Mohair route Traditional Cache

The Mohair Route will take you through the Mohair region of the Eastern Cape and Karoo where you will come across plenty of Angora farms.

It follows the R75 road, the place where SA's finest wool is produced.

The story of how Angora goats arrived on our shores and grew in numbers is truly amazing.

In 1838 the Sultan of Turkey sent twelve neutered rams and one female to Port Elizabeth, halfway across the world.

The rams were rendered infertile, as the Sultan wanted to protect his country’s powerful mohair empire.

What he didn’t realise, though, was that the ewe on board was pregnant and gave birth to a kid ram en route to Africa, which was the start of the industry in South Africa.

Today’s Karoo region produces the most mohair in the world – all thanks to the Sultan’s mistake and a pregnant ewe.