August 2024
- Camping in a cave
In last week’s post we told you about our road trip to an amazing camp site (read here).
Where is Balloch Cottages?
Balloch Cottages is about an hour’s drive from the small town, Barkly East. By following a dirt road through the Witteberg Mountains, we finally arrived at Balloch, a working farm where the Frost family is the 4th generation farmers. Besides two camp sites, there is also a self catering cottage.
When we made the booking for the weekend, we could choose between two camp sites. One site is along a stream, while the other is a cave camp site under a huge overhang. I don’t think it’s necessary to tell you which camp site we chose.
Arriving at our camp site at Balloch
The camp site literally stopped us in our tracks – we have never camped at such a unique place. There is a big green lawn and a stone table which has been built against the wall of the cave.
Cave camp site
Stone table against the wall of the cave
But the best thing about this camp site has to be the view. Before our eyes were the majestic mountains with its highest peaks covered with snow.
High mountains covered with a dust of snow
Although we were technically camping in a cave, we weren’t necessarily without amenities. There are power points and also lights if the idea of wild camping doesn’t quite appeal to you. And we were surprised with the rustic, but beautiful ablution facilities. There are washing facilities for your dishes, toilets and showers (with wonderful hot water supplied by gas operated geysers).
Ablution facilities
We still had an hour or so of sunlight left and soon set up our tent. For a moment we just sat quietly in our camp chairs and marvelled at the surroundings.
The cave camp site
Long shadows towards the end of the day
The moment the sun went down, the temperature dropped. I was very happy that I had packed an extra fleece blanket at the last minute before we left.
It was now very cold, but the view was still beautiful
We pushed our camp stretchers together and hoped for the best
While Berto made a big camp fire, I cooked potatoes on our camp stove to prepare a warm potato salad. We also had steak and Berto made a creamy mushroom sauce to go with that.
Our first camp fire in months – it felt good
Boiling potatoes on our camp stove
Creamy mushroom sauce in the making
At sunset, the world turned into different shades of orange. Although it was very cold, it was probably the most beautiful part of the day.
Sunset colours
Dinner time
After dinner Berto added more wood to the fire and we sat for a long time listening to the sounds of the night. What a privilege it is to be so close to nature.
Getting some heat from the fire
I have to admit, it was really cold during the night. When we had to get up just after 3am for a quick wee, it was -3°C/26F. It took a while to stop shivering after we jumped back under the duvet and blanket!
But after seeing a lovely sunrise and drinking a few cups of steaming coffee and tea, the cold night was soon forgotten.
Sunrise after a cold-cold night
Snow in the morning light
What a beautiful morning
We made jaffles for breakfast, filled with bacon and egg. After cleaning and tidying up, we put on our hiking boots and packed a backpack to explore the farm (but more on this in our next post).
Breakfast jaffles
After coming back from a beautiful hike, we were quite hungry. Berto made curry mince at home and we decided to make jaffles again – this time filled with delicious curry mince. (Click here for the curry mince recipe.)
Lunch time
We made two new friends on our hike. Ches, the younger dog, accompanied us on our hike, while Doug walked with us from the main farmhouse to our camp site. After getting a piece of steak from the previous evening, they decided it was a good time to take an afternoon nap.
Doug (left) and Ches
After lunch we decided to walk down to the other camp site close to the stream. Berto told me about another cave that he saw earlier around the corner from our camp site which he also wanted to see from closer.
Camp site at the stream
Water bubbling over rocks
Berto (and Ches) on their way to the cave
More caves
Rock formation above the cave
View of the valley and stream
It was a wonderful late afternoon and we had a great time just relaxing in our camp chairs after our earlier hike. Ches walked back to her house in the early evening, while Doug decided to stay behind.
Late afternoon at our camp site
Berto made a chicken ‘potjie’ on the fire and we had an early dinner. A strong wind had come up and it was bitterly cold, so there was no reason to be out in the cold for too long.
Chicken ‘potjie’ on the fire
Doug – a short story:
Before it got dark, we walked towards the farmhouse, hoping that Doug would follow us and go back to his house. He walked with us, but instead decided to visit a couple staying in the self catering cottage. Satisfied that he would walk back to his house later, we headed back to our camp site … only to see Doug reappear an hour later.
He curled himself up by the fire and fell asleep, while we went into our tent. With the wind howling through the tall trees, I said to Berto that we couldn’t let Doug sleep outside in the cold.
