in the shade of the rock.
They realized he was very ill, took pity on him and gently moved him to a better
shelter.
They too expected him to die, but he clung tenaciously to life, so the Bushmen
began to treat him with herbs and other medicines made from bark, roots and veld
plants. They nursed him back to health and as he recovered, George Hamman was
enchanted by the beauties of the Karoo.
The sunsets, the dawns, he crisp cold, fresh air, all captivated him. He swore
that if he totally recovered, he would try to buy the ground where he had been
found, and that he would live in the Karoo.
He did recover ad he purchased the farm, a portion of which is now known as
Travalia. Always mindful of the kindness of the Bushmen and their care, without
which he certainly would have died, he turned no one away from his door. So it
was that Travalia began with a firm base of friendship and hospitality – a
tradition which is still observed today.
Facilities:
- Conference facility which accommodate up to 20 people
- Separate braai (bbq) facilities are situated in the garden in front of
every room ( meat , braai grids/roosters and other braai necessities are
available)
- There is a large farm dam that has been converted into a swimming pool.
- At Travalia we also have a fully licensed restaurant, liquor cooldrinks,
ice and other drinks are also available from reception.
- A television lounge is situated within the main house with the full DSTV
bouquet
- Jogging trails
- Mountain biking trails
- Hiking trails
Rooms:
All rooms have en- suite bathrooms with either a bath or shower some have both,
please enquire to suit your needs. All standard rooms without air–conditioning are equipped with electric blankets
Rooms 1-4 are situated in the main farm house and are equipped with fans
and heaters
Rooms 5-9 are situated in a quad outside the main farmhouse and all rooms
are equipped with fans and heaters
Rooms 10 - 19 are duplex chalets all with air conditioning
Cottage: This is a house on its own with a fully - equipped kitchen for
self - catering needs
Restaurant
The restaurant serves typical karoo fare, including desserts. Meals include leg
of lamb, bobotie , lamb shank pie , chicken pie , lamb stew , apple crumble ,malva
pudding , ice- cream and chocolate sauce. Main courses are all served with veg,
two salads are also available as side order.
Braai packs are also available for those who want to enjoy the fresh Karoo air.
Braai breads and salads can also be requested to compliment a full braai tray
complete with casserole, braai tongs, plates, knives, forks and serviettes.
Fires are lit on the customers requested time.
Breakfast is served from 07H00 to 12H00 at the farm stall, which also has a full
lunch menu and is open to 18H00.
Contact Us
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