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marine walks where whales can be seen splashing in the water right near the shore , mountain biking trails , visits to their Cape Vulture breeding area and more .
The De Hoop Collection also forms part of a group of accommodation and tourism providers called Country routes , where a mix of top luxury establishments work together in some form of consortium to offer the visitor a nice and assured buffet of choice country wide , as they visit South Africa .
We checked in at the reception where a friendly lady greeted us . A gentleman then showed us to our two luxurious suites . Yes , we each had our own room and boy oh boy , it is fancy and impressive . When I felt the bed , I told Mike to just go away and come fetch me in time for dinner . I was fast asleep on that comfortable bed before he was out the door . I woke a couple of hours later , still in full riding gear , minus the helmet and gloves . I called out for Mike next door , but he too had grabbed the opportunity for a little post ride siesta .
When the big man finally rustled , we took a little walk around the place to check everything out . There is an impressive swimming pool that looks over the valley and river plus a lagoon below . A raised vegetable garden built into a circular pattern boasted a bounty of fresh herbs and vegetables . Many of which would feature on our dinner plates a little while later . In the courtyard and scattered around the outside of the buildings , were some super impressive trees that the guy had said were Natal fig trees . They reminded me of a mangrove swamp with gnarly roots and stems that fused together all over the place . Mike explained the dimensions and the tree was as tall as it was wide with a girth of ten metres in places .
At the dinner place , aptly named the Fig tree restaurant , we were again
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