I am 100% one of those people that say, ‘Camping? Nope, not for me!’ In fact, it took Shane about 9 years to convince me to go camping, which we did for the first time as a family a few months ago at Mountain Sanctuary Park. I can’t believe how adamant I was about hating it and how painfully wrong I turned out to be.
We spent two nights at Mountain Sanctuary and it was absolutely, yes I’m going to use this word, awesome! I loved every second of it, even the part where there we had to sit in the car for half an hour until a massive thunderstorm moved away, we then slept in our tent surrounded by howling winds and the sound of pouring rain. It was so cool being all snug inside right next to two of my favourite people.
Everything about this trip from where we pitched our tent, to the weather, to the absolutely breathtaking terrain that looked like it came straight out of a movie, to the amazing natural rock pools all helped make this one of the best times we have ever spent away.
Over the last little while, I have been working in conjunction with Gumtree to bring you guys some tips on how to get financially savvy when it comes to parenting and one of the things that I thought would be cool to share was ways on how to plan a family getaway without breaking the bank, but still creating an adventure that was memorable and fun. Camping, even though I had never done it before, seemed like a good place to start. No flights, no over-priced hotels, no sneaky costly surprises – just good old fashion outdoor appreciation and quality time with your loved ones away from everyday life.
Here’s why I have quickly come to realise that camping can be a nice easy way to have a break without having to spend too much cash. There are two ways of going about it, you could kit yourself out with all the gear new or secondhand (which can both be found on Gumtree) from the tent, to the inflatable mattresses, to the sleeping bags, lanterns, ground sheets etc. What’s cool about this option is that none of this stuff ever will ever lose value because you will need it time and time again. I guess you could kind of look at it as building your own mobile hotel in a way 🙂
The other way you could go about the whole thing is by finding that one friend who loves camping more than life itself and would only be more than happy to lend you their entire set-up and happily send you into the loving arms of Mother Nature. Again, a pretty savvy way to head out on a mini-vacay without putting any major strain on the old wallet.
Camping also makes for such a great memory generator because you’re so involved in every step of it, from building your shelter to making fire and cooking your food to embracing the great outdoors and all it has to offer. And it’s a whole different ball game when you have young kids because what could more awesome than sleeping outside in a tent and getting to be little explorers out in the wild.
This trip is perfect for anyone and everyone who appreciates the beautiful outdoors, long walks, a swim or two in clear blue mountain pools surrounded by the most beautiful rock formations. We only walked to two of the rock pools on the premises, we didn’t get to see the rapids and the gorge, but I’ve been told that they are amazing. Nina absolutely loved them, we couldn’t get her out, even though they were pretty chilly! And you do you want to hear the best part about this all? Mountain Sanctuary is only about two hours from Johannesburg. Two hours to take you to one of the prettiest places surrounding our city. Oh and if camping isn’t your thing, they also have a few log cabins dotted here and there on the property. They also have a huge sparkly swimming pool and a fully stocked bar right next to it, if a swim and a G’n T is what you are after.
I kind of feel like I’m saying the same thing over and over again in this post, but I really did love this last little adventure of ours.
Address: Mountain Sanctuary Park, Rustenburg, 0300
Telephone number: 014 534 0114
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