Du Toit’s Kloof Lodge: Good Cop Review

There is a lovely lodge just after the Huguenot tunnel on the N1, that I have always seen , but never stayed at until this weekend. With the advent of the tunnel it brings it too close to Cape Town, to be an overnight stop before heading North and I thought this may be the cause of it being so deserted of an evening…..but then we found out.

We went with friends, one of which has a penchant for giving bad news, so this will be a good cop / bad cop review. I will concentrate on the good stuff and then hand you over to Negeva to give you the not-so-nice. Should be ready tomorrow, seeping with blood and guts.

Good Cop:
Nestled between the glorious Du Toit’s Kloof mountains, a few kilometres after the Huguenot Tunnel, you will find the Du Toit’s Kloof Resort on the left hand side. It’s quite an unusual spot and could be readily diagnosed with split personality disorder.

Firstly there is the architecture, which is a combination of the Shining meets the Brady bunch. A style I quite enjoy. Then there are the trout ponds, very civilised and English with wide rolling lawns and 6 or 7 landscaped ponds from which to try your luck. Lastly the “Piscator” (aka The Piss Cat) is overrun with leather clad bikers on a weekend, which round out the eclectic and disjointed ambiance.

We gave the trout fishing a shot. I have no experience with fly tackle, so we just used regular bait and between Talulah and I we beached 4 fat Rainbow trout in roughly 30 minutes. We cooked them that night on the Braai-B-Q superb. Fishing is free for guests with own gear or R20/rod, Plus R50/kg of trout. They gut and clean it for you, which is nice. Fishing costs R50 for non-guests.

The lawns are dotted with Braai places (BBQ’s) that overlook the river and the whole scene is straight out of Heidi. The river itself is fresh and perfect for swimming and we even spotted an otter (at night). During the day, do keep an eye out for baboons as they can be a menace, taking bags or faces, whichever is closer to hand.

The accommodation is fine although the rooms inside the hotel (we were in a chalet) seem damn spooky if you ask me, and the chanting of redruM redruM would not be amiss. The Tv’s in the room managed only the sports channel, but the AC worked.

Ok that’s all the good stuff, I will let Negeva get on with the slaughter after this disclaimer:

It’s a lovely place, but with no visible staff presence, unless Jack Nicholson, got there before us. The rates are quite reasonable at R450 for a double room including “breakfast” ($60),( Now that I have done the conversion, I am not so sure they are reasonable :), but I would recommend, definitely self catering to avoid disappointment or starvation.

All said and done we had a great time, probably due to my magnificent trout.