Bloukrans Off-Grid Cabin

Bloukrans Cabin was the Gie family's own holiday house, the building that started Ouberg Private Nature Reserve before they bought the portion carrying the old farmhouse. It stands alone in the mountains of the reserve, 20 km from Montagu, and is let to one party at a time.

The cabin sleeps four: a bedroom with two single beds that push together or stay apart, and a single bed and day bed in the open-plan lounge, which opens onto the deck. The kitchenette has a sink, a two-plate gas stove and a solar-powered fridge-freezer, and the bathroom has a hot shower, basin and flush toilet. Outside there is a Weber and a barrel braai on the deck, a hammock, and a hot outdoor shower looking into an amphitheatre of mountains. A swimming dam is a ten minute walk away, with its own small braai and seating.

It is genuinely off the grid. A small solar panel runs the lights and an inverter big enough for phones and cameras; cooking is gas or coals. There is no cell signal and no wifi at the cabin, though there is signal down at the dam. Dogs are welcome by arrangement, which the tented camp cannot offer.

Guests have the run of the same 1,000 hectare reserve: three biomes meeting in one place, over 100 recorded bird species, old farm roads for walking and gravel riding, and Karoo skies with almost no light pollution. Access is on a gravel farm track, so bring a raised vehicle such as an SUV or bakkie. Minimum stay is two nights.