I was so impressed with The Baths resort, that I was sorry that I had only booked one night. This was due to wanting to stay at the Bushmans Kloof resort; our next stop.
The drive from Citrusdal to Clanwilliam; where Bushmans Kloof is located was only 60 KM, about 40 minutes on the N7, but we wanted so see a bit of the West Coast so drove on dirt roads via Lamberts Bay.
Driving
from Citrusdal towards the West Coast, on the gravel R 365 we passed many farms. The farms were
dedicated to Citrus trees and Rooibos plants.
The area is known as the Cederberg, but we did see farms advertising themselves
as part of The Swartland Wine Route. The area was beautiful and it was a great
drive.
As we
approached Lamberts Bay we saw the Muisbosskerm Restaurant located on the beach,
here you can have a feast of seafood cooked on the BBQ, however you do have to pre-book, today it was quiet.
Lamberts Bay was once a fishing town, with a large fishing fleet, it is now a popular holiday town that
gets very busy in the summer.
We drove through the town, it was an outdated modern
style and rather unattractive, We stopped for some lunch at the Funky Tasebuds Deli.
It was a funky little place serving many snacks, or not really snacks as I had an the most enormous Springbok sandwich.
We had
come to Lamberts Bay to visit Bird Island. We found it located behind a what I think was a potato
factory, I think they were making French fries, or Chips in English.
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Lamberts Bay Factory
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Bird
Island is a rocky islet that shelters the harbour of Lamberts Bay, it is connected to the main land by a large concrete
jetty.
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The Jetty to Bird Island, Lamberts Bay
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Bird
Island is an important breeding ground for Blue Eyed Cape Gannets. It also has
a colony of Cape fur seals and White-Breasted Cormorants as well the Cape Cormorants. In the past; from 1888 till 1990, the island was
used to harvest Guano.
There is
a fantastic hide where you can see; and smell the birds, a vast colonies of Gannets. There are information shelters
dotted about with Whale Bones on display as well as the history of the Guano
industry. It all looked a little run down, but was still an interesting
attraction.
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Bird Island, Lamberts Bay
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Bird Island, Lamberts Bay
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The Hide Bird Island, Lamberts Bay
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Bird Island, Lamberts Bay
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Bird Island, Lamberts Bay
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Bird Island, Lamberts Bay
We then
drove back towards Clanwilliam on the R364 again this was a really scenic drive. Clanwilliam itself was in a warm valley and was a great little town or Dorp, with a massive Rooibos
processing plant. It is here that the famous Rooibos Tea comes from and you can visit the factory, but I was unaware of both these facts and did not have time as we had
to be at Bushmans Kloof by 1700 or the gates were locked and as it was getting late we didn't have time to linger.
Bushmans
Kloof Wilderness and Wellness Retreat was our treat on this road trip, in fact
the trip was based around this stay. It is billed as an award winning luxury
retreat in the Ceaderberg Mountains. It is one of the top resorts in South
Africa and has prices to match that fact.
We struggled to find it and it was not well signposted but we
eventually found it, it is a good 40 minute drive on the R364, through the very spectacular Pakhuis Pass away from
Clanwilliam towards Calvinia.
We received an efficient but sort of warm welcome and were shown to
our accommodation. This was a large room in a thatched Cape Dutch style house.
The bathroom was massive, the room had under floor heating and was extremely comfortable.
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Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Wellness Retreat
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Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Wellness Retreat
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Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Wellness Retreat . The rooms
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| The Rooms |
The
grounds were immaculate and the food was outstanding with the Afternoon Tea being
a real highlight.
Our guide
was a young man called Daniel and 2 night stay he took us on a tour of the
reserve and to visit the Rock Art found in the area.
We also did a self guided hike
through the reserve clambering over the strange rock formations found in the Cedarberg and got quite lost! Really lost, finally we saw the road into the resort and followed that. it was getting quite dark at this point--At least we walked off a few pounds!
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Rock Art at Bushmans Kloof
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| Bushmans Kloof |
However a
lot of the activities that are advertised by Bushmans kloof and talked about were not offered to
us, such are the star gazing, biking and the Embers Braai. We were offered canoeing but it was far too cold and windy for getting out on the dam; in truth we were just left alone and this sort
of soured the stay a little. Maybe it was due to the time of year as it was too
cold to swim and the pools were not heated, in fact it was very cold on the nature drives and the drives were a bit long as there was not a lot to see. So I have really mixed
feelings about the stay at this lodge mainly due to the price we paid as I don’t
think it represented value for money and whilst it was peaceful and picturesque, it was not what I was expecting and I can’t get rid of the feeling I was ripped off !! I would not stay here again or recommend it to my family.
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