Three Trees Lodge

Three Trees Lodge Review

In the lee of the famous hill, Spioenkop, where one of the bitterest battles of the Anglo-Boer War took place, lies the quaint little Victorian lodge of Three Trees. You'll feel as if you've stepped back in time when you stay in a cozy little en suite Victorian cottage with its own deck overlooking a secret game-filled valley, set against the magnificent backdrop of the Drakensberg Amphitheatre. In winter, candelabra aloes arch their fiery red arms to the sky, and the decor of the cottages picks up the theme—your bed linen, soft furnishings, furniture, rugs, and bath accessories all echo the green, golds, and scarlets of the indigenous vegetation. Inside the green cottages are cream and pale-green wooden walls, rich brown, polished, cement floors, and cow-skin rugs. Examine the pictures, photographs, and old advertisements on the walls in your cottage and in the comfortable main lodge where a crackling fire burns on cold nights. Most of these souvenirs are original—there's even a copy of one of Winston Churchill's paintings of the area when he was a war correspondent here and famously escaped his Boer captors. The homegrown and home-cooked food is a delight, and the owners, Sheryl and Simon Blackburn, immediately make you feel like part of the family, rather than a guest. Even if you're not into military history, a morning's visit to the top of Spioenkop and its mass grave with the knowledgeable Omri Nene, the resident guide, may well have you in tears. Go horse riding, mountain biking, take a trip into the adjacent game reserve, or take a full day's picnic into the mountains. There are over 270 bird species with a dazzling selection of sunbirds.