February 2026

Lonely Planet Cottage: The perfect escape in the Biedouw Valley

After two weeks of wild camping along the Atlantic Ocean, we decided to break away for a weekend and go to the mountains. This time we did not bring our camping trailer with us, because there was a cottage that we had wanted to visit for a very long time.

Those of you who have read some of our previous posts will know that, when it comes to mountains, the Cederberg mountain range is our favourite. This time we followed the road to Biedouw Valley where the beautiful Enjo Nature Farm is located.

It was an exceptionally hot weekend – the Cederberg mountains are well known for this kind of weather, especially during the month of February. On the way to Enjo Nature Farm, we turned off at Travellers Rest where we ordered ice-cold drinks against the scorching heat.

In our next post, we will tell you more about Travellers Rest, but I would like to show you what my new favourite milkshake looks like – Rooibos Tea milkshake. After all, we are in the area where Rooibos Tea grows, and I just could not resist the milkshake. To add to all the deliciousness, Berto and I shared a piece of yummy chocolate cheesecake. What a start to our weekend in the mountains!

Rooibos Tea milkshake and chocolate cheesecake

The road to Enjo Nature Farm is just spectacular. Hoek se Berg pass takes you down into the Biedouw Valley and then, in the middle of the valley, you should take the road to the left. Another 11km/6.8 miles further, you will find the lovely Enjo Nature Farm.

Turn off to Enjo Nature Farm

Road leading to Enjo Nature Farm

The last gate before reaching Enjo Nature Farm

Enjo Nature Farm is run by a very welcoming and friendly family. They offer a few self-catering cottages as well as a small campsite. As I mentioned earlier, we had our eye on an off-the-grid cottage that is a bit further away from the main farmhouse. With a name like Lonely Planet, it sounded like the perfect cottage for us.

Entrance to the reception at the main farmhouse

The signposts to our cottage

It is not necessary to drive a 4×4 vehicle to reach Lonely Plant Cottage (or Enjo Nature Farm), but a vehicle with high ground clearance is recommended.

We just had to follow this dirt road

We loved our little cottage. Not only was it really secluded, but it also had everything we needed for the weekend.

Lonely Planet Cottage

Bedroom and kitchen

The cottage is powered by solar panels. This meant that we always had hot water (not that we really wanted to stand in a hot shower during this weekend).

The bathroom is inside the cottage

We quickly unloaded all our luggage and immediately grabbed a cold drink from our camp fridge. It was already after 6:00 pm and the temperature was still in the high 30°C/86°F. We were surely in for a hot weekend.

We needed cold drinks

Berto made a fire, and I made myself comfortable on the large concrete couch. Decorated with soft cushions, this was a great place to relax while we watched the sunset.

My happy place

Sunset over the Cederberg

Berto already prepared dinner the previous evening at our home for our first night at Enjo Nature Farm. It was now very easy to just heat the lamb tagine in our Dutch oven over the fire. With the couscous taking only a couple of minutes, it wasn’t long before we could dish up an amazing meal.

Lamb tagine and couscous

Time for dinner

With the dishes done, it was time to go to bed – except that it was very hot inside our cottage. Because it is an off the grid cottage, there are no fans (or air conditioning). But we had a Plan B – Berto turned the concrete bench outside into a bed. It might not look like much, but it was actually quite comfortable. There was no better place than laying outside on a makeshift bed next to my husband while we watched the starry sky.

Our ‘bedroom’ on a hot summer night in the Cederberg

After an early morning breakfast of coffee/tea and rusks, we decided to go for a walk. Even though there was a thin layer of mist over the mountains, we knew it was going to be another scorching day.

Light breakfast

Don’t be fooled by the mist on the mountain

We saw an interesting rock wall that goes in an almost straight line up the mountain. It was clearly something done by farmers years ago. According to the owner of Enjo Nature Farm, there are different theories about it, but we thought it might have served as a boundary fence for farms. It was very interesting to see – especially how the rocks were packed, almost like a puzzle.

Rock wall

Closer look at the rock wall

Rock wall going up the mountain

There is an 8-kilometer circular walk (which we thought would be better to do in any of the other seasons, except for summer), so, we instead followed the road to the farmhouse.

Road towards the farmhouse

On the way we saw interesting plants and also the well-known thorn tree with its distinctive bean-like fruits.

Plants next to the road

Thorn tree and its fruit

We stopped at a dam and watched a few birds coming and going. There is also an information board here about the Clanwilliam sandfish – unique to the Olifants- and Doring River catchments. Apparently, their numbers are so low that they are rarely seen. A rescuing project, which include ‘sandfish sanctuaries’ is under way, and one hopes this will increase their survival.

Farm dam

Birds on the water

A little further on we came to a labyrinth. I walked the labyrinth while Berto took photos of nearby old buildings.

Labyrinth

Window frames of old farm buildings

Another self-catering cottage (and two lazy horses)

At the farmhouse, you can get complimentary coffee and tea to enjoy on the ‘stoep’ (veranda). At the farmshop, there are a few essentials for sale, such as ice, cold drinks, and firewood, and also a wide variety of Rooibos Tea.

Complimentary coffee & tea and farmshop

Lovely shaded ‘stoep’ (veranda)

Very fitting for springtime when wildflowers are blooming here at Enjo Nature Farm

Near the farmhouse there is also a chlorinated farm dam swimming pool – ideal for those hot summer months.

Swimming pool (farm style)

After we enjoyed a few cups of coffee and tea, we walked back along the same road to our cottage.

Walking back to our cottage

Since we had only had rusks before going for a walk, we made French toast with crispy bacon, fruit, and honey for a late breakfast and enjoyed it under the tree next to our cottage.

Breakfast under a tree

After our yummy breakfast, we went for a drive on the main dirt road to see where it would take us.

Late morning drive

After we drove past a few more farms (and opened and closed a few more gates), we came to the crossing of the Doring River (which is currently dry, but during winter it’s sometimes impossible to drive through here due to the strong flow of the river).

It was my job to open and close all the gates

Narrow road and dry riverbed

Green trees are an indication of a river

Part of a rusty (and beautiful decorated) car next to the road

We even saw a springbok

Back at our cottage, we opened a cold beer and a packet of South African ‘biltong’. While we nibbled on that, Berto made delicious sandwiches which we again enjoyed in the shade of the tree.

Snack and lunch

For the rest of the day, it was just too hot to do any other activities, and we relaxed with our books in the shady tree. We sat there until the sun began to set – it was great to just enjoy the quietness of nature while the world around us changed into golden colours.

Golden colours in the setting sun

We made another fire to prepare dinner. I cooked sweet butternut on the gas stove inside the cottage while Berto made the rest of our dinner on the fire. There were roasted potatoes in duck fat inside our ‘vuurvarkie’ (fire piggy) and also fillet in a cast iron pan on the coals which Berto basted with his homemade garlic and herb butter. Yes, we went all out with our last meal at Lonely Planet Cottage.

Relaxing next to the fire

Preparing sweet butternut

Roasted potatoes in duck fat

Dinner in the making

Fillet with homemade garlic and herb butter

Dinner for two at Lonely Planet Cottage

Fortunately, it was not as hot as the previous evening, and we could enjoy the comfort of our cottage’s bed. After enjoying a beautiful sunrise, we reluctantly got into our ‘bakkie’ to leave our Lonely Plante Cottage behind and drive back home.

Beautiful sunrise

There are few places where you can find total tranquility like here in the Cederberg Mountains – and especially at Lonely Planet Cottage at Enjo Nature Farm.