Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel offers guests the opportunity to visit one of South Africa’s most successful and entrepreneurial township farms in Khayelitsha – Abalimi Bezekhaya’s vegetable garden called Moya we Khaya (spirit of home).

The trip starts with a guided tour past many of the well-known townships such as Langa and Gugulethu, learning about township life, before arriving at Mama Kaba’s beautiful organic vegetable garden, Moya we Khaya.  Guests will meet Mama Kaba and enjoy a cup of tea with her as they hear her story about how she started with a small neglected piece of municipal land and how, against all odds, her determination to transform people’s lives turned one small farm into one of the most successful gardening and farming initiatives in the country. For example, Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel has been buying vegetables, herbs and salads from Abalimi Bezekhaya’s Harvest of Hope programme for the past four years, and the chefs are always wanting more produce from them.  There is even a dedicated dish on the hotel menu – the Abalimi Bezekhaya Beetroot and Kale salad – which intrigues most diners.

After tea, visitors can take a walk through the garden with Mama Kaba and pick their preferred produce for their basket, including firm deep-purple eggplant, tasty herbs, sweet tomatoes, luscious fennel, fat carrots, juicy beetroot, everything seasonal, all plump and bursting with freshness. Upon returning to Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel, the hotel’s creative chefs will weave their magic and transform the ingredients into the most authentic farm to fork salad.

The tour will depart the hotel at 9.30am in the morning and guests should be back around 12.30pm in time to enjoy their super farm fresh salad.

The cost of the tour is ZAR1500 per person for two guests and ZAR 875 per person for a group of four guests. This includes a donation of compost or seedlings for the Moya we Khaya garden as well as the farm fresh salad for lunch.