DIY Adult Summer Camp

As I scrolled through social media, instead of getting to the pile of dishes in my sink, a tweet a friend reposted caught my eye. It proposed an American style summer camp for adults, where you read, reminisce, and eat smores.

The first thing I thought was, “but we do that already, don’t we?” I scrolled down and looked at pictures of my cousin’s birthday party.

I scrolled back up. Ok, we rarely read the same book but everything else can be ticked off the list.

I start harassing my friends and family months in advance to come camping with me.

Adult friendships are tricky because the parents can only go during school holidays, the runners have races booked, the gamers have launch dates to observe, and there is always one dude who needs to borrow a tent from his brother who lives two hours away.

Breakfast banana bread with Nutella and fried bananas.

We always eat too big a breakfast and then everyone chills in their tent or cabin with a good book.

After a few hours the French toast wears off and we all come sit by the fire to drink good red wine and discuss what we were reading.

By the end of the night, we substitute Marie or Tennis biscuits for graham crackers and eat smores until the fire burns out.

Most of my friends enjoy reading fantasy books so to make my trip fit the tweet all I would need to do is ask my friend who loves reading but hates camping to suggest a new book for the rest of us to get into.

So instead of telling you how to run your adult summer camp, allow me to suggest where you should host it.

Let’s start off rugged, move on to rustic, and end up in a hot tub.

1. Piece of Heaven Campsite

If your friends own tents, I recommend getting the gang together for a few nights at Piece of Heaven Campsite.

This beautiful Porterville campsite sits on the Berg River so nothing stops your book club from reading while fishing, reading while lying on an inflatable unicorn, or reading while watching the sunset turn pink.

You have the campsite and ablutions to yourself and the owner is extremely helpful.

I would be remiss if I did not warn you though that some rowers might glide by early in the morning, waking up every hadeda in South Africa.

Just be open to being woken up by what feels like hundreds of trees screaming at you.

If you are interested use the following information to book your spot.

Email: krielwilmarie@gmail.com

Phone: 084 513 3543

2. Protea Farm Campsite

Do some of your friends like cabins with four walls while others prefer theirs with three? Well, have I got a spot for you weirdos!

Protea Farm has a variety of cottages to choose from, but my personal favourite is Populierbos. This campsite has a small cottage built over a river, an open-sided cottage, and your own forest perfect for pitching a few tents.

Here you can read in the open-air bath, or by your personal waterfall, or with your feet in the little river.

Your book club could discuss how dreamy Mr Darcy is by the fire pit or debate The Silmarillion before the series drops later this year.

Nothing says you can’t go with only your partner and read a Bridgerton instead 😉

Now I know you are already sold, but let me say one more line. All you can eat potjiekos!

The farm does a buffet every Saturday where you can sit under towering trees and eat as much award-winning potjiekos as you like.

Here is their website if you are interested: Protea Farm

3. AfriCamps at Kam’Bati

Are your friends fabulous? Do you prefer glamping and Gin o’clock over a dusty tent?

Then grab your books and head on over to AfriCamps at Kam’Bati in Swellendam.

Here your marshmallows can be roasted outside or inside and your hot tub is already warm by the time you arrive.

The 13 permanent tents have enough space for five people, come with everything you could possibly need, and look really cute on Insta. They even have a little book exchange if you forgot yours at home.

Here is the website if you are interested: AfriCamps at Kam’Bati.

So if you saw the tweet and liked the look of it, why not grab some friends and make it a reality.

Details:

Photos are taken by Roland Teichert, please link this blog if you use any.

The photo of the smore is from Pixabay as I usually eat them too fast to take a photo.

If you want to replicate Space Camp here in SA, might I recommend: Sutherland.

Algeria Cederberg Campsite

Who knew South Africa had its own mini Yosemite. Sure there are less coyotes blocking your way to the bathroom in the middle of the night but looking up at the mountains surrounding the Algeria campsite left me with an uncanny feeling of déjà vu.

Instead of Half Dome or El Capitan you get to set up camp under the towering Cederberg mountains lit up with African sunset hues.

The campsite is pristine (just remember to pack your own toilet paper). I don’t think I have ever had a more perfect camping spot if I am honest. On one side a little river babbled over smooth stones and on the other birds bounced around on the rocks jutting out at all angles.

Ask for 46 if you want to copy us

Sure there are no giant sequoias but the fresh breeze blowing through the eucalyptus trees seems to dust all the city out of your soul.

You will see hikers setting off with backpacks full of snacks and rock climbers getting ready to strap themselves to some boulders. However, as one of our camping companions had a broken toe, we settled on some wine tasting and food eating instead.

