Pretty Views, Pears, and a Painting Pig

A picturesque pear farm in the Franschhoek Valley offers a number of accommodation options, including a barn where an artistic pig and other rescue animals spend the night! Brian Berkman reports.

- By Brian Berkman

Farm Sanctuary SA, near Franschhoek in the Western Cape, offers a country stay like no other: it's a peaceful rural getaway, a working farm, and the home of a pig that paints!

The owners put their animal welfare credentials front and centre, beginning with a request to visitors not to bring meat or animal products onto the farm. A former professional golfer and zoologist by training, Farm Sanctuary director Joanne Lefson has made a global impact on improving the lives of animals (dogs and donkeys in particular) through her visionary work with her travel dog, Oscar. She established Oscar's Arc in his memory, to find homes for shelter dogs, and while in India she set up a donkey sanctuary. Closer to home, she turned a rescued pig with a penchant for paint into a global brand.

Pigcasso paints with Lefson's help. This year, the pig's unique digital artworks will be traded in cryptocurrency, with painting exhibitions in Europe.

All these efforts are to raise funds, upwards of the R3 million already secured, for Farm Sanctuary SA. Revenue from the farm's seven accommodation options further contributes to the coffers.

ACCOMMODATION