The bush experience at Minwater in the Klein Karoo is not for sissies. As the name suggests, there is not much water.

It is also very hot in the summer months and although it will probably take you a week to get the Karoo dust out from under your nails and toenails, the passion of Minwater's owner, Louis Jordaan will linger.

Just 24km from Oudtshoorn, the farm extends for 1 500 hectares along the foothills of the Gamka Mountains.

It's wild and desolate with stunning silences and masses of blue sky extending forever.

Accommodation in the bush camp is shared with whatever you find there, be it a Red Roman spider, olive-green boomslang, a mongoose or scurrying tenspotter ground beetles.

Jordaan is one with the bush and enthusiastically explains and shows first-time visitors how everything in this unusual area lives side by side, including you and the visiting boomslang.

Our neighbours had three sightings of boomslang and one visit by a Red Roman spider, which was very big.

We had a mongoose and tortoise amble into our camp, thereby getting off lightly.

Jordaan's speciality is without a doubt his knowledge of the rare plants and shrubs of the area.

Be prepared to take a walk in the hot Karoo sun and get down on your knees to take a closer look at what you once thought was a single bush, only to find that acting as a "nurse" plant it provides shelter and nutrients for other plants.

Be prepared to stand in awe of the Guarrie bushes, which, because they need such specific conditions to reproduce may be 10 000 years old.

Unlike fynbos, which needs fire to ensure ongoing reproduction, the Karoo needs time.

As he walks, Jordaan paints a picture of a time long ago when the Khoi lived in these hills and gathered berries from the trees for food as well as to cure aches and pains.

The Taai Bush with its bendy boughs offers the flexibility needed to make the bows with which the Khoi hunted.

He showed us the tiny rose-like flowers called pop rose (doll's roses) which were edible as well as the fleshy Pig's Ear used to remove corns and warts, or used as a plug to relieve earache.

Louis is meticulous in the presentation of what the farm has to offer and is more than happy to escort his guests either on foot or in his trusty farm bakkie to help them negotiate the 4x4 trails.

The trails over rocky terrain need a driver with a keen eye to spot sharp obstacles and passengers ready to enjoy the stunning views from the Sandberg and Rooiberg trails.

For adventure-seekers, the 1km-long Kloof assault-trail along a dry riverbed offers a challenge not to be tackled alone.

We drove the 4x4 trails with renewed care, as having walked with Jordaan in the morning and seen how he had carefully replaced rocks spat out by a wheel spin, we wanted to leave as minimal a track as possible.

Our base was a lapa sheltered by sweet thorn trees (Acacia karoo), which had been trained back to make a private enclosure. It was immaculate with a fireplace and tap.

The best thing was that you could see and hear no one else, although there were other occupants in the camp.

The bush camp has hot showers, which was where it became interesting.

In front of the reed-clad ablution facilities a huge cauldron stood in a fireplace looking exactly like those used by cannibals.

Each shower cubicle had a canvas bucket that took about 30 litres of water.

Once the water was heated in the cauldron you filled your canvas shower bucket with hot water, adjusting the temperature with cold water from the nearby tap.

The full bucket gets hoisted up and hooked in place before releasing the water, using a valve in the bottom.

A good shower used surprisingly little water and, after a day in the dust and hot sun, it was like raindrops from heaven leaving you ready to enjoy an evening around the fire.