Situated in one of the most biodiverse biomes on the planet, Grootbos Private Nature Reserve celebrates its Cape Floral Kingdom heritage. Home to over 1 000 species of fynbos, Grootbos has been custodian here for 25 years.

Seeds, both literal and metaphorical, planted in the late 1990s, have grown stronger and flourished more beautifully after devastating fires that required the rebuilding of Forest Lodge in 2006 and despite already offering top-notch facilities and accommodation, there are plans to improve further.

Garden Lodge, the original accommodation, has recently been rebuilt with all suites upgraded, and one of the standout features is the floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows in the main lodge. Looking at what is already here, it is hard to imagine there is room for any improvement. Yet improvements there will be – something Farmer’s Weekly experienced most remarkably in the cuisine.

Culinary journey through the Fynbos

A decade ago, the food was remembered as fabulous. Now it has been elevated not only in quality and presentation but also in innovation. Dining here is reason alone to stay, as Grootbos’ restaurants are not available to day visitors.

Presenting hyper-local ingredients and foraging for foodstuffs is no longer the rare activity it once was, thanks in part to Michelin-starred restaurants like Noma (Copenhagen, Denmark) by Chef René Redzepi and elsewhere, our own Wolfgat in Paternoster. Even Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen’s superb restaurant at Tswalu in the Kalahari, Klein Jan, showcases their version of hyper-local cuisine.

The Botanical Menu, under the guidance of head chef Benjamin Conradie, is a magnificently considered seven-course meal. The first three courses are served canapés-style before arriving at the restaurant; in this case, in the cellar at Forest Lodge.

Dishes feature sea pumpkin, dune spinach, kelp, and other seafood items from their coast at De Kelders, adjacent to Gansbaai, alongside dishes with Cape Mountain Sage, Wood Sorrel, Wild Rosemary and Mint Pelargonium as featured botanicals.

What makes this experience special is that the chef presents each course and, if you are still hungry, she offers seconds. The standout dish, by far, hence the requested seconds, was a riff on tamarind-spiked lamb meat (denningvleis) served in crispy dumplings with saffron-coloured purée. An additional wine pairing is available, too.

Do not, however, let this special menu dissuade you from also eating à la carte.

Every single meal, including breakfast, was outstanding. Each day, a different fresh fruit is showcased, and this theme is multiplied across dishes such as a Mimosa (fruit juice and sparkling wine) of the day with that fruit’s juice, a fruit-flavoured macaron, a purée or chutney, and fruit-spiked muffin. If your stay is short, one dish not to miss is their version of a traditional braai.

All meals and non-alcoholic beverages are included in the stay, along with many activities such as a botanical 4×4, horse riding, a visit to the historic Klipgat Cave in the Walker Bay Nature Reserve, and forest bathing – an activity that promotes immersive wellbeing, led by psychologist and author of the book Nature Connection, Grant Hine.

The Grootbos Farm provides a closed-loop system for supplying seasonal fruits, vegetables, and eggs to Grootbos’ lodges, as well as propagating and selling the special Mono-floral honey made by bees in hives installed in the endemic Erica Irregularis flowers and fynbos plants from its nursery. Food waste is served to the farm’s pigs.

Conservation through community

Farmer’s Weekly’s visit was much improved by guide Shiluva Khosa, who cut her guiding teeth on the Kruger National Park’s Big 5, and here has expanded her knowledge to the fynbos biome and, specifically, the 1 024 plants found on the reserve that are endemic to the Cape Floral Kingdom.

Grootbos Private Nature Reserve and the Grootbos Foundation are separate but interconnected entities. Phil Murray told Farmer’s Weekly that the foundation has a slate of environmental and community-based programmes that it drives — from providing after-school care for nearby communities in need, to schooling people in hospitality, landscaping, guiding and other skills.

Currently, the foundation has 2 956 beneficiaries, which include 890 girls participating in their sports programmes and 140 Early Childhood Development participants.

Art meets science

A recent and very impressive addition is the Hannarie Wenhold Botanical Art Gallery, which is a beautifully designed building to house the original botanical artworks for The Grootbos Florilegium.  In the gallery, plant species are meaningfully grouped, and even a casual walk-through offers the opportunity to learn about how and why the fynbos system functions.

The Grootbos Florilegium is a unique collection of botanical illustrations by a collaboration of local and international artists. What makes the artworks even more interesting is the inclusion of insects, pollinators and other creatures associated with the respective plants.

“The collection pays homage to the environment’s greater ecology, as art becomes an expression of the deep commitment to research and conservation that Grootbos has,” according to the Grootbos website.

All profits from the sale of Florilegium prints, books and tours go towards the Grootbos Foundation to be split equally between their conservation and cultural programmes.

Fire management

Reserve manager, Mike Fabricius, told Farmer’s Weekly that they follow a patch-mosaic fire management plan so that within the reserve, there are pockets of recently burnt and varying degrees of veld ages, including areas last burnt more than a decade ago.

He explained that the patch-mosaic facilitates a greater diversity of species between the differently aged blocks, as different organisms thrive in different veld conditions. Cape Grysbok, Caracal, mice, and ants may favour freshly burnt veld, whereas sugarbirds, leopards, genets, bushbuck, and certain butterflies may favour more mature veld.

A healthy ecosystem is one occupied by a diversity of habitats and inhabitants. He also explains the idea of using fire to fight fire through controlled burning in safe conditions, and using these areas as anchor points to safeguard livelihoods in the event of a wildfire.

Fabricius has set up camera traps throughout the reserve with the help of his sheepdog, ‘Monkey’, who accurately follows the scent of the secretive Leopard of the Cape and other species, so the camera traps can be set at the best possible location to capture these images.

Accommodation at two lodges

Garden Lodge is perfect for solo travellers and couples, and is better suited to guests travelling with children under 12, as the lodge is better prepared, although not exclusive to families. Garden Lodge offers large family suites, catering for all ages and a dedicated Explorers programme for children.

Forest Lodge welcomes guests with children over the age of 12, who are welcome to join the Explorers’ programme at Garden Lodge.

All suites are very large and provide two sections connected by a lobby kitchen, with a bedroom, dressing room and palatial bathroom with picture-window lookout on one side. The outside deck can be accessed via fully opening doors in both the bedroom and the sitting room.

Homely winter hospitality includes the fireplace set ablaze each night during turn-down and hot-water bottles tucked under the covers. The sitting room also has a second toilet and shower. The sitting room couch converts into a bed to accommodate another guest.

While there is a swimming pool at each main lodge and a gym and sauna in the spas, rooms have an outside shower from which to take in the expansive sea and mountain views.

Grootbos Nature Reserve manages 4,571ha, up from its initial 123ha when it first opened. But 23,413ha is under collaborative conservation management through the Walker Bay Fynbos Conservancy, 50 landowners partnering to collectively connect and conserve the local landscape in a unified approach.

Grootbos Private Nature Reserve was recognised in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards as one of the Top 20 resorts in South Africa.

For more information visit grootbos.com/en