Scalarhoney Lodge

The location and the solitude are glorious, the fresh air and the peacefulness are medicine for the soul. The water is straight from a mountain spring and it's so good it's worth taking home. The swimming holes (not really a pool) are wonderful in the heat of the day. Hike anywhere you want to and are capable of. And scenery that won't quit.

The drive up is just barely manageable in a small passenger car. Really. We did it (took us an hour to do the 7 km from the main road) but it was stressful to say the least. The farm tracks are the easy part. The river crossings through flowing water could be impassible in high water times. The jeep trail above the first crossing gets rocky and narrow. It's all best tackled in a SUV or 4x4 'backie'. We were surprised by this so offer the info as a heads-up. It's basically camping. The cabin has no heat, the kitchen's two-burner hob had one burner not working quite right so we did most of our cooking on the campfire, the host (Andre) supplied firewood as needed with kindling easily foraged from the undergrowth. The fridge wasn't working so the host supplied a cooler and frozen water bottles with a freezer 50m away in the "BeachBar". All equipment, bedding (which was wonderful), cookware (cast iron Dutch oven too!), etc are there but bring *all* supplies you will need since going to town is a major undertaking. We discussed all these things with the host and he's addressing what is addressable. He was very helpful in accommodating for where we weren't prepared. Bottom line - absolutely worth the effort.