good for you

The perfect place to pause and relax along South Africa's famous Garden Route, Hog Hollow is a secluded retreat nestled in a native forest overlooking a majestic gorge and a lofty mountain range.

Laze about the pool, curl up with a book in one of the hotel's cozy lounges, or lie in your hammock with a pair of binoculars, watching the birds and monkeys going about their little lives. Further a field, there are beaches, wetlands with great bird watching, a boat trip to observe seals, dolphins and even whales, and a nearby monkey sanctuary.

The lodge's comfortable cottages are screened by native forest, and overlook the beautiful Matjies river gorge. The rooms are filled with stylish African art, earthy tones and naturally woven fabrics and feature a private deck with hammock. The acclaimed food – eaten communally around the big wooden table – is delectable.

The staff is one of Hog Hollow's greatest assets – all locals trained in-house, they'll remember your name and serve you a cocktail or an afternoon tea any time you ask, and give your children bedtime treats.

good for south africa

Hog Hollow has an excellent employment policy which sees previously disadvantaged South Africans from local villages trained and employed in hospitality, and particularly in sustainable tourism. Importantly, these employees are able to develop their careers at Hog Hollow and some have been promoted to management. Hog Hollow also supports local organizations and has offered financial assistance to the local soccer team, helped an emerging band cut their first record, supported a young person's medical training and donates to the local street children's project and the local school.

The lodge carefully recycles waste and has also cleared invasive introduced plants from the property so that the native forest can regenerate.

Rooms

Food

Hog Hollow is well known for its delectable food. On crisp clear days farmhouse breakfasts are served on the wooden deck overlooking the forest or near the huge fireplace when it's cooler. The menu has something to suit any taste, with fruit salad, cereals, eggs, bacon, muffins, pancakes, fresh cheeses and hams, potato and leek patties and exotic drinks like fresh lychee juice.

In the evenings, guests enjoy scrumptious four-course dinners around the communal table in the candle-lit atmosphere of the main house. If you prefer to dine privately, the meal can be delivered to your cottage or suite.

Meals are prepared using only the freshest of local produce. Lunch can be taken at the lodge, or packed as a picnic basket to take out on excursions. The set dinner menu includes a selection of main course of which fish, prawns and crayfish are daily features.

At dinner time, a typical appetizer might be butternut tart served with cinnamon dressing and deep fried leeks, followed by pesto-crusted line fish with spinach and sauce vierge. The main might be a rack of lamp on potato rosti, with seasonal vegetables and red wine jus, followed by a dessert of crème brûlée served with fresh fruit and berry coulis.

Meals are served with a South African wine such as Reyneke Reserve.

Breakfast is included in the rates, while lunch and dinner (dinner is R180 per person) are optional. Guests with specific dietary requirements are catered for individually. Children are catered for with special mealtimes and menus if desired.

Features & Facilities

• Swimming pool
• Sauna
• Games and toys for kids
• Safe
• Activity and tour booking service.
• Complimentary 24 hour internet connection
• CD burner for downloading pictures
• Beach equipment like beach towels, umbrellas, boogy boards and buckets & spades

Local Info & Activities

Once at Hog Hollow you'll find it pretty hard to tear yourself away to explore the area, but the area is rich in spectacular natural scenes and fascinating wildlife. The choice is yours: laze around the pool on balmy sunny days, relax in the sauna, read a book, or take the opportunity to visit the many attractions nearby.

As a guest of Hog Hollow looking to explore the area, all you have to do is arrive. The lodge staff will take care of the planning and bookings for you. Your hosts usually help guests plan their day at breakfast, making all the necessary arrangements before sending you on your way complete with directions, a washed car and a scrumptious picnic basket.

activities in the neighbourhood

• A variety of walks along rivers, in gardens and forests.
• Five local beaches to visit
• Shopping for local handicrafts
• Qolweni Theatre Group - Xhosa theatre and dance group
• Blue Lounge River Cruises
• Keurbooms River Ferries
• Cycling trails through Harkerville Forests
• Motorised glider flights around the bay
• Boating trips up the Keurbooms river with a Hog Hollow picnic basket
• African Ramble - aerial flights around bay and day trips to Shamwari
• Ocean Blue Adventures: eco boat-based whale & dolphin tours of the bay
• Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary
• Bungi Jumping at Bloukrans Bridge - the highest in the world
• Elephant Park
• Horse riding through the valleys and mountains
• Snorkeling, scuba diving, canoeing and kayaking
• Tandem sky-diving
• Massage Treatments and Therapies
• Snake Sanctuary
• Fishing & Salt Water Fly Fishing
• Golf at one of the nearby courses
• A range of daytrips that the lodge can tell you about
• Nearby restaurants and cafes to visit

