If you ask a South African where to go stay for a month or so, Botrivier would probably be the last place that they’d think of. This beautiful little town just an hour and a half outside of Cape Town is a place where cows outnumber people, there is one grocery store, and plenty dirt roads. And looking from the outside in, we were pretty sure that technology had forgotten about Botrivier too. So when we were invited to stay at the self-catering Chalet Robyn’s Nest for a week, we were pleasantly surprised to see that it had WiFi – and where there is WiFi we will go!
Greeted by three adorable sausage dogs as we rang the bicycle bell doorbell, the owners, Kike and Johann who live on the property, welcomed us. Located in the middle of Kike’s beautifully flourishing and tranquil garden, Chalet Robyn’s Nest is quaint and rustic, but has all the comforts of home. Designed and built by Johann, the cottage lends itself to lazy days lounging in the garden, catching up on hours of reading, or, for those who live a digital nomadic lifestyle, focusing on work.
Consisting of a kitchen with a microwave, one-plate stove and fridge, a decently sized bedroom with two three-quarter beds, and a beautiful bathroom, the studio style cottage has all the basics we needed during our week long stay. The lush garden is an extension of the cottage where we found and made full use of the BBQ facilities, and outdoor furniture.
Being digital nomads Internet speed and accessibility is always at the top of our list when it comes to looking for the perfect accommodation. When it came to this determining factor Robyn’s Nest didn’t disappoint – considering we were in South Africa, in the middle of nowhere – with speeds up to 2Mbps. For our work requirements this was ideal speed and we were pretty impressed at the reach and accessibility of the WiFi. There was also plenty of space to set up a work station, with the three seater dining table inside quickly being converted to our desk, and the outdoor table and chairs becoming our secondary desk for Skype calls (as it was closer to the router).
When we were not working Kieke encouraged us to make full use of her garden and pick any ripe fruit and vegetables that we could find and use it for meals. We also spent hours playing with the dogs and even got to take them on a walk around the quiet neighbourhood. We had complete privacy throughout our stay and throughly enjoyed being cut off from the big city (even though Hermanus is only 35km away). After our week long stay we found it difficult to leave such a productive place, but knew we would be back in the near future.
Ask us anything about Robyn’s Nest Cottage on Twitter (@FreemadicLife) or on our Facebook Page.
For more information, enquiries or bookings, email Johann and Kike Mendelsöhn at galantskloof@gmail.com
