Wolvekraal Guest Farm

Budget Getaways Review

The Nel family are your typical salt-of-the-earth Karoo sheep farmers. And a stay on their 4000ha spread is your typical Great Karoo experience.

Lying just 8km north of Prince Albert, Wolvekraal Farm is a rugged picture of wide open vistas, framed by big African skies and the jagged Swartberg Mountains. A place where Nature rewards in small subtle ways.

A pretty basic structure, the farm's facebrick cottage is privately appointed and fitted with all those essential comforts required by the urban dweller to survive a night or three in this harsh, yet beautiful setting.

Open-plan and simply styled with cement screed floors and exposed beam and reed ceilings, it's tailored for couples or a family with two kids - with a double bed and two extra single beds in the lounge area. The latter comes with an antique fireplace - which you will be cranking up in the cutting winter months.

Through the front door and you're in the small kitchen and dining area. Pots, pans and cutlery, fridge and gas hob come standard.

The bathroom features shower and loo.

Step outside to your own lapa with braai area and enough firewood to keep you going for months. Not altogether a bad spot to flip a Karoo lamb chop under a star-heavy sky. 

With no DSTV or wi-fi to suck you back into the cyber void, keeping busy at Wolvekraal involves physical activity. Things like exploring the farm’s walking trails, mountain biking the surrounding farm roads, or, a little easier, taking a drive into the hills for evening sundowners. Prince Albert and its varied attractions is also a mere 8km up the dirt drag.

A recent comment in the Wolvekraal guestbook sums it up thus: “The tranquility and setting of Karoo farm hospitality is priceless.”