This past week JP and I spent 2 nights at
Kolkol Mountain Lodge which is just outside the sleepy town of Bot River in the Overberg region of the Western Cape. I first found Kolkol back in February when I was looking for a place to spend my birthday. While browsing their website I immediately fell in love with the place and wanted to make a
reservation...however, when you start paging through their
reservations you quickly see that this place is in high demand. No weekends are available and you'll find very few days in the week scattered here and there. My search eventually took me in to August and I decided to book it for JP's birthday (because we go away for his birthday as well each year). So after 6 months of waiting, our turn to stay at Kolkol arrived and we were so excited.
Honestly, when it comes to breaking away from it all and escaping, this place ticks all the boxes for me. I like a place that is quiet and private without feeling too secluded. Our cabin,
Sugarbush, had a fully equipped kitchen, lounge with a fireplace, bedroom and bathroom. Outside was a braaiplace and the best part, a wood fired hot tub (that was already going when we arrived to ensure that we could enjoy it immediately).
JP and I took the day of arrival very slow, we lazed around our cabin and took a short walk around the place before enjoying the hot tub. We ended our evening off with a braai while watching the sunset. It was just what we needed to unwind and relax into our stay there.
Our first full day there we started off with another walk then made a huge breakfast before deciding to tackle the 3km hiking trail on the grounds of Kolkol. At first we were going to go do the Zipline Tour in Elgin but decided that we would rather stay at Kolkol and enjoy the place while we are there. I am unfit and did not have high hopes for the hike, I thought I would suffer and hate it - but I once I got going, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The views of the Overberg area were breathtaking and it also allowed us to really appreciate where we were (not in the office on a typical Wednesday).
We headed back to the cabin where we freshened up and then decided to do some wine tasting at
Luddite, a local wine estate that is a short drive from Kolkol. It was one of the first times I have sat with the actual owner of a wine estate while tasting their wines. I must say, I am pleasantly surprised by the wine in this area, the day before we visited
Beaumont Family Wins on our way to Kolkol, where we ended up leaving with 3 bottles of wine. We spent our last evening at Kolkol, lazing in the hot tub (with sparking wine to celebrate JP's birthday) and made some supper.
In the morning, JP and I got up early to watch the sunrise (which isn't too early thanks to this time of year). It was such an amazing experience staying at Kolkol Mountain Lodge - you get the comforts of home without most of the distractions (no TV, no traffic noise - but you do get good cellphone reception).
Kolkol Mountain Lodge will definitely see JP and I again (we'll have to book our next trip now to ensure that we get a spot!).
Big Hugs,
Charlene XXX
PS. I shared a lot of photos on my SeiniTravels instagram account and also use Snapchat quite a bit. So if you feel that you are missing out, you can follow my Instagram accounts (
gee_whiskers and
SeiniTravels) and I'm gee_whiskers on Snapchat.
Definitely going to consider this for my next getaway! How many days in total did you spend there?
ReplyDeleteHi Emma, we spent 2 nights there. I feel that 3 nights is actually better - then you can do the Zipline in Elgin as well. We had one full day there and arrived around 1:30pm the day before. Also, checkout is 11am. It is totally worth staying here!
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