Discover the other Stellenbosch

The R310 between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek runs through the Dwarsrivier Valley. Visitors often speed past on their way to wine estates, not knowing that people have lived here for generations and have a rich history to share. Next time, turn off and explore the villages of Kylemore, Johannesdal and Pniël.

- MARCHELLE VAN ZYL

"It's heaven," says a resident who grew up in Kylemore. "You feel the presence of the mountain," says someone who recently moved to Pniel.

It's rare to visit a place with such a magical energy.

The Dwarsrivier Valley is wedged between the Groot and Klein Drakenstein mountains, Simonsberg and Botmanskop. If you approach from Stellenbosch towards Franschhoek, you drive down Helshoogte Pass with Kylemore on the right, then Johannesdal and Pniël. Behind Pniël to the right, hidden behind Boschendal, is Lanquedoc - or "Lyntjiedok" as it's known locally.

Many well-known wine estates surround the villages. Mountains tower over the villages and trees keep their charm from view. But when you turn off the R310 and venture into their streets, you discover communities built on shared values, faith and pride.

Their history is rooted in freedom and the church. On 1 December 1838, slavery was officially abolished in the Cape colony. Many of the freed people had nowhere to go and missionary societies established settlements for them.

Pniël was the first mission station founded outside Cape Town by the Apostolic Union on 6 September 1843. Pieter de Villiers and Paul Retief of the farm Goede Hoop donated 19 hectares to the mission station. During the opening celebration, Reverend GW Stegmann read a verse from Genesis 32:30: "And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."

This is how Pniël was named: Pniël means "face of God".