April 2024

We are going camping (not)!

As we began to gather our camping equipment, we also kept an eye on the weather at the same time. It didn’t look so promising – heavy thunderstorms were forecast for Friday and Saturday morning. But in good faith we paid Trennerys Hotel & Camping for a campsite and hoped for the best.

Where is Trennerys Hotel & Camping?

Trennerys Hotel is located in the heart of the Wild Coast and about 107km/66 miles north of East London. The hotel is at the Qolora mouth and we had to cross the Kei River by ferry to enter the former Transkei.

Thunderstorm on our way to Trennerys

On the way to Trennerys we drove through a heavy thunderstorm. But we were still hopeful because there were patches of blue sky. But when we got to the Kei River and drove our bakkie onto the ferry, the sky was grey and the rain was pouring down.

Ferry operator in his full rain gear

Taking the ferry to cross the Kei River

It’s approximately a 20-minute drive from the Kei River to Trennerys. While it rained heavily, we also had to be careful of two other ‘obstacles’ – animals blocking the road and endless potholes.

Be aware of animals and potholes

Although Trennerys Hotel & Camping is more famous for their old-world charm hotel, they also have a handful of camp sites. While the friendly reception staff assigned us our camp site, they also casually noted that they did have a room in the hotel available should we be interested to pay a bit extra (and stay out of the rain).

Entrance at Trennerys Hotel & Camping (‘frowns’ are not allowed)

The camp site is lovely – there are tall trees and the grass is a lush green. But sitting in our ‘bakkie’ (pick up truck) for 10 minutes while the rain poured down, the decision was made. We are going to exchange this weekend’s camp for a luxury hotel stay.

We returned to the reception office and were quickly in possession of a key to our own unit with a lovely bed, soft towels and en-suite bathroom. How fortunate that they still had rooms available, as there were two large overseas tour groups who also stayed there.

Our unit at Trennerys Hotel

It was ironic that it stopped raining just as we settled in our room! But after seeing the lovely room, there was no way we were going to pitch our tent now.

View from our room – no rain and patches of blue sky

It was good news that both dinner and breakfast were included in our stay – and even better that the first night’s dinner was a ‘braai’. It was probably a special treat for the overseas guests, but we were just as happy! We enjoyed a beer in the bar while the fire was lit to prepare the food. Well, it’s almost like camping, right?

Trennerys’ lovely pool

Love the gecko art against the wall in the bar (and the interesting clock)

Relaxing area

A fire and colourful evening lights

With our favourite bottle of red wine, we enjoyed a delicious dinner. We started with pea soup and freshly baked bread – perfect for a rainy evening. The grilled meat and large selection of salads were just as tasty and were followed by a few choices of desserts. I was very happy to see traditional baked malva pudding on the table!

Our favourite Pinotage

Soup and main meal

Malva pudding & custard – one of my favourite desserts

After enjoying a delicious dinner, we walked back to our unit and sat outside for a while. It was now overcast again and we could see lightning over the sea – maybe it was a good idea not to camp.

It rained overnight – yeah for a hotel room! We woke up early the next morning and our first thought was to go for a stroll on the lovely untouched beach. The beaches here on the Wild Coast are certainly some of the most beautiful in our country.

Let’s go to the beach

The beach is just a short walk from the hotel and on the way, we saw pretty flowers and also leaves with vibrant autumn colours.

Pretty flowers

Autumn leaves

Although it wasn’t raining, it was still cloudy. This of course made for the most beautiful sunrise.

Sunrise through the trees

Sunrise colours

Sunrise on the Wild Coast

We walked up to the Qolora mouth, but didn’t linger too long because of light rain that started to fall again.

At the Qolora mouth

Small stream of the Qolora River running to the Indian Ocean

Black oystercatcher (‘Swarttobie’ in Afrikaans)

Light rain sent us back to the hotel

We showered and sat down to a delicious breakfast.

Hearty breakfast

It was at the breakfast table that we heard there was a 3-hour long river cruise/hiking trail that the hotel’s guests could enjoy. Trevor’s Trails is very popular and we had a great time on the trail while making new friends. It was such a special excursion that we are going to do a separate post about this (you can read about that hike here).

Let’s fast forward to dinner which was an absolute feast! Trennerys is famous for their ‘Saturday Seafood Buffet’ and we really enjoyed it.

Seafood calls for crisp white wine

Tomato soup and seafood & veggies

Dessert – chocolate ice cream (with a cherry)

The next day we woke up to sunny weather. That’s how it usually is when you have to return home after a lovely weekend, isn’t it?

The sun is out at Trennerys Hotel

We decided to take a quick stroll down to the beach before having breakfast and packing up to drive back home.

Another sunrise at Trennerys’ beach

On the pristine beach

Lovely sand formations on our way to the river mouth

Gorgeous view while enjoying breakfast

We walked one last time through the beautiful seating areas of Trennerys Hotel, greeted the friendly reception staff and promised ourselves to come back here again. There’s still that lovely campsite that eluded us on this rainy weekend!

One of just many relaxing areas

Lovely décor

Noughts and crosses

On the way home, we could now appreciate the landscape much more in bright sunlight. We ran into our fellow road users and were surprised to see the many villages on and between the hills.

Slow down!

The road back to the ferry

Village on the hill

So many villages on the rolling hills

Ferry crossing at the Kei River

We waited for the ferry to come from the opposite bank of the river. There are only three of these ferries left in South Africa and we have now visited all three of them. One is in the Western Cape Province at Malgas (read about our visit here) and the other in the Northern Cape Province in the Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park (read about our visit here).

Waiting for the ferry

Our turn to take the ferry

On the ferry were three young children selling handmade necklaces and bracelets. I sat next to them and they shyly showed me their baskets with all their beads products. I couldn’t help but buy something from each of them.

The ferry operator said to Berto that he could take a picture of them and they happily smiled for the camera. This was the perfect end to our weekend – one that turned out completely different from what we expected. But what a lovely weekend it was!

Happy kids on the ferry