Cederberg Ridge Wilderness Lodge

The classic rooms enable close proximity and access to the main lodge. Despite being smaller in size, they offer a fine selection of amenities including air conditioning, an en-suite bathroom with towels provided, underfloor heating and bed-linen supplied. There is also a television and a verandah/balcony. It sleeps a maximum of two adult guests.

Though simple, the classic room provides much in the way of classic and elegant style, with a clean and sleek bathroom area and precise views out into the wilderness and lodge yard. There are comfy sofas to recline on where guests can look out at the delightful Cederberg vista.

Spacious and airy rooms, the luxury suites offer the same standard amenities as the classic rooms but allow a larger verandah to really soak in the scale of the impressive locale. Sitting out here to read, or talk, is an exhilarating experience and will enrich your stay. In the summer, the air conditioning will maintain your room’s temperature, delivering you a fantastic night’s sleep. But the wide and expansive view is what really sets this room apart. Containing both an indoor shower, and a walk-in outdoor shower, these rooms offer a space where guests can relax and take in the incredible surroundings. This room sleeps 3 guests and allows children from 6-17 years old.

These suites are a little larger than the luxury suites, but maintain the same excellent view and same enthralling sense of connection to the outdoors. There are embellishments like larger doorways, a larger space for the outside shower, and they can be combined with an adjacent Luxury Suite to make a two-bedroom villa for friends or families to merge together and experience their time at the lodge connected.

The Superior Honeymoon or Family Suite is a wide space for those seeking privacy. It has a separate living room and a considerable terrace for guests to sit out together. As well as having the same amenities as the other rooms, they are more spacious with a well-maintained sense of comfort and with privacy and intimacy. This is a premium and exquisite lodging. Children from 6-17 are allowed in this suite.

Sleeping a max of two adults in stunning modern style, the Classic Courtyard Room is situated in the main lodge building and offers ease of access to the rest of the lodge. The room is disabled and wheelchair friendly and offers plenty of wonderful space for movement. This room looks out over the quiet courtyard. Beyond that, the room is stocked with all that is needed regarding toilet and bathroom facilities, and the same quality of standard amenities that come in all the other rooms including underfloor heating and air conditioning to ensure maximum comfort during your stay.

At Cederberg Ridge, a wide variety of food is offered at the house itself. The menu is seasonally changing, and can cater for special dietary needs.  There are always two vegetarian dishes on offer, and they can easily cater to vegan or whatever other diet requirements are needed.

Breakfasts served are often fresh and delicious, with a choice of homemade croissants, pastries, jams and fruits from the farm, alongside freshly squeezed orange juice, cold meats and cheeses. A selection of three cooked options plus a daily special is served for breakfast, from smoked salmon bowls with soft poached eggs or Japanese soufflé pancakes.

For lunch, a variety of options are available from mouthwatering salads, mezze platters and light meals. Picnics are also available. For dinner, there’s a choice of starters, a main course and dessert. For a start, wild mushrooms and chicken wings are among the selection. As a main course, you may be interested in trying the beef fillet or the ricotta, pine nut and spinach cannelloni, or sous vide chicken breast.

There are plenty of options in regards to what you choose to explore in Cederberg. You can partake of a guided tour of the beautiful Cederberg mountain conservancy, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Andy’s Tours and Shuttles offer a comprehensive ‘Cederberg Tour’, touring this magnificent wilderness north of Cape Town. You will get an opportunity to see first-hand the levels of beauty, such as the staggering rock formations, the Stadsaal caves, Wolfberg Arch and the Wolfberg Cracks. You will see much of the Mediterranean Fynbos in the wet South and West changing to the semi-desert scrub in the East, as the biomes mix and change.

For personal exploration, the ideal time for longer walks is from mid March to mid December. If you are to set off during summer, it is best to go before breakfast in the coolest part of the day. Mountain biking is also a frequent pastime, with bikes at the lodge available to borrow if you don’t have your own with you.

One of the most popular excursions offered is the Sevilla rock art excursion. It is a 5km walk, usually offered every other day by the lodge. You’ll be tour with a guide, and you will be taught about the Bushmen art and culture. Cederberg is teeming with ancient examples of Bushman art, and it is considered one of the best locations in the world to find rock art.

The Sevilla rock art trail is a collection of nine rock art sites about a 30 minute drive from Cederberg Ridge, it will take around 3 hours to complete. In the spring, the rock art trail is often combined with flower-viewing, to see some of the beautiful wild spring flowers in Biedouw Valley, finishing with a picnic lunch in the veld.

One of Cederbergs primary industries is Rooibos tea. In fact, the Cederberg is the only place in the world where rooibos can actually be successfully grown. Cederberg Wilderness Lodge offers an excursion into a local Rooibos farm approximately twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays to get a look into how this limited yet highly demanded tea is made.

Tea tastings are also available, and you can visit the House of Rooibos in the town for a video presentation, tasting sessions and to buy a variety of Rooibos products. The local Clanwilliam Museum also provides information on the history of Rooibos and its industry. This is a heavenly expedition for tea lovers.

The Clanwilliam dam is a huge expanse of water which is perfect for setting out on a boat cruise which the lodge offers between October to March. The mountains provide an exhilarating backdrop as a fiery sky looks down over you during the sunset. The boat is available for private hire at an additional cost.

This is a great way to explore the local environment and to take in everything that the location has to offer. This is perfect for everyone, be it families, couples or group outings, as everyone can appreciate a trip out onto the waters, soaking in the sun and drinking with friends.

The lodge has its own Citrus and Grape farm, which guests can tour to get an idea of the flavour of real South African farming. You can also visit the community project, Lemoenland School, which is a preschool for farmworker’s children. There are two main harvests; grape harvesting is from late December to the end of February and citrus harvesting is from mid April to late September.

Farm tours are often in the morning, to get in the cool air before the day’s heat really takes off. After the tour of the farm, a quick tour is also offered of the Lemoenland School. The school caters for 3 to 6 year old’s, and allows the farmworkers children’s and children from neighbouring farms to get a solid educational start in life. There are approximately 50 children from 3 to 6 years old, all from the lodges farm or neighbouring farms.

Energy waste is a major consideration at the Cederberg Wilderness Lodge. The swimming pool uses solar panels to heat it, ensuring both an eco-friendly and relaxing swim. Furthermore, all suites have wood-burning fireplaces and outdoor showers. As it is situated within the heart of an ancient and integral wilderness, it is a primary concern of the lodge to make sure it is not wasteful or damaging in its energy output, and also to help ensure as much integration with the natural surroundings as possible for both sustainability and tourism interests.