Hi. It’s been a while.
My mum and I made a 3-day-road trip out of my trip down to Cape Town. It’s something neither of us have ever done and have been talking about doing it for a while. Although our December road trip fell to the wayside, we thought this was the perfect trip to make a road trip out of. My mum is my favourite person to travel with and this is the first proper local trip we’ve done together. We laugh, we chat, we sing, we adventure, and we take detours. I am so grateful to be able to do this with my best friend and thought I’d share our trip.
Day 1: Eco Karoo Mountain Lodge
My mum and I started our trip from Joburg on Monday morning. We prepped for our first 6 hour stint. Of course we had to stop for our traditional Wimpy cheeseburger which lead to our first detour through Kroonstad and Welkom. I think this added about 3 hours onto our original time but no complaints for a new adventure. Haha, I’m sure my mum is giggling reading this right now. A short trip through Bloem to Koffiefontein. We ended up on a sand road for 15km before arriving at the most beautiful little lodge and catching a warm sunset. Nestled at the foot of the mountains in the Knoffelfontein area is this 100% off-the-grid lodge. Although our stay was short, it was the best way to end off our first long day of detours. We were welcomed by Alfred who was so lovely and passionate about the property. We had some chicken burritos for dinner with a drink under the stars, had a sleep and onto day 2. Simple bagels and coffees in the morning before we headed off for the next 6 hour trip to Prince Albert.
You can find out more about Eco Karoo Lodge here: https://www.ecokaroo.com/
Day 2: Prince Albert (Mont d’Or at Swartberg Hotel)
After a long day of driving through the Karoo and into the mountains, we arrived at Mont d’Or Swartberg Hotel in Prince Albert. Prince Albert is the most dainty, warm, historic town that I’ve been to. After checking into our room, we took a stroll down the one main road of the town. We went into a vintage shop where we were greeted by Prince Alfred the old Basset Hound (painting below to make you smile). Afternoon G&Ts and a complimentary snack board at the Green Prince Gin Bar. A quick change and refresh and off to dinner in the hotel’s Victorian style dining room. Something I will always remember was opening the menu and reading a bit of history about the naming of the hotel and the paintings on the walls. Their chicken curry was definitely a favourite for me. We had an early night and got ready for our last 4 hour stint before dropping mom at the airport.
You can find out more about Mont d’Or at the Swartberg hotel here: https://www.swartberghotel.co.za/
Day 3: Babylonstoren
Aaaand of course we had to stop at our favourite place, Babylonstoren, before ending off our trip. A quick qlass of Candide Babylonstoren wine and their Wine Makers board to top it all off. We stopped in at their shop where mum bought a ‘Bee Hotel’ and of course we stocked up on some soaps. Oudh was our favourite pick for this stop but other favourites include Waterblommetjie and Blood Orange (you can find a past blog post about our trip to Babylonstoren here: https://apieceofcait.com/2020/10/24/babylonstoren/). We also stopped at the farm shop for some Pear Chutney, which is soooo good with some cheese and crackers.
You can find more info on Babylonstoren and order through their online shop here: https://babylonstoren.com/
Mum flew back to Joburg in the afternoon while I made my way into Cape Town and can’t wait to start planning our next road trip. Leave your road trip place suggestions, playlists, traditions or tips in the comments section- we’d love to hear them.
A Piece Of Cait 