When Roland and I visited Yosemite a few years back we were caught off guard by how big an American large pizza can be and ended up storing half of it away in the bear-proof-box outside our tent. At Kromrivier Cederberg Park restaurant we were once again surprised by the quantity and quality of the cheese platter we ordered. The food was so good that even if the campsite did have something like a leopard-proof-box, all we could have put in it was crumbs.

I still sometimes stop what I am doing and think back longingly to those little sausages.

For breakfast we toasted banana bread and topped it with nutella, fried bananas, whipped cream and nuts.

The night sky is equally free from light pollution although here southern stars peek out over the mountains and you have to wait for all the braai fires to die down to really see them shine.

So if you do not quite have the cash to fly over to America right now, I recommend camping at Yosemite’s little South African sister site.

Hiking up to the waterfall
Not Yosemite falls, but lovely none the less

Details:

We stayed at Algeria Campsite

Photos – All photos are taken by Roland Teichert (if you use any please link this blog post).

Goudini Spa

“I think I might be old enough to get away with wearing a shower cap in the pool now,” I thought to myself as a teenager soaked my blow-dried hair that I had neatly tied in a bun on top of my head.

Luckily before I had time to start lamenting the loss of my hairstyle a girl next to me started talking about how her cousin was a courtesan in the middle east and I obviously had to get in on that eavesdropping action.

Roland and I soaked in the hot spring pools at Goudini so long that we were almost too faint to make it back to our tent.

For someone who claims to love hot springs, I sure took a long time to visit the one that is only an hour away from Stellenbosch. Thankfully Roland rectified this situation by overpacking the car and driving me to Goudini Spa.

There are a lot of accommodation options at the resort ranging from the very fancy Slanghoek villas, where you have a private pool, to a lovely campsite where you share the pool with courtesans’ cousins. In between are rondavels, houses, and flats to suit every budget.

More campsite because I was too poor to take photos of the Slanghoek villas.

Remember this if you want electricity.

These springboks hung out near the campsite.

Nothing feels better than a soak in steaming water after a chilly night in a tent, except maybe stuffing yourself with homemade egg mcmuffins after all that floating about.

If you can tear yourself away from all that warm water I also recommend swinging by Jason’s Hill wine estate. As a basic white girl, I loved their Chenin Blanc and their Cabernet Sauvignon is so good I took a bottle back to the tent.

I wish I could be more helpful, but I liked ALL their wines.

The resort is very well run and kept nice and clean. We had great neighbours, although one Oom did keep talking about his foot ailments so loudly that I had trouble reading my book. There is a shop, a restaurant, and a nice easy hiking trail but honestly who cares because there are indoor and outdoor hot springs to swim in.

They also have scruffy kittens running around.

All in all, I give it two very pruney thumbs up!

Details:

Photos – Roland Teichert (If you do use any please link this blog).

Champagne by the river

The sweet scent of apple blossoms rushed into the tent as Roland slipped out to brew us some coffee. I lay there for a few more minutes, listening to the excited little birds starting their day. I was feeling like a Disney princess before all the kidnapping and eating of dodgy fruit, but alas the spell was quickly broken by Roland shouting about where the muffins were hidden.

Champagne by the river is a small campsite situated on a fruit farm just outside of Greyton. Behind your tent is an apple orchard that, if you go in October, will be showing off thousands of dusty pink petals. In front of you is a river, perfect for swimming, fishing, or in my case watching the water as I shovel muffins into my mouth.

Home made cheese
Pancakes

On a Saturday you can pop over to the morning market in Greyton to get your hands on some pastries, homemade cheese, and some of the freshest ginger beer I had ever tasted. Not that I need a reason to load up on lemon curd filled pancakes, but all the stalls donate 10% of their profit to a worthy cause each week.

The campsite comes with a great big fire pit and a bag of wood will be waiting for you if you arrange with the owner beforehand. As braai-time moved slowly to bed-time Roland took advantage of the lack of light pollution to take some photos of the stars while my fantasy book and I curled up under the covers.

Since I have never met a hot-spring I did not love, Roland and I stopped at Caledon Spa on the way back to Stellenbosch. As it was early and overcast we had the place pretty much to ourselves. If you ever want to feel like an emperor, hit up the Caledon Spa early enough to have your own personal roman bath.

Nothing beats some relaxing after a weekend of … relaxing.

Champagne by the river works equally well as a romantic weekend getaway or as a family trip filled with floating down the river and chatting around the braai. Either way just make sure you get a lemon curd pancake before you leave.

Details:

Where: Champagne by the river, Greyton, South Africa.

What to do: Visit the Saturday morning market from 10:00 until 12:00.

Soak in some hot water at Caledon Spa.

Swimming, fishing, and braaing.

Photo credit: Pancake and cheese photo: South East from Cape Town blog

All other photos: Roland Teichert (please link this blog if you use any of the photos).