[rev_slider heritage]
Wouter Schreuders immigrated to South Africa as a 16 year old with big dreams of becoming a Game Ranger. After extensively travelling throughout South Africa Wouter Schreuders and his wife, Trix, found the perfect get-away from city life in the Waterberg.
With the help of her father Willem van Bergen, they acquire the small farm on the plato, called Genot, in1986 and two years later the adjoining farm, with its lovely kloofs, rivers and dams. Willem van Bergen came to South Africa from Holland in the late nineteen thirties, where he married his Dutch wife Marie Louise and became church minister in Volkstrust and eventually a property developer in Pretoria. It was his great pleasure to spend weekends with Wouter and Trix on the farm, where he swam in the Kloof dam and went for long walks.
The farms started out as a cattle farm but in time develop into a Quest (holiday) farm. Trix renovated some of the old farm houses, the Gum cottage used to be the old school, for the farmer’s and the “bijwoners” children dating back to just after the Anglo Boer war. The hiking trail camps and several hiking routes were laid out. It became known as Bateleur nature reserve, the cattle were sold and several species of game were brought in. It became a haven for nature lovers.
The adjoining farm to the East belongs to Bruno Cingano’s uncle, an Italian who immigrated to South Africa and bought this lovely piece of land. He used to tell stories how he started out milking poison from the dangerous snakes for the use of antidotes, as a way of making extra money. After his death Bruno and his late brother looked after the farm, which is still today as unspoiled as it has been created.
The fourth farm, to the West, belongs to the Goss family and was bought by them about five years ago.
Initially all the adjoining farms, named Zuurvlei, were one big farm with one “opstal” (house and stores). But as was the custom in the beginning of the previous century, the farm was divided so that each child got his rightful heritage portion.
Wouter approached neighbouring farmer owners Rudo Goss and Bruno Cigana to create what is now known as Kroonvlei Wilderness Estate. Their main objective was to consolidate this large unspoiled area, creating a healthy and large un-fenced area allowing game to flourish and preserve the area for their own and other generations to come.