When looking for suitable accommodation for our December break, I stumbled upon Vleidam Guest Farm. Close to Piketberg in the Western Cape, this seemed like the ideal place for us to get away from it all and just relax.
Making our booking at Vleidam Guest Farm
Using booking.com and the free cancellation option, I made our reservation in February last year. No prepayment was needed so I was quite surprised to be told that I needed to pay 50% upfront to secure our booking. As I was not going to hand over any money while in lockdown I communicated this to them. Ten weeks before we were due to arrive I made contact to finalise arrangements for payment. Christine emailed me to say I could pay cash which worked out quite well for us.
Meet and greet
We drove into the farm and parked the car outside the furthest of the two cottages. No sooner had we made our way into the cottage than Nikki arrived. She is the mother of the mother-daughter team and was really friendly in showing us around. She let us know what we could do in the area, and around the farm. Wood had been left for us, and the extra payment was given to her, along with our reservation fee. We had been left milk, butter and jam, plus rusks and fresh bread. There was also a bottle of wine for us to enjoy and chocolates, which Dave tucked in to straight away!
Cottages 3 and 4
Given the layout of the cottages it made more sense for us to book two separate ones for our long weekend. John and Dorothy were in cottage 4, which is an open plan studio with a queen sized bed. Due to the kitchen being a part of the sleeping area, it was not used for cooking by us over the weekend. The slope down to the bathroom was not ideal, but the large bath was all that Dorothy needed. Dave and I were in cottage 3 which had a separate kitchen / lounge and a large outdoor dining area. We used this space for all our meals, bringing things over as we needed them from one cottage to the other. We also had lovely day beds to lie on, and JoJo tanks cut in half did the work of the perfect size dipping pool.
What to do and where to shop
There are several walks one can do around the working farm, and we walked through the recently harvested wheat fields. I discovered my fitness tracker has a home feature which is ideal when walking in unfamiliar areas. We took a day trip to Org de Rac to do a wine tasting in memory of our late friend Nico who owned the farm. And on the Sunday we drive to Laaiplek, saw the flamingos and had a lovely walk around the harbour. I would suggest you shop at home but for anything else you need head to the Spar in Piketberg.
Plan your stay
I could easily go back as the farm is remote enough to be out of the noise of our small village. The skies are perfectly dark to stargaze and there is really nothing to do but relax. The only downside is that the units are not equipped for loadshedding. We were provided with one lamp which is not adequate. I lit a candle in the bathroom (plenty are provided) while we were awake. We used the braai at suppertime, but we needed the stove and oven for breakfast. And coffee had to wait until the power came back on. It would have been nice to have been given the schedule for when the power was off. Book with them directly for great rates, or use this link to book your accommodation and get 10% back after your stay.
View the previous posts on January 31:
- 2022: Drunken Cherries
- 2021: The Coast-to-Coast Murders
- 2020: Pickled Mushrooms
- 2018: Rojaal
- 2013: Mixed Berry Jam With Ginger And Lime
- 2012: Turnip And Spinach Soup
- 2011: Sofia’s at Morgenster
Beautiful. although I don’t know if I’d ever need to leave Gordon’s bay if I lived there!!!
It is always good to have a break every now and then 🙂
No prepayment but you had to pay 50%? That is just weird. Reminds me of our friends who flew to france for a holiday and drove to their gite, only to find their accommodation was not available as they hadn’t paid the deposit! But they had not been asked to pay so they had to drive around in the night to find a place to stay. Eek!
I think I would have been a bit upset that happened to us. But at least a lot of France is very geared towards tourists so there is usually somewhere to stay.
Hi Tandy, this sounds lovely and peaceful. I’m not sure about the lack of back up for load shedding though. Currently we are on 6 to 8 hours a day.
I think if they installed a gas stove and solar geysers it would make a huge difference!