Barrydale has earned this award for so many reasons

In the foothills of the Langeberg along the Klein Karoo’s Route 62 lies Barrydale, an oasis in the desert: think jacaranda-lined streets, bougainvillea-draped walls, lavender fields and succulents, etched against a rolling expanse of sky and mountain views.

This quaint little town is Daily Maverick’s winner this year of the best South African town to live in.

The tiny population – comprising about 4,000 farmers, artisans and families born from the soil for generations – bears the hallmarks of accumulated quirky countryside living. The inkommers (incomers) are drawn to the town’s slow pace. Many of them are eccentrics fleeing city life – creatives, crystal gazers, investors and retired judges – who have made their imprint through renovations, bright banners, excellent coffee, Saturday markets and arts festivals.

Each year, the town is packed for the large puppet parade on 16 December, held in collaboration with the Ukwanda Puppets and Designs Art Collective. In season, the town’s 250 hospitality beds are fully booked.

Barrydale’s previously segregated area, Smitsville, is well integrated. On its outskirts, a small parking lot serves as the entry point to hiking trails in the Langeberg: pathways wind their way past roaming pigs and donkeys, as well as some citrus orchards, into the wild with aloes, proteas and even moon flowers.

Friendly – but there are rules

For the most part, Barrydale’s long-time residents gaze upon newcomers with benevolence, especially if they are humble and bring prosperity. Barrydale Hand Weavers (makers of luxury cotton goods) is owned by Arran and Kate Bastable (he is originally from Aberdeen, Scotland), whereas the Karoo Art Hotel’s Sue and Rick Melville are from Johannesburg.

But evidently there are rules. One Johannesburg escapee got it wrong when he erected a tall electric fence around his newly purchased plot just off the town’s main road. This unsightly and unnecessary transgression was met with outrage.

Barrydale has its own cream-hued police office and by all accounts the crime rate is low. The town’s big mystery remains the 2014 disappearance of farmer Andrew Whittingdale, owner of Makouvlei Olive Farm. Whittingdale vanished without a trace, leaving locals speculating to this day that he is either deceased or living it up in Mauritius.

The social tapestry includes Sergeant Conroy Williams, a police officer and martial arts competitor who founded the “Barrydale Fight Club” in his garage in Smitsville six years ago. This was after the community collected funds to help him participate in a martial arts world championship event in the US. He wanted to “give back”, says Conroy.

The club today operates from Smitsville’s former tavern. It hosts regular events, and even Swellendam mayor Francois du Rand has stepped into the ring. Various of Williams’s protégés have also competed in boxing matches at provincial level.

Local governance

In terms of local governance, Barrydale has its own municipal office with a neatly mowed lawn and budding roses. There are no discernible potholes or litter; the public toilets are clean. Christmas lights are draped over street lights, and power outages are reported to an official named Chris Krag (Power).

At the centre of the town, the Karoo Art Hotel is iconic. Its pediment reads 1927 (which is when the patio was added), but it was built in the late 1800s.

Renovated and reopened by Sue and Rick Melville in 2022, the interior is decked in bright swathes of art, many for sale and created by locals. The hotel’s pub is wood-panelled, the air thick with tales dispelled between sips of regional brandy and wine. One bartender tells how he previously worked as a bodyguard for Helen Zille, Patricia de Lille and Michael Jackson.

Locals remember when the hotel was painted lilac with the nickname “Barrydale Hotel, Queen of the Desert”. At the time, former owners Riaan Bosch and Philip Uys decorated it with erotic art and hosted legendary parties in the bar, some with clothing being optional.

Did the hotel pioneer or cement Barrydale’s reputation as a friendly place for the LGBTQIA+ community? Diversity with a flamboyant edge.

The Melvilles do pay homage to the hotel’s voluptuous past. However, chairs formerly sporting risqué textiles featuring nudity have been reupholstered.

Down the road from the hotel, Anton de Villiers with his wild silver hair decked out a large Victorian home with about 35,000 books. Called the House of Books, it even features neatly stacked books for sale in the bathroom facing the toilet. Across the road, inside The Happy Store, Altar Hossain from Bangladesh has plied his trade selling groceries in Barrydale for seven years. Smiling, he says he is happy here.

Twenty kilometres outside Barrydale, Ronnie Price, now aged 76, has put his renowned but dinky Route 62 bar, Ronnie’s Sex Shop, up for sale. For R17.9-million, this piece of Karoo farmland could be yours.

Think about it: the nearby nature reserve, Leopard’s Rock, once belonged to Wilbur Smith. This is where he wrote his 2001 novel, Warlock. A bout of Karoo landscape might wake up greatness in you, too. (Or lull you into a peaceful sleep.)

Runners-up

Greyton, with its fog-shrouded mountains and four animal sanctuaries, is a worthy runner-up. Unfortunately, Greyton’s administrative overlords, the Theewaterskloof Municipality, had a qualified audit last year.

Darling remains a perennial sweetheart with its spring flowers and Evita se Perron, Pieter-Dirk Uys’s theatre that is now run by new owners. It also has a museum, shop and restaurant, and its founder still does shows there – this month too. Darling, alongside Yzerfontein, ranks tops for local governance, with the Swartland Municipality getting clean audits for 12 consecutive years.

Yzerfontein scores pristine coastal conservation points for its great white pelican breeding ground and colony of African penguins on Dassen Island, wandering ostriches, and whales and dolphins frolicking in the ocean.

Calitzdorp is famous for its port and sunsets that turn its vineyards gold. Sadly, the town is dogged by mismanagement and the Kannaland Municipality has made headlines for over a decade. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.