South African Break Aways

DE PAKHUYS – Cederberg Mountains (4)

Review of Kuru Lux Safari Cabin

August 2021

In our previous post, we’ve told you about our adventurous road trip from the Tankwa Karoo (you can read about it here).

We’ve now arrived at another stunning place where we will stay for 2 nights … and our main reason for staying here, is to do the Heuningvlei Hiking Trail in the Cederberg Mountains (you can read about this amazing hiking trail here).

Arriving at De Pakhuys

De Pakhuys:

You will find that our accommodation for the next two nights, (De Pakhuys), are perfectly placed in the Cederberg Mountains. It’s about 26km from Clanwilliam and on route to the historic village Wupperthal (while driving over the beautiful Pakhuis Pass).

You can either choose to camp or to “glamp”. There are beautiful cabins, cottages and camping grounds for either tents or caravans. For a change, we’ve decided to go the “glamping” route and booked the Kuru Lux Safari Cabin. In this post, we will show you just how beautiful this accommodation is – a real gem in the Cederberg Mountains!

Kuru Lux Safari Cabin
Our amazing view of the mountains as seen from our front porch

This (self-service) cabin is literally surrounded by big rocks and you don’t see (or hear) anybody else, except for the sounds of animals.

You can’t get closer to the rocks of the Cederberg Mountains than this
The front porch of our cabin – perfectly placed next to a big rock where we’ve enjoyed our “braai” (barbeque) evenings

Although De Pakhuys is a popular accommodation option for people who are active in bouldering (rock climbing stripped down to its raw essentials), they also welcome other tourists (like us, who wants to enjoy some of the splendid hiking trails). We’ve seen a couple of energetic youngsters (maybe also some older ones) who were camping. They were out in the mountains, bright and early every morning, to enjoy the stunning rock formations for some bouldering.

But let’s get back to our accommodation! I’m sure you would love to see the inside of Kuru Lux Safari Cabin. Let us take you on a tour …

A very comfortable (and big) bed in our cabin with soft luxurious linen
There is also a single bed … and bonus: a fire place for the cold winter months

The kitchen is fully-equipped with everything you may need while staying there. Everything was super clean and to our delight, we’ve also discovered a fancy coffee machine.

Lovely kitchen in Kuru Lux Safari Cabin
Such a beautiful view from the kitchen’s window

By now, you know how easy it is to impress us ☺️. A special touch in any accommodation always puts a smile on our faces. And that was exactly what we’ve got here at De Pakhuys … home-baked rusks and a wonderful selection of Rooibos tea (we are in Rooibos tea world after all).

That special touch: Home-baked rusks and a wide selection of Rooibos tea

And if you thought I was impressed with our bed and the kitchen, you must have seen my face when we’ve walked into the bathroom! The sight of that bath made me very happy (and you will understand my connection with the bath even more after our long hike the following day …).

This bath is the cherry on the cake in our cabin

After my excitement over the bath, I saw a curtain which I thought was leading to the back yard of the cabin …

What could be behind this curtain?

It was indeed the back of the cabin … but then I saw the shower that is built into the rocks (an outside shower)!

The outside shower as seen from the bathroom

I think this is a brilliant idea for the hot summer months to cool down! But definitely not high on our list as it was quite chilly during our two-day stay. Maybe we should come back in 4 months’ time to test this outside shower!

The outside shower is protected by high rocks

To prepare dinner, we’ve spent both evenings outside and next to the fire to have a “braai” (you know, a barbeque). It was quite amazing to sit here, in total seclusion, just enjoying the fresh mountain air and hearing night noises of different animals.

Our favourite time of day – “braai” time

Another beautiful spot close to our cabin, was a colourful bench that was placed against a rock. I can imagine how peaceful this must be to sit here in summer time with a book or just to relax … as it is now spring, it was surrounded by pretty little wildflowers.

A cool spot to relax

On the day we’ve left (after we’ve done our hike), it was overcast and started to rain. But the view as we’ve left our cabin, was still beautiful with the Cederberg Mountains shrouded in low clouds.

The view as we’ve left De Pakhuys

And to our surprise, we could still see a carpet of wildflowers, even though it was a grey and misty day. I bet this must be a beautiful sight on a bright and sunny day!

