For the last 10 years, Tenahead was on our radar and became one of the things on our bucket list that we have been wanting to do. We came across a special they were running that we could not miss. So we booked a 2-night stay for our 21st wedding anniversary that  also happened to coincide with Mother’s Day this year.

We love a good old road trip and decided to leave a day early to spend Saturday night in Queenstown. Roger was very happy as it provided the opportunity to pop in at the local airfield where an Airshow and festival was taking place. It was a rather nostalgic moment, as he had attended his very first Airshow at this same airfield 30 years ago.

Sunday morning early, Mother’s Day, we set off for Tenahead. We chose to take the back roads, mostly gravel, and boy, it was well worth it, with the most amazing scenery.

We reached Tenaheads at lunchtime and decided to stop 1km from the lodge before booking in and have a picnic at the magnificent view at the top of Naude’s Nek Pass.

After lunch, we headed to check in at Tenahead, and WOW, what a beautiful place.

We were greeted by a lovely young couple, Franco and Juan-Mari, as well as their two dogs. At this stage, we were told we were the only guests at the lodge for the night. So basically, my husband jokingly said he booked the whole lodge for us for the night, lol.

We just put our bags in the room and headed off for our first adventure: cycling to find a waterfall before the sunset. The cycle is only 11km, but the air was thin, and it was basically just uphill from there to find the waterfall. After lots of huffing and puffing and lots of laughs, we got to the top and had to make a call: do we carry on for another 10 minutes or turn around before we get caught in the dark? So we headed back and never found the waterfall. But the outing was a treat on its own.

At the lodge, they set up this beautiful table for two in front of a fireplace with a delicious 5-course meal. So after all the travels and adventure, we headed off to our room for a good night’s sleep before our next adventure tomorrow. We got to our room and were surprised by the staff with a bottle of champagne to celebrate our anniversary and some treats for me for Mother’s Day with a lovely hot bath prepared for us. This was so special and we will never forget this.

Day 2, we headed out for another cycle and yes, the altitude does affect you, so we decided to head back to the lodge and get our 4×4 to explore a 4×4 route we were told about. All started off good with a few bumps on the road, but as we carried on, the road got worse. Now, this does not scare us; we both love this type of adventure. Google maps made us believe that the 27km 4×4 route would take us 50 minutes, but without stopping much, it took us 2 hours and 20 minutes. But the scenery was unforgettable.

We got back to the lodge just in time for sundowners and dinner. We were not alone this evening as other guests had checked in at the lodge.

The next morning, we headed back home leaving Tenaheads knowing we had been very privileged to have experienced this special place.

The lodge has 5 rooms. Some lovely walks to do, from a 2km easy walk, to longer, more difficult walks.

The food is absolutely marvelous.

The host and staff are very friendly and helpful. Nothing was too much for them.

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