Sustainability

community

Hog Hollow''s owners, Andy Fermor and Debbie Reyneke, are both South African-born. One of their strongest desires was to employ and train local people from the surrounding communities to work at Hog Hollow in the various facets of the tourism industry. Following the end of apartheid, these people, who had spent most of their lives either unemployed, in menial jobs and overlooked in the fields of advancement, found themselves on the threshold of a new experience. Fermor and Reyneke felt that in this place, within this community, was a new and vital energy with lots of exceptional talent waiting to be unleashed. They now have an all-local staff made up of people previously disadvantaged under the apartheid system, and are investing in their training and advancement.

Staff members are trained both in-house and sent on specialised courses. An effort is made to accord promotions to people working within the company – so far the lodge has trained two of its general managers - from waiting tables to the most senior position. The lodge is now engaging in the same process with other members of staff. In this way staff can experience the rewards of hard work, which in turn impacts on the communities where the staff members live. The community sees how a person can become successful and financially independent, and that it''s not an unattainable dream.

The lodge engages with the broader community on a range of levels. Hog Hollow tries to buy locally and support local businesses. They also help out when they can – helping to buy uniforms for the local soccer team, donating to a local band so they could cut their first record, helping a young man pay for his medical studies, and supporting the Mazisame Street Children''s project and sponsoring extra teaching support for the Kurland Primary School.

environment

The hotel''s main achievement in terms of the natural environment has been to clear the invasive wattle plantation that was taking over the land at Hog Hollow, driving the native forest back. An introduced species from Australia, wattle can be destructive and is highly unsuitable for this area. The plantation was cleared in an environmentally friendly way, chopping down the mature trees and pulling the young ones out by hand. Since clearing the wattle, the native forest has naturally regenerated quite rapidly and the garden is thriving.

The hotel has made a start at growing its own food, with many herbs and some vegetables grown on the property. Local suppliers are used where possible, though due to a limited supply of some necessary goods, opportunities to buy locally can be limited.

Hog Hollow has developed a very effective recycling program, despite the lack of local government action in this area, and the hotel is looking at introducing solar energy. The hotel uses conventional energy at the moment, but makes an effort not to waste it, using fans rather than air conditioners in the rooms.

Getting There

Hog Hollow is located 27km from Plettenberg Bay in the Garden Route (western cape).

driving from cape town

Take the N2 towards Port Elizabeth. You will pass (among others) the towns of Swellendam, Mossel Bay, George, Wilderness, Sedgefield, Knysna and Plettenberg Bay.

About 18km after Plettenberg Bay, you will see a brown Road's Department information sign saying HOG HOLLOW/BARNYARD. Take the turn-off on your right at the sign. It is a farm road called ASKOP Road. We are 1.3km further along this road on the left.

Approx traveling time - 6 hours

driving from port elizabeth

Take the N2 towards Cape Town. You will pass (among others) the towns of Jeffrey's Bay, Humansdorp & St Francis' Bay and the Storms River Bridge Petroport.

Once past the Tsitsikamma Toll Road, you are approximately 17km from Hog Hollow Country Lodge. You will then see a brown Road's Department information sign saying HOG HOLLOW/BARNYARD. Take the turn-off on your left at the sign. It is a farm road called ASKOP Road. We are 1.3km further along this road on the left.

Approximate traveling time: 2 hours

by air

SA Airlink offers direct return scheduled flights from Johannesburg, Cape Town & Durban to George and from Johannesburg to Plettenberg Bay.

27 km to Plettenberg Bay (Airport)

214 km to Port Elizabeth (Airport)

130 km to George (Airport)

566 km to Cape Town (Airport)

Visit our Transport section for flights, hybrid car rentals and train bookings.

Rates & Bookings

1 Oct – 30 Sept 07

Double: R1056 (US$151) p/per/per night

Single: R1550 (US$222) p/per/per night

1 Oct – 30 Sep 08

Double: R1140 (US$163)p/per/p/night

Single: R1675 (US$240) p/per/p/night

included:

• Full farmhouse breakfast
• VAT at 14%

check in/out

Check in time is 14h00 and check out is 11h00

booking & cancellation policy

A booking is confirmed on payment of 100% of cost of booking

• If a cancellation is made up until 30 days before arrival date a cancellation fee of 10% is taken.
• If a cancellation is made between 7 and 30 days before arrival, a fee of 60% is taken.
• If a cancellation is made within 6 days of arrival date, no refund will be given.

Want to avoid cancellation fees? Visit our Insurance section for information on travel insurance.