Our almond trees are showing off their first blossoms, the birds are chirping that little louder as if willing Spring into action, so although slightly early, we felt “Spring Scribblings” in August appropriate.

Our inaugural newsletter since guesthouse take-over on 1 May 2021 can surely only tackle one headline subject: our first three months of voyage on board this ship called Dennehof Karoo Guesthouse.
It’s been a somewhat tumultuous entry into the hospitality industry oceans, not always plain sailing and calm waters, but together with our incredible deckhands we navigated the rough seas and came out relatively unscathed and smiling on the other side.
There were indeed moments where we felt we were treading water to survive, and as with any old ship (especially one built in 1835), understanding the inner-working quirks almost lead to shouts of ‘man overboard’ on numerous occasions.
But we survived to tell the tale, our Captain is still confidently at the helm with compass and maps in hand, and we look forward to the next three months of on-course navigation.

Please scroll down to see what we’ve been up to …

We’ve lost count of the number of luscious sourdough loaves that have left the Dennehof Karoo Guesthouse oven, suffice to say, guest compliments exceeded said loaves.

Freedom Challenge

July threw us a Swartberg Pass sized-task – hosting Freedom Challenge 2021 riders over ten days. After 9pm laundry and dinner shifts and 2am breakfast starts we were left wondering if the name came about due to the challenge on guesthouse owner’s freedom. Are we in for 2022, most definitely, challenge us!

Conservatory

Our Conservatory is made for celebrating special occasions with its 360 views of the charismatic Karoo. We certainly hosted a few crackers, and here’s to many more. Please contact us to book yours and let’s chat on how to make it your most unique celebration yet.

bird life karoo

One of Dennehof Karoo Guesthouse’s many endearing features is its bird-life. To sit on our deck next to the fountain and wile away time observing feathered guests, is both a quintessential privilege and pleasure. This Malachite Sunbird was certainly not shy about fluffing his feathers and bathing in public spaces.

Dennehof Garden

With names like Kapokbos, Spanspekbos, Asbos, Hoenderbos, Perdebossie, and Blou Aalwyn, the 60 plus new plants added to the entrance garden can only make an impressive impact as they spread their roots and reach for the sun. Thank you to Renu-karoo nursery for the rejuvenation assistance, and watch this space.

Karoo Breakfast

No inaugural newsletter would be complete without a boast about our breakfast. Our overhauled menu seems to have been just the (meal) ticket, the poached eggs on herby avo-butter and sourdough, the star of the most-important-meal-of-the-day show. Thank you for the many, many compliments!

Swartberg Pass

It’s not always all about work, so when it snows on the Swartberg Pass you bundle all staff into vehicles and head off to go play … even if it was a race against time as we had Freedom Challenge cyclists’ needs to attend to – again that challenge of freedom – it was a fun-filled few hours of much-needed time out!

Spotted Eagle Owl

At the risk of our newsletter becoming a birding guide, we have to feature our (hopefully) resident Spotted Eagle Owl, Dr Who. Together with his missus, Who Too, he graces our pepper tree. We feel like proud parents, checking on them numerous times a day, and are so honoured to have this pair gracing our gardens. On an aside, they have settled above the aforementioned newly planted garden – coincidence, we think not!

Harvest

Winter bounty harvested from the Dennehof Karoo Guesthouse gardens included oranges, pomelos, kumquat, lemons, peppers, and gooseberries. With the addition of a few more citrus trees planted this winter, next season’s takings will hopefully be bumped up to include blood oranges and limes too.

Hope you enjoyed Dennehof Diaries’ “Spring Scribblings”, please stick around for our “Summer Scrawlings” and any other tidbits in between.
Thank you for your support, please come visit us soon.

Sunny Karoo greetings,
Inga, Albert and the DKG Team

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