Lowveld hideaways

Synonymous with the Kruger Park, the Lowveld has everything from wild horses to tree houses and cottages hidden in the mountains. Here are five diverse places close to Mpumalanga’s capital.

Driving from Johannesburg to Mbombela (Nelspruit), you know you’ve said farewell to the Highveld as soon as you pass through the tunnel near Emgwenya ( Waterval Boven). The tunnel is the passageway from the chilly escarpment down into the balmy Lowveld.

Or, swap the N4 for the R539 and enter the Slowveld (as it’s fondly known) via Schoemanskloof, where you are welcomed by mountains, rivers and citrus trees galore.

Most people think of Mbombela as the last city stop before hitting the Kruger Park or Mozambique, a place to do some grocery shopping, exchange currency, grab a takeaway meal or sit down for a cup of coffee.

But next time, rather make Mbombela and surrounds your end destination. There’s so much to do, from horse riding in Kaapsehoop and paddling on Da Gama Dam, to yoga in a bamboo forest.

Here are five great places to stay, all within 45 minutes of the city.

1 SCHOEMANSKLOOF RETREAT

Precious few travellers think of Schoemanskloof as a destination, and what a pity that is. Most people rush through the kloof, making a pit stop at the Joubert en Seuns Padstal if time allows. But 3,6 km before the farm stall (coming from Gauteng), there’s a turn-off to your left, over the Crocodile River, to Falls Fish Farm. Schoemanskloof Retreat is based here, where Myron Cort and Dee Malcomess run a 40-year-old family business farming with ornamental fish (goldfish and koi) and tilapia. The operations are at the bottom of the 184 ha property, with the accommodation hidden high up in the mountains.

The Bakoni Hide-away has a stone exterior inspired by Mpumalanga’s stone circles – historical terraces and kraals with beautiful designs found all over the province, made in pre-colonial times by the Bokoni people.

The off-grid unit (solar for hot water and lights, gas for cooking) has a big, open-plan space for living, sleeping and cooking, and a separate bathroom. The king-size bed can convert into two singles, and there’s a ladder up to a loft bed for two kids. Windows and glass sliding doors make up the entire front wall of the cottage – light and bush flow into the open space.

Mountain Pondokkie is slightly darker inside, which is understandable for a structure built in the 1800s! The owners say it was an inn on the old ox-wagon routes connecting Lydenburg, Nelspruit, Komatipoort and Delagoa Bay (Maputo). The thickness of the stone walls, which have been painted white on the inside, is another indication that the “pondokkie” was built more than a hundred years ago. The house can sleep six guests and it’s pet-friendly, with a big, fenced garden.

“We also do picnics on request. We can set up a space in the bush for people to enjoy – they can bring their own baskets or we can order food from Marian Cottle at Old Joe’s Kaia in the kloof,” says Melissa Adey, Dee’s daughter. Marian is well known in the Lowveld for her plant-based cooking.

Facilities: There are eight hiking or mountain-biking trails (some leading to streams and waterfalls), all marked on a colour-coded map available in the houses. There are also two long lists of all the birds and wildlife spotted on the property. I was lucky to see a civet during my visit, and I could hear baboons barking in the bush.

Rates: R1 100 for two people at Bakoni Hide-away and Mountain Pondokkie, plus R250 per extra person. Oneoff cleaning fee of R150 for Mountain Pondokkie if your four-legged friends join you.

Where? 45 km west of Mbombela, in Schoemanskloof, via the R539. You will need a vehicle with high ground clearance to drive up to the accommodation, otherwise the owners can collect you in their 4x4. The road is especially tricky after rain.

Contact: 079 885 3509 schoemanskloofretreat.co.za

2 KILLARNEY FARM HOUSE

This English-style country home is on an avocado and macadamia farm in a valley. The owners live in England and come to visit once a year; the rest of the time it’s available for luxury self-catering accommodation, weddings, workshops and retreats.

There’s also a fully equipped cottage, sleeping six guests in three bedrooms. The main house and cottage are both on the banks of the Stats River; the short Hippo Pool Walk leads you to a bench overlooking the water. The cottage is in a clearing among big trees – from the spacious veranda you can enjoy the view of the garden and the mountains in the distance.

