We recently did an overnight trip with the kids, paddling up Keurbooms river from the coast to ‘Whiskey Creek Cabin’.
Keurbooms river (Keurboomsrivier as its also known in Afrikaans) is in the Western Cape, South Africa. It flows in a roughly South-east direction, with it’s outlet feeding into the Indian Ocean near the coastal town of Plettenberg Bay.
Our trip actually started with a first night camping stay at a nearby beach campsite outside of Plettenberg Bay. It was quite busy, and not my ideal place, but the kids enjoyed the beach. We spent most of this day using the stand up paddle boards and ‘surfing’ them across the river coming in from the sea. We were mostly just biding time and looking forward to the real adventure on the river the next day…
Kayaking up Keurbooms River
We hired the cabin and kayaks through company called CapeNature. Leaving our vehicles at the river outlet where the CapeNature office was, we packed our clothes, sleeping bags, food, and overnight essentials into dry bags, and loaded it all onto three of the big kayaks.
There were 4 adults and 4 kids (cousins!) altogether. We used three large kayaks and set off with wind thankfully at our backs.
The river is of course tidal, so it helps to plan your trip up and down river according to tides. The tide was going out for us, but with the wind at our backs it wasn’t too difficult to row the 6km or so up river.
Half way up we stopped on a sandy bank of the river for a quick lunch break. At the point the river had narrowed a bit, and it was much quieter. Not many boats (with engines) about, and just the river and mountains to either side to enjoy.
Another 3km on and we finally reached a confluence of rivers. At this point the other river went up some small rapids to the side and Whiskey Creek Cabin was about 400 meters up a trail.
We pulled the kayaks up the bank and hauled our gear to the cabin.
Staying at Whiskey Creek Cabin
Along the trail to the cabin, we found if we stopped for a minute we would be swarmed with mosquitos. At the cabin things weren’t too bad as you’re a little higher up and the wind keeps them more at bay. Definitely bring mosquito repellant if you visit!
The cabin was an open sleeping area inside, with bunks and beds – enough for 10 to sleep. There were some tables and a basic fridge/freezer too.
Outside on the deck was a massive fire pit for braais (BBQ) and a bar/breakfast seating area with an outside sink and gas cooking area.
We were able to fetch wood using a wheelbarrow – another 200 meter walk in a different direction. We chopped enough wood using the supplied axe, while the kids explored the river bank on the other side of the cabin.
In the distance Baboons barked across the valley at us, sitting higher up in the mountains. The kids enjoyed ‘barking’ back at them.
Dinner was a lovely braai with drinks. We brought mielies (corn on the cob) with us to complement the food.
The cabin is so peaceful and silent. It’s the perfect place to unwind. No phone reception, no people – just a few simple amenities.
Unfortunately Carmen had spent a bit of our kayaking time racing her older brother, putting in a really big effort on the paddling. Sleep was not ideal as she developed some pretty quick and severe DOMS (delayed onset muscle sorness) overnight. She woke me (I was bunked above her) and after that I lay awake worrying a bit and wondering if it was serious enough to warrant paddling her back in the middle of the night. (It sounded pretty severe from the wincing I could hear!)
We thought we were without pain medication, so toughed it out through the night, only to discover in the morning that her brother had some paracetomol. Thankfully that did the trick, and we were able to enjoy a relaxing morning, drinking coffee with rusks and having a light breakfast.
A paddle back down river
We left the cabin at 10am, and kayaked back the way we came. The river level was much lower now and we loosely skimmed over some very light rapids at the start before entering the deeper river area.
Going back we repeated our sandy river bank stop before continuing an easier paddle back. This was when we spotted a Fish Eagle, and a half-collared Kingfisher…
Bird life along Keurbooms River
We saw tons of bird life along the way. I’m no bird expert, but did enjoy looking some of them up using my Merlin Bird ID app – something I’ve found a small interest in since our trip over to South Africa.
We saw some of the following birds along the river (on the way in, and way back):
- Fish Eagle
- Half collared Kingfisher
- Reed Cormorant
- Speckled Mousebird
- Sombre Greenbul
- Southern Boubou
- Kelp Gull
- African Oystercatcher
- African Sacred Ibis
The Fish Eagle and Kingfisher were definitely the stars of the show. The eagle was soaring quite high above us, and the kingfisher kept darting along the river from side to side, moving ahead of us.
We would paddle up slowly to try and get close enough to take pictures, and it would then move on further. We repeated this process a few times before continuing on our way.
Visiting the cabin and Keurbooms River
I would definitely go and stay again, even longer if we didn’t have the kids tagging along. The river adventure and stay is great for kids, but they would definitely get a little bored after a second night. It’s perfect for a short stay.