January 2025

Just before my mother flew back to Cape Town, we decided to treat her to a weekend away in the lovely town of Port Alfred. But instead of staying in Port Alfred itself, we chose the beautiful Mansfield Private Reserve – a place that has been on our radar for some time now. The reserve is located about 11km/9 miles outside Port Alfred, along the Kowie River.

Accommodation at Mansfield Private Reserve:

There are several self-catering accommodation options available: A farmhouse, cottage or cabin. You can even be more adventurous and sleep on open-air tree top platforms or pitch your tent along the Kowie River.

However, we decided to go a little more luxurious after our three-week tent holiday and booked the cottage for the weekend.

Cottage at Mansfield Private Reserve

When we arrived, all the doors and windows of the cottage were wide open and fans were running at full speed in both rooms. Of course, it was for a very good reason – the temperature was above 30°C/86°F and hot weather was forecast for the whole weekend.

Living room of the cottage

Bedrooms

Fully equipped kitchen

The kitchen window above the sink overlooks part of the reserve. We all wanted to wash dishes during the weekend because the animals grazed near the cottage and this window was the perfect place to watch animals.

Great view through the kitchen window

As we’ve mentioned before on our blog, we love to see the finer details in accommodation that make your stay more enjoyable. The fans in the rooms were a big plus, as was the tray in the kitchen which was stocked with biscuits, coffee, tea, milk, sugar, butter and jam. The sherry on the living room table was a lovely drink before we went to bed and we also welcomed the soft towels in our rooms.

Amenities like these immediately make you feel welcome

We were also very happy about the ‘braai’ that was on the porch of the cottage. This came in handy for preparing our dinners.

The ‘braai’ – best place in the house

As we sat outside by the fire we saw a lovely sunset while the wild animals grazing near the cottage. It’s moments like these that make me forget about all the problems in our country and to rather appreciate the beauty that South Africa offers to her people.

Sunset at Mansfield Private Reserve

Tree lined road

Wild animals grazing close to the cottage

‘Braai’ time

We woke up early the next morning to unfamiliar noises near the cottage. When we looked through the kitchen window, a herd of wildebeest was grazing just a few meters from our cottage. We couldn’t wait to explore the reserve!

Herd of wildebeest

But first … early morning coffee

While we were drinking coffee, a small impala walked by near the cottage. There are no large predators or dangerous wild animals in the reserve, so it is safe to walk freely around. And we took full advantage of this opportunity when we saw giraffes near the road – more on this later.

Small impala in the garden

We wanted to show my mum what Port Alfred looked like, but first things first – we simply had to drive down to the river to see more wildlife. And we were not disappointed. Our first animals in sight were zebras – it remains an incredible thought that no two animals have the same pattern. A small herd of wildebeest also grazed near the road.

What a lovely animal

“Wait, let me look straight into the camera”

Wildebeest

Kowie River

More wildebeest

Upon our arrival the previous day, the lady at reception told us that giraffes were in the area and that we should be on the lookout for them. When we turned around at the river, we drove the same road back to our cottage. As we came around a corner, we were surprised with three giraffes together – about a 100m from the road. We can’t say for sure, but it looked like a male, female and (maybe) their youngster. We got out of the ‘bakkie’ and walked closer – the young giraffe was very curious and watched us closely.

Young giraffe (with a bone in his mouth)

Young giraffe and female (maybe his mother)

Female giraffe kept a watchful eye on us

The biggest of the three giraffes

Female and young giraffe

We kept a safe distance, but they didn’t seem bothered by our presence. What a privilege to be able to see giraffes so close (while on foot).

Road back to our cottage

After seeing the giraffes, we decided to explore the beautiful town of Port Alfred (click here to read about our visit to Port Alfred).

Back from Port Alfred and at our cottage, we packed a picnic basket and drove to the camping area along the Kowie River where there are lovely shaded areas with benches and tables.

On our way to the river, we passed another herd of zebras. A few meters from the road stood a zebra mare with her foal. We know that one of our fellow bloggers, Sarah (from the blog Travel with me) really likes zebras and Berto stopped to take pictures of the two, especially for Sarah to enjoy.

Zebras standing together

Zebra and her foal

Beautiful animals

Look at the fuzzy hair on the foal’s back

We saw more wildebeest

According to Mansfield’s website, indigenous aloe grows in abundance on the farm. We believe the following photo is of the aloe flowers that we have seen time and time again on our drives through the reserve.

Indigenous aloe

We couldn’t have asked for a better day to have a picnic along the Kowie River. Although it was very hot, we enjoyed the coolness of the shaded picnic spots.

Picnic area of Mansfield Private Reserve

Summer means picnic time

There is also a swimming pool to cool off

After our picnic, we drove slowly back to our cottage. On the way we saw another curious wildebeest and also two impalas grazing peacefully in the grass.

Curious wildebeest

Impalas

Close to our cottage, a road turned away to one of the other accommodations, Eagle’s Nest Cabin. From this cabin there is an incredibly beautiful view of the Kowie River – maybe we can stay here on our next visit.

View of the Kowie River from Eagle’s Nest Cabin

Back at our cottage, we made another fire to prepare dinner. Berto made a lamb stew and my mother her famous ‘roosterkoeke’ (you can read how to make this traditional South African bread in our Dish of the Week #64).

Dinner is getting ready on the fire

Lamb stew and ‘roosterkoeke’

Mansfield Private Reserve treated us to another spectacular sunset for the last time this weekend. We had such a wonderful time and are glad we were finally able to visit this beautiful reserve.

Last sunset at Mansfield Private Reserve