Wilderness Magic Garden Cabin
Slow down and enjoy nature in this truly magical stay with gorgeous light streaming in at all times of day, surrounded by a serene garden with all kinds of birds visiting.
Hand-built by one of the owners, using reclaimed materials and decorated with old finds, the cabin sits on top of a set of graceful winding roads leading up right from the center of Wilderness Village. Situating you at your cabin with the Outeniqua mountain views all around you and just a 2 minute drive from the parking to the Map Of Africa viewpoint.
Entering this space truly really is like walking into your own little paradise. With a few bird baths and wild flowers all over the cabin sits well nested in the garden leaving you feeling well secluded even though there are two other bnbs on the property. The Cabin is completely off grid which means it’s never affected by loadshedding. This also means that it uses compost toilets and features an outdoor shower (but don’t worry, it gets well and hot for cozy showers even on colder days!). But of course this cabin also has a stunning bath inside if it’s raining or less than ideal for an outdoor shower. There’s also a lovely relax area just outside the cabin with a hammock, firepit and standing braai.
The cabin is self catering and we cooked some delicious meals while we were there and had maybe the best breakfast of my life, but with Wilderness Village so close by we couldn’t resist going to try two different local restaurants while we were staying there. We went to Ilali Restaurant & Social Bar & Blue Olive Restaurant. At Ilali I had some of the most delicious ribs I’ve ever had, with an Asian glaze and served with chips and coleslaw. The meat was fall of the bone soft and so so juicy. They also have some really amazing looking weekday specials for each day so keep an eye out for that! At Blue Olive we had some different tapas and also a chocolate brownie desert on another evening, it was divine! The ice cream to brownie ratio was a little off, but it totally made up for it given the fact it was like the size of my hand, it was so so good.
Ilali Website - Blue Olive Website
The Cabin
Kitchen & Living
The Kitchen space is fully equipped to cook most basic meals featuring a 2 hob gas burner and a nice washing sink close by. They also have a moka pot for coffee which is personally my favorite way to enjoy coffee at home so be sure to grab some coffee grounds on your way in to enjoy some great espresso or espresso based drinks (if you’re so inclined). Just beyond the kitchen area there’s a nice double seater green couch to relax on, we often sat at the table just outside the entrance of the cabin for meals or at the bar in the kitchen.
Outdoors
Of course, given the title, this cabin has so many cute little bird baths, little ponds and many wildflower beds all around. This attracts many different beautiful birds so if you’re into bird watching/photography bring your best zoom lenses! From the cabin you can also take an amazing forest walk; about 45 minutes to the Kaaimans River or about 20 minutes to an ancient indigenous forest. You might also get an occasional visit from the owners’ cute dog “Cricket” walking about and hanging out.
Bedroom
The cabin features a comfy big double bed with a really clever luggage storage section under the foot of the bed to keep your things not lying around your space. We had great sleeps here with lovely sunrise and sunset views from the bed through all the windows.
Bathroom
There is technically no bathroom inside the cabin itself but just a couple seconds down the pathway is the eco toilet. The hosts are very big on sustainability and water saving and this is a big part of that. Just another couple steps from the eco toilet is where the outdoor shower platform is located.
Location:
Tips
Bring Hiking Shoes/Rough Trainers as there are some stunning nature walks in the area
The bar fridge is obviously small but town and stores are so close we just shopped for a full day and night and then did another refresh run the next day