Wild spring flowers at De Pakhuys

Great, we’ve discovered another amazing gem on one of our road trips! We’ve enjoyed it so much, that we wanted to book another night, but unfortunately it was already fully booked. It seems De Pakhuys is quite popular and we will have to come back at another time … in summer to test that outside shower!

In our next post (the last one of this series), we will take you on an incredible hike to the Cederberg Mountains – the Heuningvlei Hiking Trail … get your hiking poles and backpack ready, we’ll see you there!

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wetanddustyroads

52 thoughts on “DE PAKHUYS – Cederberg Mountains (4)”

    1. That’s true Marion – really beautiful and we loved our time here. I know how hot it can get in this area during summer and then that shower will be amazing. If you like the amazing rock formations, make sure not to miss our next post about our hike in the mountains … there were some stunning rocky scenes. Have a great week. Corna

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    1. And that’s why we go back to the Cederberg Mountains every time – because of those amazing rock formations! We hope to return there during the summer months and I will then certainly give that shower a try 😁.

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    1. It’s quite possible that I did exactly that … walking with my mouth open while ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ 😄. Thanks Morag, it was a great place to relax – especially after a strenuous hike (our next post will cover the beauty of this hiking trail).

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      3. Yes I think so too. My mother used to be a mountain climber and used climb a lot in the Cederberg. I have been considering scattering her ashes somewhere there because for 2 decades she frequented it until she married my father who was much more attached to the sea. She took me there as a child and I have many photos of her there. I feel like it would honor who she was as an adventurous woman for me to visit her favorite places : Maltese cross, Wolfberg cracks and arch and the bushman paintings 😁☺️

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      4. Wow, your mother was a mountain climber … how amazing! Yes, I totally agree with you – that would be a wonderful resting place for your mom. Maltese cross, Wolfberg cracks and the arch are some of our favourite spots in the Cederberg … and now also the Heuningvlei Hiking Trail we’ve just done! The peace and tranquility one experience there, is just so overwhelming!

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      5. Sounds absolutely beautiful. I hope we can get there this year before it gets too hot. But this course is taking up all my energy and time and only finishes in the middle of October. Maybe we can plan for the end of October 🤔😊

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    1. Dit is ‘n absolute juweel Aletta! Ja, die pad kan maklik met enige voertuig gery word. Dis net 27km vanaf Clanwilliam (oppad na Wuppertal) en dis al die pad teerpad … die laaste stukkie grondpad (dalk 1km) tot by De Pakhuys se verblyf is in ‘n baie goeie toestand.

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    1. We just loved this cabin … and absolutely will go back there to use that outside shower in summer time 😄. Thanks for reading and your comments. (Oh btw, it seems I’ve got some trouble commenting on your posts … I’m reading about all the lovely places you visit & all those amazing photo’s, but can’t get my comments through … 😧). Nonetheless, I’ll keep on trying!

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      1. Oh dear – I know Mari had some problems a while back but they seem to have been resolved. It was something to do with her browser, which kept logging her out. But her issues were with all blogs, not specifically mine!

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      3. A further thought – I’ve had a couple of anonymous comments that needed approval – could they be yours? Maybe check back on one of the posts you tried to comment on to see if it’s there now?

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    1. Exactly like you’ve said there Lisa … I could probably stay in that bathroom (or the bath) for a whole afternoon! Well, I almost did do that after the strenuous hike of the next day 😄. Bouldering is a really big activity in the Cederberg Mountains and we saw quite a lot of people testing their bouldering skills on the rocks. A sweet spot indeed – and we’ll definitely go back!

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  18. Wow, beautiful! and I cant believe that I almost missed this post. I love everything about this place, my favourite is the beautiful field of wild flowers. I would feel so at home sipping on the rooibos tea (I drink the Buchu Carmien rooibos every day round about lunch time) it help with PMS… it does but my family might disagree 🙂 and of course I love the vanilla and the many other rooibos teas too. I’m definitely adding the Cederberg to my list of the many places you shared, thank you so much ❤

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    1. Thank you Henrietta 💌. Yes, De Pakhuys is beautiful – we are so glad we found out about this wonderful place … and hope you will be able to visit them soon. Hmm, rooibos tea is also a big favourite with me (mostly to help me sleep, and I will have to remember that it is also good for PMS) 😉.
      If you liked the wildflowers, do not miss our next post … it will probably be on our blog tomorrow … you will definitely enjoy the photos (and video) in this one!

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