The main house can accommodate 14 people and has unhindered views over the valley and farmlands. “We do intimate retreats here. We start with early morning yoga to get people in touch with their creativity, and then it’s time for art workshops. It’s a bit like Eat Pray Love,” says manager Kerri Dunshea with a laugh. “We give people the opportunity to breathe.” That’s why there’s no TV or Wi-Fi in the houses –

“to take away distractions” – and even though there’s cellphone reception, it can be touch-and-go at times. Kerri is a yoga and dance instructor, and she’s also a talented artist who makes watercolour paintings of the Lowveld’s birds, animals and plant life. There are 30 hectares of untouched bush around the property, and animals from the nearby Mount Carmel Conservancy move through freely. “We have loads of turacos, African wood owls, spotted eagle-owls, sunbirds and kingfishers; there are also servals, caracals, side-striped jackals, red duiker, grey duiker and bushbuck. You’ll definitely hear the bushbabies at night,” says Kerri. Mankele Bike Park is only 15 km away via dirt roads: Kerri says you can cycle from Killarney and loop onto their trails, but you have to contact them for permission first.

Facilities: There’s a yoga studio and an open-air deck in a bamboo forest used for massages and yoga. The main house has a swimming pool and a sunbathing deck; cottage guests can use the pool but only if the main house isn’t occupied.

Rates: R665 per person in the cottage (minimum two guests for two nights); R770 per person in the main house (minimum R4 620 per night for six guests). You can also enjoy a massage at Killarney, from R250 for a half-hour head, neck and shoulders to R420 for an hourlong full-body session.

Where? 30 km north-west of Mbombela via the Rosehaugh road off the N4. Directions on the website. Contact: 082 573 3372; killarneyfarmhouse.co.za

3 THE FIG TREE HOUSE

Most of us have fond memories of playing in a tree house as children, but that doesn’t have to stop now that you’re all grown up. The Fig Tree House is a playground for the entire family, although cautious parents might want to keep an eye on adventurous kids…

In the branches of a gargantuan wild fig tree you’ll find a two-storey wooden structure, with the bottom level resting on a big boulder. The tree can accommodate six people on sleeping platforms built at various levels – you’ll feel like a nesting bird! Clamber down from your nest via a wooden ladder and relax in the lounge, which has a roof but no walls. The level below the lounge – the kitchen and braai area – is slightly more enclosed, with two windows looking out over the treetops and valley. The bathroom is accessed through the kitchen: You follow a wooden walkway to a hot shower and toilet cordoned off with wooden slats among exposed rock.

“The tree house has grown organically over time,” says owner Theunis du Plessis. The idea started in

2009 when he surprised his wife Marique with a bed mounted in a scented thorn tree for their fourth wedding anniversary. They both admire trees and love identifying them.

Theunis had his eye on a common wild fig in an area on the farm they call Olifantkoppie – a hill with big boulders resembling elephants. The tree house started as a deck for a tent, but they noticed spaces below and above the platform for extra storeys. And so it grew into an open-air, Bushveld masterpiece.

The farm is called Daarbo Boerdery, located in the Croc River Mountain Conservancy, and although macadamias, limes and lemons grow here, the area around the tree house has been left untouched. Trails lead to nearby koppies, a gorge and a second braai area hidden in a rocky outcrop – a natural boma surrounded by boulders. Be on the lookout for bushbuck, kudu, impala, warthogs, serval, caracal, vervet monkeys and baboons.

Facilities: There are couches in the lounge, with binoculars, bird guides and tree books on the coffee table. The beds come with mosquito nets but no bedding (bring your own or pay extra). The kitchen has a fridge, crockery, cutlery, cooking and braai utensils, as well as filtered drinking water. The fridge and lights are the only appliances connected to electricity; phones, tablets or cameras will have to be charged beforehand. Rates: R1 200 per night for the house, sleeping six people. The owners have also recently added a campsite on the banks of a dam: R1 200 per night, maximum 30 people.

Where? About 40 km east of Mbombela via the N4 (towards Malelane), in the Croc River

Mountain Conservancy.

Contact: 072 035 5685; thefigtreehouse.com

4 KAAPSEHOOP HORSE TRAILS

On the Drakensberg escarpment, outside the village of Kaapsehoop, is a private concession on 17 000 hectares, which belongs to the Berlin forestry plantation. Just more than half of the concession is planted with timber, the rest is natural forest and veld.

Christo Germishuys started Kaapsehoop Horse Trails here in 1994. When driving through the plantations, you might spot Christo whizzing past on his ysterperd (motorbike), his long hair flowing out behind him. When I meet Mpumalanga’s horse whisperer, I’m reminded of a cowboy version of the singer Iggy

Pop. He follows the horse-training technique known as natural horsemanship. “It’s a softer, psychological approach – instead of a physical one,” he explains. “You work with the horse’s mind. What is this old story of ‘ Ek breek ’n perd in’? What are you breaking? They say we are horse whisperers… I don’t know, I do shout at them occasionally,” he says with a smile.

