Terra Khaya Eco Backpackers

What a beautiful setting. One can feel the stress dissipating immediately. The views are stunning. Beds are very comfy. Love, love that the dogs and cats interact so easily and had 2 cats cuddling overnight ❤️. Love that it's an eco farm. Place to go if your soul needs a rest.Word of advice, don't arrive after dark and if there is rain wear shoes that handle very slippery conditions. Make sure you have good lighting to navigate at night. Take a lighter or matches for the parafin lanterns in the rooms.

Terra Khaya is set in a beautiful forest and is a unique experience. The staff are friendly and helpful and there is a lovely communal lounge with a warm fireplace and hot coffee to enjoy on those cold Hogsback days. The creative cabins are built from reclaimed & recycled materials. It's a rustic stay as the cabins don't have electricity, water or ablutions. Ablutions consist of compost toilets, open air hand basins and open air showers. Don't arrive in the dark as this beautiful place doesn't have lit pathways to the cabins. Our arrival experience was a bit hectic as we arrived in the dark and the road to Terra Khaya was muddy & slippery from the rain as was the walkway to our cabin on arrival. If you're prepared for the rustic experience then you will enjoy this magical place. You might even get to bottle feed a hand reared baby goat!

We did the overnight horse ride from Terra Khaya to Elundini and it was the most incredible experience. I couldn't recommend this highly enough. Shane has a wonderful relationship with his horses and they are so chilled, happy and easy to ride. The scenery is spectacular.If you are staying at Terra Khaya itself, just be aware the paths get slippery when it has been raining and you need to walk a fair distance from the parking lot to accommodation so pack light and wear good grip shoes.

Nice backpackersplace. We used a double room. It doesn't have electricity or water, but does have an oil-lamp, toilet not far walking and a warm water shower with a view on the mountains. The host is a very nice and open person and we had a beautifull overnight horse-riding trip. The horse trip we booked was incredible and Shane and his friend were very helpful, patient and great company. The adventurous route through the night with the beautiful milkyway in the sky and the road filled with fireflies! The main house has a huge living and also a big veranda.The living is always warm with open fire. It would definitely be great if we'd go back there in the future.

We stayed here two nights.The arrival was a bit strange, as we were showed to our very little room and didn't really got the warmest welcome.But have to say we also had a 7 hours drive and it was already diner time when we arrived.Next day we met Shane and the other guests. We had the time to explore the beautiful place Shane created and felt in love with it.If you like nature and horses, this is the place.

Absolutely beautiful view and experience.We loved spending time with the horses and the food was delicious. Sadly we did not have a good experience with the horse journey. We travelled in the dark to our camp sight pressured by staff who had more experience than us and were scared for our lives once our guide fell off her horse in the middle of the night going down a slope on mountain.My horse almost fell with me and we were only instructed to wear helmets if we felt necessary, not realising that we had to gallop in the dark with zero torches or night lamps. We got to our camp at almost 8 pm with loud music being played the majority of the night. We didn't get to enjoy the wilderness experience. We only ate dinner at 11 pm and had a very passive aggreisve encounters with the owner when we requested some sort of refund. It was so badly planned and we had no hot water. Won't recommend in the future, unless you go for a day trip with the horses.Be warned the road to the place is in a bad state, especially during rainy season. Highly disappointed with attitude and behaviour. Luckily the horses made up for the experience.

Terra Khaya is my most favourite, off-the-beaten-path home away from home. Simple, off-grid and stylish, it has views to take your breath away, warm, comfy rooms, beautiful animals and lovely people.

Fantastic experience. Highly recommended to tick this on your list of must visits. Host Shane and the team is amazing.

I would love to leave a 5/5 review, but the service here is despicable!!Pros: Absolutely beautiful site, love the buildings made of recycled materials and they have the friendliest dogs, cats and goats that enjoy sleeping over in your cabin.Cons: (1) There was NO staff on site this weekend. If my friend hadn't arrived first, I wouldn't have known which cabin was ours or even how to get there. (2) The website encourages guests to use public transport and to join the communal meals (instead of self-catering), all in the name of supporting local and saving power. They offer incentives for this (i.e first night free, first dinner free etc). So, we decided to play along and used public transport, trusting that the shuttle will pick us up in Hogsback as stated on their website. Sky (the receptionist?) seemed to have no idea that they offer a shuttle service. Getting to the site was an absolute nightmare. Over and above that, not only did we not get our free dinner, (3) there were no meals prepared AT ALL, ALL WEEKEND!! After all the pains of getting there we slept hungry. The next morning, we had to walk (more like hike, given the mountainous terrain and rain) for an hour into town to find a restaurant and have breakfast. Had to pop into Spar and buy food, seeing as this basic hospitality service was not offered. (4) Freezing cold showers!! We were advised to shower in the afternoon after the water had been heated. Except, there was no hot water, EVER! No matter what time we visited the showers, there was no hot water. And trust me, we tried every shower! Taking cold outdoor showers, on a cold and wet weekend was miserable to say the least. (5) We love animals, but obviously, most people do not have a goat as a pet. As cute as Keegan the goat is, he is young, excited and doesn't know his capacity to seriously injure people. We were terrorised by Keegan the goat and not being familiar with goats, we were understandably scared and unsure about how to handle the situation. When we asked Sky for help, he pretty much said he doesn't get paid enough/doesn't actually work here and handling the situation is our own problem. Luckily one of the other guests found us and helped, even though he was nervous and unsure too. Keegan the goat slept outside our cabin door, repeatedly jumping on it and ramming his head into it, so we could not leave our cabin at night to use the toilet. We thought maybe we're just easily scared but no, the next morning, we woke up to screams from the other guests who were being terrorised by Keegan on their way to the showers. (6) Dirty premises. Because there is no staff on site, everything is dirty. Dirty toilets, dirty showers (except the outdoor ones, which receive natural cleaning from the rain). (7) The initial invoice actually led to us overpaying. Shane was all too happy to keep the difference. By then we were so desperate to leave, we didn't even bother to argue. (8) Unsafe. The are no locks on the doors, your valuables are kept safe by holy spirit. And with zero staff in sight, as two females, anything could have happened and we would have had no one to turn to for help.All in all, it seems that this place does not run when Shane is not around. There is clearly a confusion, where eco friendly means dirty, unkempt and having absolutely no hospitality service. The only reason we survived this ordeal is the fact that we kept a positive attitude. i.e. telling ourselves that cold showers build discipline. As paying customers though, there is absolutely no reason why we should spend our weekend trying to turn lemons into lemonade. We got out of there as fast as we could!!Utterly disappointed!!!! I was so excited after seeing the reviews but clearly we came on the worst weekend possible. It'll be hard to forgive and forget this, we'll never visit again.

We always have the absolute best time at Terra-Khaya and this time was no different. Between the incredible animals (especially Keegan the goat, what a hilarious little fellow) and Shane’s amazing cooking, we had an awesome time considering quite wet weather. We especially love to ride with Shane and his incredible horses. It’s the best place to do the most beautiful rides. Thanks so much Terra Khaya, we can’t wait to be back!