I went back out and when I touched him, he immediately jumped up and followed me into the tent. I took one of my warm tops and placed it on the tent floor for him and covered him with a small fleece blanket. He sighed contentedly and then slept soundly through the night.
The next morning
It was a beautiful morning and hard to believe that the wind blew so strongly through the night.
We started the morning with coffee and tea and I dipped our last breakfast rusks in hot water for Doug to eat (which he was very happy about).
When we took down our tent and started packing everything back into the bakkie, Doug stretched himself out and then started walking towards the farmhouse, wagging his tail. I’m sure he’s going to tell Ches all about his night in a tent.
Next week we conclude our short series on Balloch with a beautiful hike – if you want to continue reading about that, click here.
Wet and Dusty Roads 
I want to go and listen to that doggy chat, Doug’s gonna be soooo smug 😂. That’s definitely a beautiful setting though, Corna, really lovely place to camp.
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Ha, I think Ches regretted she didn’t stay behind … Doug ate well and slept warm! I wish Balloch wasn’t so far away, because then we would have camped there every weekend. It’s truly the most beautiful (and serene) camping spot we’ve ever been to!
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That camping spot would be hard to beat…and perhaps only by the spot down by the creek. Absolutely magic! Mel (and I think Doug is smarter than us all put together! 🙂 )
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I think Doug often ‘camps’ with other campers – he looked very much at home! And I’m a sucker when it comes to dogs 🙂. It’s really so beautiful there between the mountains – an absolute gem of a camping place.
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Agreed. 😉
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Dit is so pragtig daar tussen die Berge, Corna! Julle is baie braaf om te kamp as dit so koud is. Oulik dat die hond julle so mooi opgepas het.
Julle is so goed ingerig om altyd heerlike kos te kan maak.
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Dis pragtig, ne? Ons het vooraf ‘n paar foto’s van Balloch gesien, maar in werklikheid was dit ‘n 1000x mooier! Ja, Doug is ‘n baie slim hond … hy het in ruil daarvoor om ons op te pas, lekker kos gekry en warm geslaap 🙂. Jy weet mos nou al teen hierdie tyd dat ons daarvan hou om lekker te eet wanneer ons kamp, so ons maak seker dat ons altyd genoeg kos inpak … dalk moes ons hierdie keer eerder meer warm beddegoed saamgeneem het!
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Ek kan juis nie slaap as ek koud kry nie!
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😂 ja, dis nogal ‘n uitdaging!
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What a beautiful setting for your camp! I love the caves and rock formations, and the stream is lovely too. And a fun story about Doug spending the night with you 🙂
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The combination of the cave camp and incredible views of the mountains certainly impressed us! And because we love dogs so much, Doug (and Ches) provided that extra little bit of fun.
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With temperatures that fresh I think you did well to choose the cave site! You are a hardy pair, camping in weather that cold. Of course I loved that you brought the dog into the tent. Maybe he wanted to come home with you. That is a very beautiful location, for sure. It is so special to see a place that is unspoiled. After 10 days of soft food, your meals make my stomach growl! I look forward to the hike.
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The cave offers good protection from wind (and rain) – and although the camp site against the stream is just as lovely, I think we would have been more exposed to the weather elements. But you’re right, an incredibly beautiful (and unspoiled) camp site … I think the Frost family does an excellent job of keeping it that way for tourists on their farm. Berto casually mentioned earlier in the evening that he think we were going to sleep in the tent with a dog (ha, he knows me all too well)! I hope your throat is better – soft food is tasty … but only for so long!
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What a great campground. So many unique sites and what spectacular views! Maybe I missed it but what elevation is the campground to go below freezing at night? Maggie
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Barkly East is 1800m above sea level (which is well above the snow line) and the terrain height above sea level for Balloch farm is 2020m. The irony is that there was a huge snowstorm last weekend and both the town and farm received a lot of snow – so much so that the roads are currently closed … the very same roads which we drove just a few weeks back! I can only imagine how beautiful it is there right now.
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There isn’t a post I haven’t loved from you, however, this has to be my favorite! From the caves to the gorgeous scenery, that amazing food from Chef Berto and to the touching dog story. Yep, my favorite!
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Ah, I’m glad this is one of your favourite posts Diane … because it’s definitely one of mine. The beauty of this place was something I’d never seen before – and throw in a dog or two and I’m as happy as can be. Oh yes, and good food is always the bonus.
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What a fabulous site. And sight, though a little too cold for camping for me. Love the jaffles. I really regret not bringing a jaffle maker back to the UK, though I am now used to toasties.
