Reviews of Ndedema Lodge
(88%) From 23 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
| 
2 nights at Ndedema Lodge
A very warm welcome from Wilma to her lovely house after the car was parked through the electric gate, so very secure.
Our room was lovely with period furniture, the bathroom massive. A relaxing beer in the shady garden on arrival. Pool available though we did not use it.
Wilma organised our trip to the Rooibos estate the next morning and pointed us to the rock art trail for the afternoon.
Breakfasts were eaten in the garden from a substantial choice laid out inside. Long chats with Wilma and Johan who were excellent hosts making for a most enjoyable stay in Clanwilliam.
Ndedema Lodge review
A really welcoming guest house only providing B&B (unless full) but breakfast was good. They reserved a table for us at a local restaurant/pub which served good but basic food. Nonetheless making us feel special. It was some walking distance from the lodge.
The town is well placed for the mountains, Lamberts bay and the rock art trail.
They have WiFi which they give you a password for if you ask. It's free but you need to sit close to the owners' cottage.
Welcoming, comfortable place to stay
Large comfortable room, with very welcoming hosts.
Read more about the whole tripStimulating stop-over at Ndedema
The lodge gave us an excellent overnight stay. It was quiet, conveniently located and securely operated. We arrived at dusk, having journeyed circuitously from Cape Town, via the West Coast National Park and the river-estuary at Velddrif (here on the North bank, by the way, there is a public, roomy, but apparently scarce-frequented bird-hide, built on its own 30-metre pier into the waterway - it provided wonderful close-up viewings of flamingo and other water-life).
The owner, Wilma, had thoughtfully booked us a table at Emil's Place, a restaurant some 10 minutes walk back into Clanwilliam (fortunate for us, as we found the premises full and the dining excellent). We proceeded to have a good night's sleep in fine surroundings with all necessary facilities - followed by a hearty breakfast.
We had curtailed our stay at Clanwilliam to one night, in order to help fit in extra nights elsewhere. This worked well for us. On Wilma's recommendation the following morning, we briefly visited the Rooibos tea factory shop (which, strangely, had scarcely any of its products on sale - there was a better selection at the local SuperSpar).
She also recommended a brief side-trip into the Cedarberg Mountains, which was much more rewarding. We drove up the Pakhuis Pass and visited the poet, Leipoldt 's grave, with its overhang of bushmen's painting. Here we also encountered a large bunch of ageing Hell's Angel-style bike riders. With them and the backdrop of the monumental and eroded rock formations of the Cedarberg, we felt we had been transported to Arizona. We traveled a little further to take a look over the other side of the Pass, before - feeling fulfilled with what was on view - we retraced our steps.
We were back in Clanwilliam by 11.30am, only to find the Hog-riders hogging the town's sole petrol station. Nevertheless, we were well placed for the next stage of our journey towards Springbok, which we reached by around 3pm.
A great place to stay
We had a lovely room at the front of the main building, with an amazing bathroom which was bigger that the bedroom. The welcome and information available was excellent, and the breakfast with fruits fresh from the garden was wonderful.
There wasn't much open in Clanwilliam on the Sunday we arrived, and our host booking the only available restaurant for us was a nice touch.
Wonderful hospitality at Ndedema Lodge
Clanwilliam is an easy drive from Cape Town, we travelled the coastal route. As a stopover en route to Namibia it was great, would have liked an extra night to explore the surrounding area. Ndedema Lodge is just lovely. We were welcomed by Johan and Wilma into their gorgeous old Victorian home. The rooms were all beautifully decorated and nice comfortable beds.
Special touches included sherry in the rooms, and a complimentary bottle of champagne for our 25th wedding anniversary. Wilma also arranged a special dinner reservation in town for our celebration. We enjoyed relaxing by the pool and the lovely garden area, chatting with Johan over a few beers & wines, listening to his stories, and appreciated his advice on our pending adventure through Namibia. Wilma served a great breakfast for our early start the next morning.
The security is excellent behind locked gates, plenty of room for vehicles. Would highly recommend this lovely place.
Ndedema Lodge review
It's a bit difficult to evaluate this place without knowing how much we paid for our room, which was dark, badly lit and furnished with heavy dreary furniture (certainly not antiques as I recall the brochure suggests).
There is a garden of sorts, but not one you'd want to spend much time in.
However, the owners went out of their way to suggest to suggest things we might do in the locality and created a warm and cheerful atmosphere.
Expert Africa comments
Ndedema is a small, friendly, owner-run bed and breakfast that offers very economicall accommodation. Although they do have a number of antiques around the property, not all furniture is antique.
Ndedema Lodge review
The house was stunning - our room was lovely - a four poster bed, the most enormous bathroom and such hospitable people - we saw them around a lot as well as at breakfast and nothing was too much trouble. On arrival we were brought tea by the pool, they were able to recommend a visit to the Rock Art the following day - and book us in to a restaurant that night.
At breakfast, there were four of us, the array was dazzling and included scones, jam and cream, as well as the usual cereals, cold meats and cheese, rolls, jams and toast. Then there was a choice of eggs, sausage, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes, followed by a 'knickerboker glory' of yoghurt and stewed fruit laced with honey - the follwoing day we had grapefruit laced with passion fruit, all picked from their trees.
Ndedema Lodge review
Wilma certainly knows how to make you welcome. She was out when we arrived but her lady who showed us around was superb, very well trained.
Best local restaurants were both unavailable first night so Wilma and her ladies served an excellent dinner themselves in the courtyard.
She is very knowledgeable about the area and offered many suggestions of places to visit. A great stop.
Clanwilliam bliss
We really enjoyed the location, We were unfortunate with our experience in Cederberg mountains - Plans, tried twice, for planned walks fell through, however this venue, friendliness and helpfulness [hosts were great] made that disappointment not so important.
The breakfasts in the garden were a joy.
Particularly liked The Bath!
Plus close proximity to Lamberts Bay , the Gannet colony and restaurant recommendation a bonus.
