Botrivier is a small town of approximately 10 000 people,[2] situated in the Overberg region of the Western Cape in South Africa.

The river flows south towards the marsh Botrivier estuary, and was for centuries the home of contented tribes who savoured the privilege of fresh waters in the water-scarce Cape.

Later, the hamlet was to become an 18th-century outpost for the Dutch East India Company at Compagnes Drift farm in Botrivier, now home to Beaumont Wines, where the owners have cherished and protected its early heritage.

De Kock planted wheat, vines, fruit trees, vegetables and turmeric—a spice that was in high demand in the curry-loving kitchens of the Cape of Good Hope.

In much the same way as the American railway teams forged west in the USA, the Cape tracks were forged through the Hottentots-Holland mountain range above Somerset West – a great engineering feat - and this brought the village of Bot River to its feet when the first trains ran in 1912, allowing villagers, farmers and traders to journey to the Mother City of Cape Town faster than ever before.