Reboot at Akasha Mountain Retreat

15 Dec 2015

In this digital day and age where a beautiful sunset or a lush forest view is more often than not viewed through a tiny screen - a captured, insta'ed and retweeted version of something magical, it is wonderfully refreshing to forget that the internet ever existed and experience and appreciate something real and IRL. A recent trip to the soul-reviving Akasha Mountain Retreat in the Heidelberg Mountains was just such an experience and couldn't have come at a better time for me. Stressful time of the year yo!

A three and a half hour drive from Cape Town the Moroccan-themed, self-catering Akasha Mountain Lodge feels supremely secluded, yet is only 12km north of Heidelberg. Perched atop a mountain range with the most drool-worthy views over Langeberg & the Duiwenhoks Dam one can't help feel as if transported into a magical Moroccan/Shire land. After arriving late on Wednesday afternoon and getting unpacked, we wasted no time settling down to do absolutely nothing, G&T in hand. The views and lodge command it. Agenda: relax and unwind.

Mega eye gratification

The lodge can accommodate up to six people and a few steps away from it is a cottage that can sleep two. There is a generous dining room which leads onto a braai area where a hammock affords quite possibly the best view in the world.

The main bedroom leads to a beautiful courtyard which includes, mosaiced table, outside shower and cast iron bed. We spent many a chunk of the day and night lounging, napping and star gazing on that bed. The indoor décor is almost as eye gratifying as the views and includes Moroccan wooden doors, frames, lanterns and stained glass. Expansive windows, sliding doors, and sky lights let the view and natural sunlight caress your eyes at every turn.

The owners, Chris and Elana changed their original plan of building their own home, expanding the vision to turn it into a lodge and building their own slice of Morocco a few metres down the road. The calm and softly spoken Chris took us on a little tour of the estate on the Thursday morning which included sighting of many birds and wild free-roaming horses. Paradise much?

Leaving Akasha was fairly heart-wrenching. The two days that we spent there flashed by in a haze of doing not much (and only a tiny bit of mobile screen gazing) and I wished we could have stayed forever. On our way out we were bid adieu by six wild horses. An apt end to the most reviving two days I have ever been blessed to experience.