Midlands Meander

The Meander began in 1985 when a handful of artists and craftspeople in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands agreed to signpost a route between their studios - a weaver, a potter, a leatherworker and a couple of others. It worked, and it became the model that country craft routes across South Africa copied. Today the route lists well over a hundred stops across several loops in rolling dairy country: potteries, weaving studios, cheese makers, breweries, a chocolate maker, gin distillers, farm stalls, guesthouses and horse yards. Some are serious craft businesses with national reputations; others are gift shops that joined the brand. Nottingham Road and Howick are the anchors, the Karkloof forest and Howick Falls are on the edges, and the Nelson Mandela capture site memorial - a striking sculpture of steel columns that resolve into a face - is on the R103 nearby.

What you actually see

• The 1985 original - the first country craft route in South Africa, copied since everywhere.
• The hundred-plus stops - studios, dairies, breweries and farm stalls across several loops.
• The quality range - serious craft businesses alongside gift shops that joined the brand.
• The capture site sculpture - steel columns resolving into a face, on the R103.

When to go

September to April. Two days. Many studios close Mondays and Tuesdays.

Honest expectations

Quality varies enormously and the map does not distinguish - ask locally which studios are the real ones. Many close early and on Mondays. Distances between stops are longer than the map suggests. Weekends are busy with Durban traffic.

Nearby

Howick Falls and Karkloof are north; the Drakensberg is west.