If you are into silence and seek a quiet escape, look and listen, no further than the Antbear Eco Lodge located in the foothills of the central Drakensberg Mountains. I have the occasional bout of misophonia, an affliction to noise which has seen me ban amongst other things, the eating of apples in my car. I can live with certain noises but here, other than birdsong and the breeze travelling through the grass and trees, there is next to none.
Over my three plus decades of KwaZulu Natal road trips, and driving by Antbear Lodge several times, it took me until now to finally get to stay here. But appropriately what a great place to be at during our SafariKZN twentieth anniversary celebrations. I am going to have to be careful and selective with my wording and avoid repetition. I have already used quiet, and this place is incredibly so. (Unique I will limit to tell you that our room was truly unique) It was our first ever stay in a cave, a very comfortable cave it must be said. Lastly, quirky would describe so many aspects of Antbear Lodge, from window frames to cupboards.
We were both surprised when we arrived at our room to find it was a cave. I had no preconceived ideas on what type of room we would find ourselves in here, but this was truly novel. And this was far from just a cave as we could see as we entered through the glass bi-folding doors. Along with a separate ensuite there was a large jacuzzi style bathtub, king size bed, seating area, small dining table & chairs, cupboard, fridge and fireplace. The glass doors and big windows gave us big views across green hills and valleys and into the Drakensberg Mountains. The chairs on our very private deck offered the same uninterrupted views. We looked across at Ntabamhlophe, the White Mountain, with its very distinctive flat top. As we sat side-striped swallows sat below us on the wire fence, exchanging gurgling, cackling, style chirps, before visiting their nest below the cave’s overhang. When there are so many birds around you, who needs a television, for entertainment. We watched and listened to rock pigeons, francolin, wood hoopoes and crested barbet. There was also the South African king of noise, the hadeda ibis, that calls all day but most loudly just before dawn.
The quirkiness started in the room, I guess with the fact that it was cave, when you look at the detail in everything, particularly with anything wooden. Our window contained a carved tree within it. Our clothing cupboard and those surrounding the fridge and safe resembled giant Chinese puzzles with intricate opening systems. This was a theme throughout and in the main lodge trees were joined by other wooden carvings including a chicken in the windows. A cupboard, housing coffee, made in the shape of a huge coffee bean, chandeliers, staircases, just about everything wooden was hand crafted and engineered. There were touches in the creations of a mad max, steam punk, Alice in Wonderland collaboration.
Before dinner as darkness descended the noise of the breeze developed into one of wind. A changing wind that came from the South chilling down the blistering afternoon heat. We took one last look at the mountains, where Giants Castle dominated the view, from the lodge deck before moving inside. With a drop in temperature the fire had been lit and this along with our candlelit table created a lovely dining ambiance. Andile, our host, had lit the fire. She had also greeted us and given me a guided tour of the property. She had been the perfect host and could not do enough for us. And now she was cooking us dinner. Phyllo cheese parcels were followed by mains of T-bone steak and grilled fish, both cooked excellently and we finished off with grilled bananas & cream for dessert. I asked Andile where she sourced her meat from. She told me it was from a local butcher, coincidently a friend of mine, and added that all the accompanying vegetables were picked from the garden just behind the lodge. It is a farm to fork story when it comes to eating at Antbear Lodge. Breakfast, and we had requested a light one, was a perfect way to start a new day. Home baked breads, fruit salads, cheeses, and a fried main. A word of advice for when you are in South Africa: Small portions are never that small.
Before leaving I strolled for an hour or so around the property, once a working farm, taking in the views and checking out the vegetable beds. I was hoping for a sighting of the elusive antbear, from whom the lodge takes its name. The only other resident I bumped into was a scrub hare. I had to rub my eyes to ensure he was not a carving, and I was not following Alice into wonderland.
The Antbear Lodge is an ideal location for all to get away from the day-to-day sights and sounds of everyday modern life. An ideal retreat destination. There is a much quiet time as you need out here. There are also plenty of places to explore and only a short drive away. For walking head over to Giants Castle Game Reserve or Highmoor Nature Reserve and for ancient rock art make your way to Kamberg. If its wildlife you are looking for then Weenen is the perfect place.
