Leopard Valley Eco Retreat

The friend these beers were with is now a co-owner with me at Cape Leopard Valley, one of the most undisturbed parts of South Africa. Craig found this accidentally in 2017 whilst building his non-alcoholic gin business. We talked each other into it, heavily relying on our memory of drunken conversations from some 15 years earlier!

Over the 3 years since ownership, we have explored thoroughly the mountains, gorges, trails, bushman paintings and (by having two retro caravans on site) we have had a number of guests who have enjoyed the beauty and solitude of the place.

We took the plunge in 2021 to create a retreat to help others enjoy it as we do. However, bear in mind that in the summer it gets incredibly hot and last year the winter saw snow for the first time in living memory, plus there is plenty of wildlife that this is shared with! We decided after some research that upcycling sea-containers may work from an insulation and strength perspective (and ultimately can be moved to ensure that the Valley can always be returned to full wilderness).

We have worked with Deon van DeVenter of My Container Home | Liveable Container Homes to bring this to reality: www.containerhome.co.za

Powered by solar and fed water by our natural spring, with composting toilets, this is the first of our cabins at the CLV Eco-retreat. We managed to open our 3 cabins September 2021 and have been close to fully booked ever since!

We have named our 3 cabins after local bird life; Malachite Sunbird, Verreaux's Eagle & Cape Sugarbird.

We look forward to adding to these over the coming years and also creating a wonderful glamping spot on the other side of the valley!