Lookout
08:28 Dawn
Pale dawn over a grass hilltop. The dam lies flat and silver below, the far mountains a line of blue.

Lookout · a one-room stay above the dam

One room.
The whole day.

A stone hut on a grass hilltop, nothing between you and the water but wind. The view is the reason. Scroll and the day goes by.

Check dates Take the day

Every picture on this page is this hill, photographed on one day in August.

The sun just up over the water, the hills gold at the edges.

08:43 · Sunrise

Where you are.

Eighteen hundred metres up on the Free State side of the Drakensberg, on a hill the dam wraps around on three sides. The sun comes up over the water and straight through the window wall. The nearest town is twenty minutes by car and a small line of light after dark.

Altitude
1,780 m
To the water
40 min on foot
Nearest town
22 km
Sleeps
2
Midday on the hilltop: dry gold grass and flat sandstone rocks under a clear sky.

12:05 · Morning

The room.

Six by four metres, stone walls, and a window wall the length of the room facing the water. A bed for two. A wood stove with dry wood stacked. Gas hob, kettle, two pans, enough plates. A deck with two chairs. A hot outdoor shower behind a wall. No wifi, patchy signal, a landline for emergencies.

Floor plan: a six by four metre room with a bed, stove, table, window wall, deck and outdoor shower Bed Stove Table Shower Window wall, facing the water Deck 6 m 4 m Door
Late afternoon, the grass gone amber, the dam a long band of blue under the cliffs.

18:04 · Afternoon

The walks.

Three ways off the hill, all starting at the door.

Elevation profile from the hut at 1,780 metres down to the water at 1,700 metres, 40 minutes Hut · 1,780 m Water · 1,700 m
0 min from the door
  1. Down to the water. 40 min down, 55 back up. Swim from the flat rocks.
  2. The ridge loop. An hour and twenty, no climbing, all view.
  3. Along the shore to the boat shed. Two hours each way. Take water.
The sun low over the water, the grass lit from the side, the sky going from gold to grey.

19:09 · Sunset

Dinner is what
you carried up.

The stove is going by five. A box waits in the cool room when you arrive: bread, eggs, butter, a bag of oranges, coffee, a bottle of red. Bring the rest and cook it slowly. The sun goes down over the water while you do.

Dusk: mauve sky, a few lit clouds, the first lights of the town along the far shore.

20:06 · Dusk

Then it gets dark.

The town becomes a line of lights. The rest is sky.

Night. The moon up over the dam and its reflection on the water, stars above, the hill black.

21:41 · Night

Book the hill.

R2,400 a night for two, two nights minimum. Arrive after two, leave by eleven. The last six kilometres are gravel; any car manages it dry.

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