GLAMPING IN THE HEMEL-EN-AARDE VALLEY

Canvas Collective Africa’s Hemel-enAarde camp certainly brings heaven a little closer to home.

#HelloLifestyle by Fay van Eeden

Images: Supplied

We love sleeping in tents. It feels so much closer to nature. We’re not always that keen on struggling with tents and tentpoles though, which is why Canvas Collective Africa’s offering comes as a welcome camping - or rather, five-star glamping - solution.

Canvas Collective’s luxury glamping concept was born during the Covid-19 lockdown when Samara Stern and Dez Lundy met at the non-profit Ladles of Love feeding scheme. One could say philanthropy and innovation brought these two together, resulting in a glamping experience like no other.

During the pandemic, Dez had become a volunteer at Ladles of Love, which Sam’s family also supported. Dez’s charm and operational expertise brought in 48 tons of donated vegetables per week, feeding 50 000 people. At the same time, Sam’s event management experience helped her initiate a sandwich drive that made a world record of 320 000 sandwiches in one hour. Eventually, it took these two go-getters - who were clearly meant to meet - only a year to get the concept of a luxury tent experience off the ground.

Luxurious Tent Stays

Stepping into our canvas home for the evening left us speechless. It’s hard to imagine that so much luxury can be packed into a pop-up tent. All ten tents are stylishly furnished with everything - from a king-sized bed and Nespresso machine to a fan for hot days and electric blankets for cold evenings. Each tent also has its own flushable, portable toilet, as well as a shower with hot water.

We spent the first afternoon curled up on the armchairs outside our tent, sipping sparkling wine and taking in the serenity of our surrounds. As the sun slowly lowered itself behind the Babylonstoren Mountains, we made our way to the communal campfire.

The pathways between the tents were illuminated by small lanterns, giving the camp a romantic glow. After unwinding around the campfire (in the most comfortable safari loungers we’ve ever sat on) we were ushered to the Field Kitchen for dinner.

P.S. Find Canvas Collective’s luxurious safari loungers at Decofurn.

The Field Kitchen

The Field Kitchen is an impressive mobile glass, steel, and canvas restaurant that affords diners a breath-taking view of the valley below. In this full-on restaurant with its professional kitchen, chef Trudy prepares fine dining meals you would expect to indulge in at some of the best restaurants in South Africa. Using locally sourced ingredients, each dish is conscientiously created to curious glampers’ delight.

As we enjoyed a glass of local red wine, chef Trudie bustled about, weaving her magic into every meal from the open plan kitchen. The appetiser - Steak Teriyaki with a plum salsa - might have left us wanting more, but the highlight of the meal was undoubtedly the main. Served on a bright carrot puree, the seared line fish with a velouté was simply scrumptious. And, just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, chef Trudie treated us to Banana Rum Baba for dessert!

Feeling very content, we followed our host, Eldine to the campfire for a night cap. It didn’t take long for the wind’s soft rustling through the pine trees to beckon us back to our tent and our plush, turned down bed, though. Soon, the stillness – which you will struggle to find elsewhere – pulled us into a wonderful, peaceful sleep.

NOTE:

Because of the remoteness of the camp, the electricity is powered by a generator, which is switched off at around 22:00.

Things To Do

Days at Canvas Collective start slow. After a Mimosa-complemented breakfast in bed, we went exploring. There’s plenty to do in and around the Hemel-en-Aarde camp. In addition to enjoying the beautiful scenery around your tent, you can go hiking on the farm and on hot summer days, the farm dam is the most tranquil spot to cool off in. After our swim, we enjoyed a delicious waterside picnic for lunch. If the short walk to the farm dam is too far you, there’s always the option of cooling off in the camp’s splash pool with a G&T in hand. For those feeling less adventurous, Samara’s introduction to baking Challah is a must.

Should you feel the urge to explore beyond the Hemel-en-Aarde

Canvas Collective camp (which we didn’t) the valley is a treasure trove of things to do. Whether you are an art lover, a wine enthusiast or an adventurer, you are sure to find something that will tickle your fancy. Onrus Beach is also just a short drive away for those keen on a bushand-beach experience.

Getting There

Canvas Collective Africa’s Hemel-en-Aarde camp is located on a 300-hectare working family farm in the picturesque valley, between Hermanus and Caledon. It’s a mere two-hour drive from Cape Town and while you don’t need a 4x4 to get there, low clearance vehicles will need to take it slow towards the end of the drive. H

Q @canvascollectiveafrica

1 www.canvascollectiveafrica.com

As the world has clearly been returning to normal, so various event destinations have been contemplating, brainstorming, planning and implementing new ideas for their post-Covid events environment. By the looks of things, venues are excitedly and hopefully reinventing the wheel, considering different ways of accommodating the crowds.

Various venues seem to be exploring additional event hosting avenues. Wedding venues are opening themselves up for impressive art exhibitions and hotel spaces are setting the bar quite high when it comes to energy saving, renewable energy, sustainability and more. Not to mention the technology that now has to go into large exhibition spaces in order to accommodate delegates attending events virtually.

#HelloLifestyle

by Renate Engelbrecht

Images: Supplied