Roadside to rustic retreat

Farm is more ofa hobby for me, something to take my mind off the day-to-day.’

- Hein Kaiser

Travelling along the extended Beyers Naude Drive, the road from Johannesburg to Muldersdrift, it's impossible to miss Edan Traders. It's the spot where a load of trucks are lined up for sale or rent. It is a landmark that has been there for decades and it sticks in your mind after a few trips.

Next to Edan Traders' entrance there's a narrow tarred road that becomes a dirt road. And behind the trucking mecca, Bosheuwel Estate's gates open to a rustic, sunset-romantic wedding, couples weekend retreat and family chill-out venue. It's a bit hidden away, a bit bushveld and a bit of simply gorgeous in a barefoot kind of way. There's a quiet confidence about the venue.

It is super nice, just like the proprietor of both Edan Traders and the venue Eddie Visser, who recently clocked his 69th birthday.

Visser's a hands-on kind of guy and Bosheuwel Estate is his labour of love. Edan Traders, roadside, is the business that's made everything possible. "I started the company 40 years ago under a tree," Visser said. It literally began with just one truck, a chair and a desk under a tree.

"When the guy from Telkom came to install the phone, I told him to hammer the line into the tree. That's where I set up my office - two petrol drums and an old door as a desk."