Lekkerwater Beach Lodge A beach safari 4 hours from Cape Town

Lekkerwater Beach Lodge is situated in De Hoop Nature Reserve and Marine Protected Area — a mouthful. Only three and a half hours from Cape Town, the name also doesn’t roll off the tongue. Unless you’re a local Afrikaans speaker, you may appreciate this slightly tongue-in-cheek phonetic pronunciation: /leh-kr–vah–tr (dont forget to roll your Rs like a machine gun). And be grateful its not called Sea Anemone Lodge – a word not even Nemo can pronounce.

Lekkerwater, which means ‘good water’, was given its name by Bill Green, the first person to build a home on the site. A keen fisherman, Bill named it Lekkerwater not because the water was good and clean and fresh, but rather because the fishing was so good. Today the lodge overlooks the massive Marine Protected Area, which stretches 5 km out to sea and 46 km along the coast.

The history of Lekkerwater then takes a weird turn that wouldn’t be out of place in a Bond movie. The government of the day expropriated poor Bill’s land and home to establish a missile testing base in this remote part of Africa. (It’s next door to Cape Agulhas, the southern most tip of the continent). When the facility closed (thankfully), the site became a retreat for government ministers and their families and was even used by President F.W. de Klerk as his South African ‘Camp David’. Not surprising: it’s the ideal place for reflection and peaceful contemplation. So much so, as the story goes, that it was at Lekkerwater that President de Klerk decided he would release Nelson Mandela from prison and, in so doing, rewrite the history of South Africa.

But enough history lessons. We were more interested in the fynbos-infused Gin and Tonics served each day on the beach… and the whales, of course.

De Hoop is famous for its Southern Right whales — quite simply, the best place in South Africa to see them. These 40-ton mammals migrate here from the Antarctic /ant–ahrk–tik, arriving in large numbers to breed and calve in the surrounding waters. The calves (and some of the guests) come here to fatten up and learn some survival skills. Our guide Billy — a large ex-rugby player with a passion for all things whale and fynbos — explained that a layer of fat alone won’t get them through an Antarctic winter. Here they learn to breach: the skilful art of breaking through surface ice. Also, believe it or not, they learn how to sail. The tail of a whale is 6 metres wide, and when it is extended out of the water in the right direction, the wind can blow these creatures great distances. Billy’s theory is that these guys hitch a lift on the winds of the cold fronts that blow up from the south all the way to the Cape. Either way, watching them practise makes for endless afternoon viewing.

From the top of a hill overlooking the whales, Billy explained that our drive over the pass via Franschhoek had followed the same path as the elephants that once migrated along this coast, leaving the winter rainfall of the Western Cape in search of the summer rainfall of the Eastern Cape. What a striking sight that must have been: the biggest land mammal looking down on one of the largest sea mammals. It’s a sad realisation that the elephants who carved out all of our mountain passes no longer walk this way.

Billy leads a marine walk each morning — which we immediately renamed the “beach safari” — and a fynbos walk in the afternoon, which should more accurately be known as the “G&T foraging experience”.

On the beach safari, we got to feel what it’s like to have an abalone squirming in your hand, saw their mother-of-pearl shells, tried to coax an octopus from his hiding place, photographed spiny sea stars and watched plough snails hunt on the beach. The rock pools were scattered with periwinkles, mussels and oysters and, of course, tons of sea anemone /uh–nem–uh-nee. To top it all off, playing in the waves was a large pod of dolphins. We’ve never experienced a beach with such abundant wildlife, and we felt like kids again, learning things for the first time and in awe of the natural beauty we were surrounded by.

We can’t imagine why fynbos isn’t a subject taught at school. Billy gave a stat which we can’t remember clearly (G&Ts), but it’s something along the lines of the Netherlands earning more from the commercial and medicinal benefits of fynbos than South Africa makes from all our gold. We’re certain this was a gross exaggeration, but he made his point. Why do we ignore this precious resource?

September is a special time of year for this region. It’s the flowering season for so many of the indigenous plants, and together with the abundance of whales, you couldn’t paint a prettier picture. We hung on Billy’s every word (dubious stats aside) and by the end of the walk had declared ourselves fynbos experts — only to be reminded that this was one of four distinct flowering seasons. Which can only mean we’ll have to go back three more times this year?

Not to harp on the G&Ts… but what interested us most were the plants they used to infuse our drinks, all growing naturally around the lodge: wild sage, wild rosemary, citrus-flavoured buchu and our number one favourite, rose-scented pelargonium or geranium. We weren’t aware that geraniums come from the Cape — were you? These plants have been exported to flower boxes all over the world, from Italy to California.

The chef prepares home-cooked meals, including freshly baked bread for breakfast, lunch and supper. It’s difficult to pop to the shops as the nearest is half a day away, so everything is made from scratch. The highlight was the lekker braai (barbecue), served in potjie pots and cast-iron pans. Surprisingly, no fresh fish — you can’t cast a line in a Marine Protected Area. What would Bill say, not so lekker now?

Lekkerwater is part of the Natural Selection, who are all about experience: thrills versus frills. So, city-slicker, you won’t find a telephone, a TV or air-con in your room. Nor do they waste electricity on minibars and hairdryers – to be honest, that stuff is not important when there is a view from your bed of whales and sunsets and endless seas. We slept with the patio door open, enjoying the sea breeze, and woke to the sound of crashing waves with the sun as our alarm clock. Oh yes and the entire reserve and marine park all to ourselves.

The lodge is off the grid: 99 solar panels, with gas generators for when the sun doesn’t shine. The water, it turns out, is very lekker indeed — drawn from a borehole 150 metres deep and so fresh you can drink it from the tap.

Protecting the environment clearly matters here: the lodge had to be built on the footprint of the original home, which means just six rooms and one family unit. It’s simply and tastefully decorated — lots of natural wood and cool ocean blues.

The team that hosted us are all safari professionals who have worked all over Africa. We first met managers Liana and Jan at Tubu Tree Lodge in the Okavango Delta, so it was like seeing old friends again. They make you feel right at home, kicking off with the ‘welcome home’ greeting you receive as you arrive. The ‘home’ reference, it turns out, stems from the idea that this was the cradle of humankind — and that, like the geraniums, all Homo sapiens originated here too.

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