Kaapsehoop Horse Trails offers self-catering accommodation, camping and horse riding. They also host kids’ holiday camps, facilitate group outings for schools and have volunteer programmes.

Christo has a long history with horses: He’s always been fascinated by them and started riding properly around the age of 14. He has worked with horses in Europe and England, and he spent 14 years on a breeding project in Pilgrim’s Rest where he started Ponies Krantz. “Not that Pilgrim’s Rest isn’t beautiful – it is – but there’s more freedom of space here,” he says. We speak about the wild horses of Kaapsehoop: There are up to 200 that roam the area. “The romantic word is ‘wild’, but the correct term is ‘feral’,” he says. The horses are believed to be descended from animals left behind after the gold rush of the 1800s, and the AngloBoer War. They’ve been here for many years, but they’re not wild.

Sometimes a feral horse comes in with Christo’s herd. “I don’t go and catch them, but if a colt comes in and insists that he wants to stay, I will train him. If a horse starts messing around with the herd mare, the main stallion will chase that colt away. Because he’s a sociable animal, he joins up with other colts which have also been chased out.”

Like many people, Christo thinks horses are beautiful but for him their beauty lies deeper than the surface. “They always say a dog is man’s best friend; that’s true –

you’ll will never get a horse that is as loyal as a dog – but horses have done a lot more for mankind. They have carried us to the far corners of the earth.”

Facilities: There are three old forestry houses with high ceilings and wooden floors that have been converted into self-catering accommodation. The Guest House (built in 1937, one of the first houses on the Berlin plantation) has space for six people. Trail House can sleep 12 and the Stable House can accommodate four. You can also camp in the garden, among the aloes and Christo’s treasure trove of upcycled metal art, wooden sculptures and upright rocks resembling a mini Adam’s Calendar. They often host events and New Year’s Eve parties here.

Rates: Guest House R2 500 for the first night (sleeps six); the rate gets cheaper per night the longer you stay. Stable House R400 per person. Trail House

R390 per person. Camping costs R150 per person. A one-hour horse riding session costs R350, or R320 for guests staying over.

Where? 36 km south-west of Mbombela, in the Berlin plantation (7 km from the village of Kaapsehoop).

Contact: 076 108 0081; horsebacktrails.co.za

5 WOLHUTER HOUSE

This house overlooking Da Gama Dam is only 35 km from the Numbi and Phabeni gates into the Kruger Park. No wonder renowned wildlife filmmaker and photographer Kim Wolhuter chooses to live here when he’s not away with his wife Saskia and daughter Kiki filming his latest project. Kim grew up between White River and the Kruger, where his father was head ranger. Wolhuter House is inside an estate, which is its own mini nature reserve. Some of the homes are used as holiday rentals and there’s a laid-back, family charm, with children riding bikes down the narrow dirt roads. The units have a rustic, terracotta exterior, with waterwise plants like aloes and euphorbias adding a touch of orange and coral to the natural gardens.

When you pull up to the house, you’ll notice the Wolhuters’ banged-up, roofless Toyota Land Cruiser under the carport – a game-drive vehicle fit for a pro. Walking down to the pool and deck, you’re met by an elevated view of the dam, and the walls inside are decorated with Kim’s photos. One of the most striking photos hangs in the lounge: a shot of a young female cheetah nibbling Kim’s toe. He captured the moment in 2016 when he was in Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana filming a documentary.

“The first time I got out of the car, they bolted,” he says. “Then I spent six weeks with them and tried again.” That’s how he works: He spends months at a time with his subjects, developing a relationship and allowing them to feel comfortable in his presence. He doesn’t want to influence their behaviour.

Besides the wildlife on the walls, the reserve also has a surprise or two up its sleeve: I saw bushbuck, red duiker, vervet monkeys and a pied kingfisher during an afternoon walk.

Facilities: There are walking trails, some meandering along the water’s edge. You can have a drink and meal at Hulala Lakeside Lodge in the same estate; they also offer various activities on the dam. ( The lodge is closed until further notice due to the lockdown. Visit hulala.co.za for updates.)

If Kim’s photos inspire you to head into the Kruger but you don’t have your own camera, you can hire equipment from Hilton Kotze who manages the rental. Hilton owns Africa Photographic Services in Mbombela; they also offer private photographic safaris and guiding. Rates: R1 950 per night; the house sleeps four people. Where? About 45 km north of Mbombela via the R40 towards Hazyview, on the banks of Da Gama Dam. You enter the same gate and follow the same road to Hulala Lakeside Lodge.

Contact: 082 823 6059; holidayrentalhomes.co.za