The Slowine Tourtoise
The little guy you see roaming across the pages of this website and on the Slowine bottle goes by the name of the Common Padloper (Road-walker).
Some call him the Parrot-beaked Tortoise on account of his sharp upper lip, but he is mostly known by the affectionate Afrikaans term Padlopertjie or Small Road-walker. That’s because he’s often seen cruising down country byways.
He’s endemic to the Cape and particularly likes the Groenland Mountain our Green Mountain around which we grow our vines.
Moving with unhurried confidence across the landscape, the Padlopertjie only breaks into a trot when he senses danger - or when he is chasing a female! He is the perfect exponent of the Slow philosophy of doing everything at its appropriate speed.
Of course, one of his cousins also achieved fame by beating the hare in a race. The tortoise is living proof that you will get to the finishing line - and have a good journey - if you move steadily and at your own pace. For this reason, Slowine has the Padlopertjie as its mascot. He reminds us to take our time.
The Slowine Mountain
The Groenland Mountain towers above the landscape and can be seen from most of the surrounding farms. Its altitude varies from approximately 370m to 1200m, and it is home to fynbos, renosterveld and succulent karoo vegetation, with mountain fynbos occupying the greatest area. Our mountain has 60 red data book species of flora that need conservation.
When it comes to animals, the Cape Mountain Zebra and the Bontebok have always been at home here, as well as smaller antelope like the duiker and klipspringer. Hundreds of smaller mammals include the ubiquitous rock hydrax or "dassie", mongooses and antbears; also many rodents, like porcupines, shrews and moles. This is also the habitat of fascinating endemic amphibians, for example the Cape Ghost frog and Strawberry Rain Frog.
The cheeky Chacma baboons roam in packs here, and stalking them is their natural predator, the leopard. Birds are numerous; the fynbos vegetation is home to the Cape sugarbird and the Cape rockjumper, it is also common to see the dwarf hoepoe, Cape francolin, quail, long-tailed sugar bird and the malachite sunbird. The high mountain crags are the domain of the magnificent black eagle; other hunters include the Giant kingfishers, the occasional fish eagle and numerous owls. Visitors include the steppe buzzards, a migrant from Siberia.
Many rivers flow through the mountain, including the Palmiet and the Botriver. A number of smaller tributaries with romantic names include the Bankrotriver, Bergrivier, Perderivier, Houwhoekrivier, Kromrivier, Jackalsrivier, Klein-Jakkalsrivier, Ribbokrivier and Wildevyeboomsrivier.
The road from Cape Town to the eastern frontier was known by the early explorers and settlers as the Kaapse wapad, (the Cape wagon road) and its route was over our mountain. Cape Town to Swellendam was a five day journey and day two consisted of the section from the Hottentots Holland kloof to the Botriver outspan, right along the Groenland Mountain. It took ten slow hours. This old road can still be seen in places, with wagon tracks carved into rock.
On this trail, the Houwhoek Inn is a famous landmark, situated precisely halfway between Cape Town and Caledon. It was a popular overnight stop for wagons and is the oldest licensed hotel in South Africa, with most of the ground floors dating back to 1779.
Slow Living
Contrary to the way it may sound, Slow living does not always mean that things have to happen slowly - actually what is meant to happen fast should happen fast. Rather, Slow living is a way of being: calm, patient, reflective instead of controlling and aggressive. It’s about quality over quantity, and having the time to make significant connections with other people. It does not mean that progress and improvement should be resisted. Slow living is about combining the best of the past with the useful innovations of the present. So embrace modern solutions, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
But we are bombarded by messages that tell us to up our speed, and we feel pressured when we take some time out. The result is mounting stress, and that’s not good. For fast-acting relief from stress, try slowing down said Lily Tomlin. In our world, fast is usually mistaken for better, which is not necessarily true, but what can you do about it? Try to remain slow inside by keeping an inner calm. Take time to think and reflect, and ask yourself: is fast better in this case? Because living better in a fast-paced world means not having to be fast when you don’t need to be. It’s about balance a balance between quick action and slow action according to its need. Ultimately, you want to regain control of the rhythms of your own life. Being Slow means never feeling rushed, never striving to save time purely for the sake of it.
