About Us
Woolly Bugger Farm is proudly owned and managed by the Mullers, a South African family with a deep love for farm life and the African bush. After 12 years living and working abroad, our family has spent the last decade slowly transforming what was once a neglected rural property into a vibrant off-grid farm and eco-tourism business.
Our Story
In January 2000, Richard Muller and his wife Angela relocated from Phalaborwa, South Africa to Paramaribo, Suriname for a temporary engineering posting. Twelve years and three more countries later (the US, Australia, and Madagascar), the Mullers and their three children (Jono, Ryan, and Jess) finally returned home to South Africa.
A year after returning home, in August 2013, Richard and Jono (assisted by Jono’s wife, Anna) started Woolly Bugger Farm - a father and stepson venture inspired by a shared love of the African bush, animals, farm life, and fishing. Over the following decade, beginning with our first booked guests in December 2013, we enjoyed over 3000 successful bookings from guests across South Africa and the world.
Since these early days, much has also changed. The farm has been steadily improved; Richard’s mother Vanessa has moved onto the property, growing out the farm’s vegetable garden; Jono has moved on from his active role at Woolly Bugger and become involved in exciting new ventures; Jess and her boyfriend Damien have become more actively involved, visiting often and managing new improvement projects.
Our Farm
Woolly Bugger Farm as it stands today is approximately 270 hectares in size, the vast majority of which is conserved as lush highveld bush, made up of gentle plains and rockstrewn hills covered with indigenous grasses, trees, shrubs, aloes, and flowering plants (including the endemic yellow arum lily). This area of the farm also boasts a beautiful stream and seasonal dam, fed by underground springs.
Indigenous wildlife remains abundant, with the farm’s bush being home to diverse birdlife, wild buck, and many other species, many of which can be viewed while out walking or mountain biking on our 15 km of nature trails. The only blemish you’ll find is the occasional grove of wattle trees, an invasive species which fortunately serves as an excellent source of firewood.
In addition to the conserved highveld bush is the small working portion of the farm. When the property was first acquired, it featured a rundown farmhouse and workshop, one guest cottage, two overgrown dams, and a handful of fruit and nut trees. Since then, we’ve spent a great deal of time and energy responsibly developing the property.
Some of the work we’ve completed includes renovating the farmhouse and workshop; building five more guest cottages and the lapa; rehabilitating the two dams; taking the farm completely off the grid with the installation of a small solar array; and constructing an electrified perimeter fence. We’ve expanded our animal life as well, purchasing sheep, chickens, and donkeys, as well as nyala, zebra, and gemsbok.
A vibrant vegetable garden has also taken shape, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Richard’s mother, Vanessa. The garden is now home to chillies, coriander, tomatoes, strawberries, spinach, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin, and much more. Our fruit and nut trees have expanded as well, with new apple, pear, hazelnut, walnut, pecan, and apricot trees fast approaching maturity.
Come Say Hello!
At Woolly Bugger Farm, we operate an open door policy. If you’d like to say hello, we invite you to come up to the farmhouse and pay us a visit. If our schedules allow, we’d be happy to introduce you to some of our animals and tell you a bit about the property. On occasion, we also have community braai’s at the entertainment lapa that our guests are welcome to join.