176km from CT

Known as the gateway to the Cederberg, the village of Citrusdal lies just 2 hours from Cape Town on the N7, nestled between the Koue Bokkeveld and the Swartberg Mountains. Citrusdal, synonymous with citrus farming, is set amongst green citrus orchards and fields of rooibos tea, buchu and wild flowers.

The town of Citrusdal was only established in 1916, when the Dutch Reformed Church bought a plot and the township was laid out, but the valley and the baths have a much longer history. The San, or Bushmen were indigenous to the area, and they used the hot spring as a pivotal life source for many years. Evidence of this can be found in the rock art found near The Baths.

Jan Danckaert reached what he named the Olifants River in 1660 during one of the first Dutch exploratory expeditions on horseback. In 1739 the hot springs were first mentioned in VOC (Dutch East India Company) documents. The Khoi-San came into conflict with the European farmers and Jan Cruywagen made a report to the Council of Policy suggesting that they set up a military post ‘aan ter Warme Bad’. This war caused the whole area, which included The Baths, to be taken over by the white stock farmers.

Also the oldest orange tree in the country, said to be more than 250 years old and declared a national monument, stands on the farm Hexrivier in the Citrusdal valley.

Citrus – Groves of citrus trees, naval and Valencia oranges, lemons, grapefruit and such easy-to-peal hybrids as Satsuma and Clenentine, Tamber and Minneola, mantle the fertile valley of the Olifants River around Citrusdal. From March through to September, about 6000 workers harvest, sort and pack the golden fruit, and the air is heavy with its scent.

This is South Africa’s third-largest citrus-growing area (after the north-eastern Highveld’s Zebediela and the Eastern Province’s Sundays River estates), but arguably the foremost in terms of product quality. Long, hot summers yield up to 10 hours of sunshine a day, and winter rains and sandy soil combine to produce as large and sweet a fruit as you’ll find anywhere. It is also by far the oldest growing area.