For the last weekend of July, we decided to abandon our Sunday Hike tradition and went on an Adventure Weekend.

We gathered some friends and booked a cottage at Burkei, located in Zusterstroom, Mpumalanga. It is about one hour to one and a half hours outside of Pretoria and Johannesburg, which makes it a perfect getaway for the Gautengers needing to break away from the usual city life.

There are 6 cottages on the property, each individually sleeping 4 – 8 people (depending on the cottage you book). Each cottage has its own private pool, braai area and a fully equipped self-catering kitchen. None of the cottages are fenced and if you are considering taking your reactive or anxious dog, I would recommend mentioning it to the booking manager to avoid disappointment.

The cottages all have direct access to the hiking trails on the property. There are different trail distances but they are all fairly easy to do and you don’t require any skill to complete them. They mostly follow a jeep track along the farm’s perimeter fence where we spotted some wildlife at the next-door farm.

There is a viewpoint that is very easy to access which makes for a lovely sundowner spot.

Other than the hiking trails, there is also a river that allows the opportunity for a picnic or fishing across the road. We packed some snacks and beers and spent a good few hours there lazing in the sun while the dogs enjoyed splashing around and exploring.

At no point were the dogs leashed this weekend. They had a blast and loved the freedom Burkei had to offer them. It definitely does make it easier that the cottages provide easy access to everything.

We followed the path less traveled while walking the one morning when the dogs found a perfect mud bath. I went from having two Dalmatians to having one Dalmatian and a chocolate Labrador, all in a matter of seconds…

The cottage we booked had an outside shower which helped to clean the dogs up a bit without having to worry about the state of the bathroom once we were done cleaning.

There isn’t great signal in the area, however each cottage offered free wifi which was enough to monitor all the essentials while away.

The booking manager is Jardyne and you can contact her on 082 889 8457. She and all the staff at Burkei were friendly and helpful making the entire experience absolutely worthwhile. 

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Visit the Burkei Guest Cottages Website HERE: www.burkeiguestcottages.co.za