Antbear Lodge offers an eco-stay with a difference in the Drakensberg

Antbear Lodge accommodation Drakensburg KwaZulu-Natal

Antbear Lodge, Drakensberg, KwaZulu Natal

If you love traveling and are always looking for a new experience then Antbear Lodge near Giants Castle, in the Drakensberg, should be on your list of places to stay. They have accommodation with a difference – a cave!

Not any cave, but a cave that is cozy and comfortable. There is a Jacuzzi spa bath, a lounge with fire place and there is even has rock art on the walls. The wonderfully designed glass doors open onto a veranda with its hammock chairs. Unfortunately, there is only one cave, but there are also a variety of other very comfortable suites.

This award-winning lodge has been rated by TripAdvisor as The Best B&B in the Drakensberg and Trivago rates Antbear Lodge as Number 1 in the Drakensberg.

Owners, Andrew and Conny, say, “Antbear Lodge is one of those smaller, owner run establishments. Sustainability and responsible tourism are a huge part of the ethos of our lodge. We try to do just about everything ourselves. It starts with our alternative structures and ends with the cheese on your breakfast table.”

Accommodation at Antbear Lodge

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On a par with the Luxury Cave, are the six Mountain View suites. As the name suggests, the veranda and windows of these suites face the Drakensberg Mountains.  They offer the most spacious accommodation at Antbear Lodge and include a large lounge, a big bedroom with a king size bed and en suite bathroom.

The bathroom includes a Jacuzzi spa bath and a separate shower. The verandas are a great place to relax and enjoy the view.  All suites also include a wood burning fireplace.

The five Garden Suites have a spacious bedroom with a queen size bed as well as a lounge area and en-suite bathroom. Some of the units have a Jacuzzi spa baths but all have showers. Inside, the rooms include a wood-burning fireplace. Each unit features an individual covered patio that looks out onto a private garden.

Features and facilities at Antbear Lodge

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All accommodation at Antbear Lodge is on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis.  Food is a very big part of the stay at Antbear Lodge.

Both Andrew and Conny love cooking.  They serve a wide variety of dishes from Indian to German to Italian and all with a local mix of flavour.

Andrew says, “Meals are part of the real surprises that the Antbear Lodge has to offer where home grown cooking is part of the deal. We like to use our own home grown organic vegetables and if we haven’t got, then we lean heavily on those local providers with similar attitudes to our own.”

Conny adds, “Breakfast is served with our own home-made yoghurt and fresh fruit salad, freshly baked bread, scones or muffins as well as our own free range eggs, served with venison sausage or bacon.”

Antbear Lodge also offers a private dining experience where they prepare a table on the deck of your cave or suite and you dine by candlelight under the stars.

There is a lot that is unique about this lodge but none more so than the furnishings.  Andrew has made every single piece of furniture, window frame and door himself. His carpentry results in works of art that are seriously big and bold. The woodwork alone makes this lodge a destination in its own right.

Activities

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The Drakensberg is well-known for its hiking, horse riding, mountain biking and host of other activities

Antbear Lodge has their own well trained horses. The horse trails at the lodge are ideally suited to beginners. Antbear Lodge uses horse whispering techniques to train their horses. 

There is no better way to enjoy the magnificent scenery of the Drakensberg than from the air.  Take a trip with Andrew in his microlight and see the Drakensberg like never before.

Antbear Lodge also arranges hot air balloon flights that take off in front of the lodge. There are also 4 x 4 trails, quad biking, swimming, battlefield tours, bushman rock art, white water rafting, golfing, canopy tours, game viewing, bird watching, helicopter flips and fly fishing.

At the end of the day there is no better place to be than relaxing on the veranda or next to a fire.

Top reasons for staying at Antbear Lodge

  1. Accommodation with a difference – a cave!
  2. Incredible furnishings and very comfortable accommodation.
  3. Fantastic food
  4. Eco-friendly

For more information call 076 441 2362 or email reservations@antbear.co.za.  To watch their video, click here. To find them on Google Maps, click here.  To make a booking online, click here.

For great savings on life’s little pleasures visit Bargain Buys!  Know somebody who is getting married, Wedding and Function can assist.  Have kids, then you need to visit Kids Connection.

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About us

Actually, Home Food and Travel offers a lot more than just reviews of accommodation, restaurants, spas and adventure activities.  We also visit great destinations, receive advice from interior designers and stop to smell the roses and taste the coffee.

Our team of journalists are seasoned travels and love visiting the myriad of exciting places around South Africa.  Whether it is off the beaten track or in the heart of the top attractions of the country, we’ll be there,

Home Food and Travel advice on finding the right accommodation

So what is the right accommodation?  Well more often than not, it’s your travel budget that dictates the type of accommodation that you choose. 

Expensive is not always better.  Our team at Home Food and Travel will tell you that they have camped in areas with limited ablutions and had a wonderful holiday.  They have also spent a night in a five star hotel only to be disappointed because their expectations exceeded the experience.

The reason for your travels will also affect your choice.  A business trip requires different amenities to a beach holiday. 

Our articles, reviews and experiences can certainly help you make your decision.

Restaurants with a good mix of service, food and ambiance

To my mind a great restaurant offers three things – excellent service, great food and a wonderful ambiance.  Of these, service is the most important. 

No matter that the food is delicious and the setting delightful, poor service can ruin the occasion.  However, great service combined with mediocre meal and a plane jane restaurant can still be a pleasant night out.

We’ve eaten in restaurants that are really dirty but with incredible food and couldn’t help but give a rave review.  We’ve also hardly noticed what we ate because the setting was just amazing.

However, the best restaurants come with the best of service, food and ambiance.

Spas are the ultimate relaxation aid

How do you know when you have had a great spa experience?  The answer, of course, is when you doze off on the treatment table. 

Well that’s our theory anyway.  It also doesn’t take a grand location with enormous facilities for a spa to be really good

A small, personal spa that is owner run can result in the best massage you have ever experienced.  However, the grand spas in five star hotels offer unsurpassed facilities in an environment that just makes the stress in your shoulders and neck melt away before you even finish checking in.

Adventure!

You don’t have to be an adrenaline junky to enjoy an exciting experience.  In fact, what are commonly termed adventure activities usually have incredibly high safety standards and unblemished safety records.

Ziplining, bungy jumping and shark cage diving are all very safe.  It’s just that our mind tells us we are craaazzzzyyyy to be doing this.

On the road to great places of accommodation, restaurants, spas and adventure activities

If you’re driving, be safe and make use of all the wonderful farm stalls that populate South Africa’s open roads.

If you overhear somebody asking a lot of questions or see someone taking photos of empty bedrooms chances are it’s one of our Home Food and Travel team members.

We’re out looking or those great places of accommodation, restaurants, spas and adventure activities.

See you on the road!

 

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