Kareekloof Conservancy is situated just outside of Ceres in the Western Cape. We visited the area for three days over New Years and opted for the Shepherd’s Cottage – a 6 sleeper cottage with a beautiful view, just a few meters from the Breede River. The cottage has no electricity but offers candle lit dinners, plenty of paraffin lamps and a small fridge to keep items cool. Due to the drought, the river and dam was almost completely dry and only offered a small pool of water for the animals to drink from. We loved exploring the dry dam and scouting animal prints that had dried up. We kept cool under the shade of the cottage patio,  little splash pool and some spray bottles. I would recommend visiting this area in winter when it is cooler to explore the mountains and rock paintings. Although, visiting in summer has it’s benefits of warmth and catching a GREAT tan! The cottage is accessible by most cars, although 4×4’s are highly recommended. We arrived in a Polo and Karel (the farm manager) was kind enough to suggest  that we leave our car at reception and he rather drive us to the cottage in his 4×4. We opted for this, and boy was it a good choice!

During our stay we saw many buck, their two new zebra and some baboons who came to feed at the river opposite our cottage. At night you can hope to see Cape Leopard and thousands of bright stars, satellites and shooting stars. Here is a photo diary of our stay…

Above – the view at night

Thank you Karel and Susan for a wonderful experience, we will definitely be back!

Book your stay here.