Description

162 miles out of Cape Town lay the Kagga Kamma Nature Reserve in the Cedarberg Mountain. Although from the outside the reserve looks spares (nothing more then rock and brush trying to grow in the desert) Kagga Kamma is a lesson in not judging a book by its cover.
There are two options for sleeping. The first is in large chalets that easily sleep 10 people. They are located a short drive from the main building, and are often visited by Elvis, the lone zebra, who searches for garbage to eat. The other accommodations are the lodge, which is hidden in the rocks making up the landscape. The rooms are made over to resemble Bushmen caves. They are large enough to sleep two people, but make sure the doors are closed other wise a bush baby or a baboon might wonder in.
The complex offers several tours of the 35,000 acres that it covers. One tour took me into the desert to find cave paintings that were made by the San people who inhabited the region for centuries. There are also replicas of houses that they once lived in,
A wildlife safari is also offered. This is the least impressive safari that I’ve ever been on. The area is said to be teaming with leopard, lynx, eland, kudu, gemsbok, cape klipspringer, duiker, zebra, rooi hartebeest, bontebok, caracal, jackal, and baboon. But while on the drive I only saw wildebeest, rheebuck, steenbuck, and several ostriches. We also spent several minutes chasing a mouse in our jeep…it was rather silly. The best part of the safari was by far the rock formations that are found here. Just before sunset our group arrived at a 500-meter-deep cannon with red sandstone cliffs to watch the sun disappear over the horizon.
The last tour I took was a fascinating night safari where the lack of animals drove the tour guide to point out star formations that aren’t viewed in the Northern hemisphere.
If there is one thing that they do well is entertain guests. The guides who work at the reserve only get a day off every few weeks so they are isolated from the outside world, guest give them a chance to socialize and they take every opportunity to. When my bus arrived at the reserve we were greeted with drinks, and the food never stopped flowing. Later that night they built a bonfire and cooked a variety of local food, which included the best steak that I have ever eaten. This gave all of us an opportunity to socialize with staff and get a view of what life was like outside of Cape Town.