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It was nice weather throughout the day, but the moment the sun went down, it was bitterly cold. We may have to go there again in the summer to fully enjoy the evenings by the fire. The jaffle maker is a big favourite in our camp kitchen — it’s going with us again this coming weekend when we head to Mountain Zebra National Park.
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What a cool spot to camp! I can’t say I’ve ever camped in a cave before! You’re absolutely right about how the views of the mountains are fantastic. Love the interesting rock formations in the area as well, especially that balanced rock.
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This is truly one of the most beautiful camp sites we’ve been to and if you liked the rock formations in this post, I’m sure you’re going to enjoy the next hiking post just as much.
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You find the most beautiful and interesting places, Corna. The cave sounds completely magical, and with a canine friend – even better! Your photos are stunning. Do you worry about wildlife creeping into your campsites?
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Thank you so much Tricia – yes, we were lucky to find this beautiful camp site. It is now at the very top of our list of the most beautiful camping places we have ever visited. Wildlife in our tent? We usually close our tent when it starts to get dark, throughout the day it is mostly open. We’ve only had a big spider in the tent once … and then Berto had to unpack the whole tent before I dared to go back in there 🙂. But I have to say, and I hope I don’t jinxed it now, but we’ve never—except that once—had wildlife in our tent.
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Good to know! I would be frightened of wildlife even roaming around the tent at night! That doesn’t happen too much where we’re from, but we don’t have the big animals in the PNW like you do in SA.
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I should add that I’m not so sure if we’ll pitch our tent where there are wild animals like elephants and lions roaming around – unless it’s in a demarcated/fenced area. Perhaps a rooftop tent on such an occasion is a better idea …
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What a location! Aside from the overnight cold it looks blissful, Corna (and you can always cosy up). Are those jaffles just from a toasting machine? We have something similar but square. I keep forgetting to use it. So versatile!
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This is a stunning camping site and we loved every moment (even the cold nights). Oh, don’t you worry Jo … we might as well have had just one camp stretcher, because that’s how close we laid together. The jaffles are made with a cast-iron jaffle pan that you use on a fire … almost like a toastie, but actually not 😊. We love ours because you can fill the jaffle with almost anything — and the best part is that you can prepare your jaffle while sitting around the fire.
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Sounds great xx
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Wow what a location. I’ve also never heard of jaffles, but they look absolutely DELICIOUS! The camp site is so beautiful, though I’m sorry to hear it was so cold!! The sunset and morning views make it worth it though
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I forgot that jaffles aren’t as widely known – it’s one of the most fun “toasties” to make when camping, because you’re doing it while sitting around the camp fire. It is certainly an exceptional camp site and even though it was so cold, the beauty of Balloch soon made us forget about that.
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What a beautiful place to camp. Your breakfast looks delicious from the photo. Can we have the recipe?
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Those views at the camp site are just incredibly beautiful! To be able to make the jaffles, you’ll need a jaffle pan to start with (but I suppose you can make that too if you have a regular sandwich maker). The breakfast jaffles are very easy to make – it’s basically just fried bacon, egg and cheese on a sandwich. I’ll share the curried mince recipe in a future “Dish of the Week” – one of our go-to dishes when we’re camping.
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Do you make the dough?
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Mélodie, you’re not going to believe what I’m going to tell you now … it’s much easier than that! It is just two plain slices of bread with a filling in between! So it’s actually a toasted sandwich!
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🤣🤣 I thought it was a fancy sandwich but I can see it is easy enough that I can do it 😜.
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A great location for a camp site, the mountain views are fantastic. Especially with the magical sunset colours. Your food is very hearty and delicious, jaffles look amazing. I love the story about Doug – so sweet of you to make him a warm bed inside the tent. How’s the weather these days? I saw a puzzling video of lions roaming in a blanket of snow…
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Leighton, to be honest …. if I had to sit on my camp chair all weekend and just look at the mountains, I would be quite happy! We love jaffles – it’s great that you can use so many different fillings. Yes, Doug can be very glad he got us as campers – I wouldn’t be able to sleep while knowing he sleeps outside in the cold. I’m such a sucker when it comes to animals! Yes, we had a heavy snowstorm in the higher lying parts of the country recently (probably the last signs of winter – I hope). Even the roads we drove to Balloch Farm were impassable and snow-covered – we missed that with two weeks! At least it sounds like the lions survived the snow … but I think they were pretty dumbfounded by the “white grass”.
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