Photo: Supplied
Less than two hours from Johannesburg, guests will find Burkei Guest Cottages, located in the far eastern part of Gauteng. It is 35km from Bronkhorstspruit.
Joe de Wet, manager at the property, tells Farmer’s Weekly that people from a trust fund purchased it in 2010. Development on the 130ha farm with the Wilge River as its southern boundary only started in 2014.
Cottages 1 and 2 were established in 2014, along with the residence, and cottages 3, 4 and 5 in 2016. Cottage 6 followed in 2022.
“COVID-19 put us on the map,” says De Wet. After government lifted some restrictions and allowed travel within provincial borders, people from all over Gauteng discovered Burkei Guest Cottages in 2020. Today, a significant percentage of visitors are returning guests, many of whom are guest house owners themselves taking a break during the low season.
Burkei Guest Cottages provide a peaceful environment embedded in nature, where guests can escape the daily stresses of life, recharge, and sleep in if they want, as farm life only starts at 9am.
Family accomodation
All the self-catering cottages are equipped with the items and essentials you will find at home. “It is like home away from home,” says De Wet.
Each of the six cottages has a private swimming pool, braai area, and a patio with a garden. A dishwasher and washing machine are standard in all cottages, and guests will also find some unexpected items not often available at other places of accommodation, for example ironing boards, irons, and clothes drying racks.
These cottages are not only ideal for a weekend break, but suitably equipped for a longer stay. Burkei Guests Cottages have a minimum reservation policy of two nights. However, they also understand that emergencies sometimes happen, and will provide accommodation for one night at increased rates.
Wi-fi is available in all cottages, and so are DStv packages. Cottages 1 to 5 have access to the guest package of DStv, and cottage 6 provides the full package.
De Wet says they experience very few power outages, but are prepared with a backup generator that provides electricity to the whole farm if needed.
Cottages 1 to 5 cater for four people each, and cottage 6 for eight guests. Cottages 1 and 2 have larger lounges and kitchens than cottages 3, 4, and 5. Cottages 1, 2, and 6 are fenced off and are ideal for booking if you want to bring Bruno with you on holiday, but De Wet says pets are welcome at the other cottages too if they behave.
“Cottages 3 to 5 have outside showers because we built them in summer,” De Wet quips.
Activities for guests
Twitchers will love their stay at Burkei Guest Cottages. De Wet and his guests have identified 365 bird species that call the area home. Remember to bring your bird books, lists, and binoculars. De Wet often spots black-chested snake eagles and blue cranes around the farm.
Guests are able to hike on trails of 25km on the farm, ranging from easy to difficult. You can bring your bicycle with and cycle on all the farm roads.
Guests can also fish, catch-and-release only, in the river, and will hook carp, barbel, and yellowfish.
A picnic spot at the top of the hill on the northern boundary overlooks the farm, the Wilge River, and the Trichardtspoort Mountains to the south. This spot also makes for the ideal place to have sundowners.
No hunting takes place, and the farm is a haven for free-roaming wildlife. Staff and guests have spotted kudu, gemsbok, waterbuck, duikers, bushpig, leopard and aardwolves on the farm.
On special request, De Wet will arrange guided Enduro trips for dirt bikes (scramblers) in the area, with a 60km loop around the Loskop Dam. These routes are graded bronze to gold.
It is important to note that guests may not use their scramblers on the farm, and that they need to tow their scramblers to a safe spot from where the bikers start and end their route.
Activities in the area
A 15-minute drive to the west of Burkei Guest Cottages will take guests to Trichardspoort Game Farm, where they can enjoy horse rides and game drives. A 10-minute drive to the east leads to Berg en Rivier, where people can enjoy river tubing, canoeing, and access to 4×4 trails.
When self-catering is not on your agenda for the day, you can make use of the services offered by The Lunch Box at Dirk’s Place, less than 20 minutes to the east of the cottages.
Frozen meals, like cottage pie, curry and rice, chicken biryani, and more are available for collection during the week. With prior booking, you can have breakfast and the meal of the day on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 2pm.
Phone The Lunch Box on 083 271 3974 to find out which food items are available, place your order, and reserve your table.
Farming activities
When driving through the gate at Burkei Guest Cottages, you will immediately sense that this is a working farm.
These Trees, a nursery on the farm, produces indigenous trees for sale to guests, the public, and landscapers. However, no fruit trees are grown.
De Wet, a qualified horticulturist, tells Farmer’s Weekly that the first tree he cultivated on the farm in 2014 was a burkei (black monkey thorn), hence the name of the cottages.
Germinated seed goes through various transplant stages into bigger bags, hardening the plants off in the process, until the trees are big enough to be sold.
For more information about the trees available at the nursery, visit thesetrees.co.za.
To arrange your stay at the cottages, visit burkeiguestcottages.co.za, or phone 082 889 8457.
