More than a destination
Ourano is not simply about hunting or fishing. It’s about living inside a wild ecosystem and experiencing your place within it.
Out here you notice the way snow lingers on a ridge in summer, the way a dog quivers before a frantic flush, the way trout rise in untouched streams.
Accommodation
The tiny village feels suspended in time. Mist rolls off the ridges at dawn, snow sometimes falls in midsummer, and silence is broken only by the call of Greywing Francolin and the shrill whistle to a dog working the wind.
The schoolhouse where children once came for an education, now welcomes travellers seeking something deeper than comfort, a deeper connection to life itself.
Hunting the greywing francolin
At dawn the mountains glow with soft light. You follow Chris and the dogs into the high country, boots crunching over frost as mist curls off the ridges.
The pointers sweep the slopes, then freeze, bodies locked in stillness. A breath of silence, then the sudden thunder of Greywing breaking from the grass. For many guests that first flush is the moment the Highlands cast their spell.
The Greywing Francolin that are found here, thrive in numbers unmatched anywhere else that they may naturally occur. They are fast and elusive, using prevailing winds and cliff edges to make their swift escape. Demanding stamina, patience, and respect. Every bird taken is earned and celebrated.
For those seeking the ultimate challenge, the Highlands offer the Royal Macnab. A Greywing over the dogs, a Vaal Rhebok or Mountain Reedbuck on the slopes, and a wild trout caught in the rivers below.
The dogs
For many guests the dogs are the heartbeat of Ourano. To walk behind them as they sweep the ridges is to watch instinct and landscape meet in silence. Their stillness before a flush, their bond with Chris, their gentleness around children…the dogs are as unforgettable as the birds or the rivers.
Guests often spend afternoons learning how Chris reads them, watching how they respond to the smallest whistle, or simply sharing quiet time by the fire. Chris has raised and trained them on wild birds in these very mountains, slowly, patiently, and honestly.
They aren’t just working animals, they are partners, teachers, and the living thread that ties this journey together.
Rivers of wild trout
The rivers here run sharp and clear, alive with trout that were introduced over a century ago and have since thrived without interference. They are completely wild, surviving and multiplying in these untouched waters, making Rhodes the capital of wild trout in Africa.
Fly fishing here is about more than a catch. It is time spent reading currents, watching shadows, and moving in rhythm with the river.
Some days the fish come easily, other days they test every ounce of patience, but both are part of the story.
For those who hunt as well as fish the tradition runs deeper. Feathers from the Greywing taken in the morning can be tied into a fly and cast into these same waters by afternoon.
A circle completed, from sky to stream.
The Bond at the Table
