What is the Midlands Meander
The Midlands Meander offers a treasure trove of country arts and craft shops, cheeseries, wine tasting and much more. Take your time guided by a midlands meander map and slowly wind your your way through the country lanes to explore, idle, browse, shop and indulge. The Midlands Meander offers more than a hundred things to see, experience and buy. Art studios, herb and flower farms, tea gardens, country pubs, health hydros, craft, pottery and weaving workshops, breweries and wine barns.
The best of the Midlands Meander
- The Mandela Capture site (memorial and historical site)
- The Woodturner (wooden bowls and artifacts)
- Groundcover (handcrafted leather goods)
- Marrakesh Cheese Farm (Farm cheese tasting)
- Ardmore Ceramics
- The Wine Cellar (Wine tasting)
- Romesco Olives (Olive tasting)
- Tsonga (hand made shoes)
- Nottingham Road Brewery (Microbrewery)
- Karkloof Canopy tour
Treetop Canopy Tours
Located 10 km outside of Howick in the spectacular valley of the Karkloof Forest Reserve, Karkloof Canopy Tours is a must for all travellers with a taste for adventure. Read more about the Karkloof Canopy tour …
Zulu Mpophomeni Township Experience
Zulu Mpophomeni Tourism Experience is an award winning, non-profit organisation drawing its members from broad segments of the Mpophomeni Township and surrounding rural areas. Tours of this picturesque township will illustrate the history of the area and a visit to the Nokulunga Gumede Wall of Reconciliation, check out a Sangoma and visit a Shembe church.
Cheese and wine tasting
A visit to the midlands wouldn’t be complete without a bit of cheese tasting at Swissland Cheesery or my favorite Marrakesh Cheesery. You can even learn about the cheese-making practice. The Wine Cellar in Rosetta and Kleinbosch Wine Estate near Mount West offer some great wine tasting experiences.
Nottingham Road Brewery
If you love beer you will love this independent micro-brewery. Nottingham Road Brewery should be at the top of any Midlands Meander to-do list and it does not disappoint. My suggestion is to stop off at the Bierfassel and grab a taster board of the different naturally brewed beers.
Chocolate heaven
Gherkins and onions dipped in chocolate? That’s what you can expect at a ‘Chocolate dippingz’ experience at Chocolate Heaven, among other more conventional chocolate-dipped delights like marshmallows and fruit. This is a real haven for people who love the cocoa stuff.
Cafe Bloom
I also love Cafe Bloom, a little restaurant that serves mainly vegetarian breakfasts and lunches in a converted warehouse decorated with ceramics and flower paintings you can buy. Their freshly squeezed juice and Autumn platter of cheese, olives, marinated mushrooms and chutney is just lovely.
Midlands Meander for the kids
With various activities for the entire family, the Piggly Wiggly Country Village has something for everyone. The Candle Dipping Shop invites kiddies to create candle art by dipping their candles into different colours of wax while mom and dad shop. Kids can also play putt-putt or get creative at the Zulu-Lulu Ceramic Boutique. Of coarse kids love the Canopy tour, the chocolate dipping the Funtacy Toy Shop or a horse or pony ride.
Midlands Meander Map
Click to see Midlands Meander MapNelson Mandela Capture Site
One of South Africa’s more interesting historical site just outside of Howick is well worth a visit. The unique and impressive sculpture is made up of 50 steel column constructions between 6.5 meters and 9.5 meters tall that come into alignment to form a portrait of Nelson Mandela against a backdrop of rolling hills and valleys of the Natal midlands. The columns represent Mandela’s imprisonment at the very place he was captured before being exiled to Robben Island.
