We were recently invited to spend three nights at Rhythm Full On, a 100% vegan self-catering cottage in the (not-so-sleepy) town of McGregor.
Rhythm Full On is a simple cottage nestled among the tall trees in one of McGregor’s most picturesque and quiet streets. Owner, Pnina, describes it as “a space to live your life by the rhythm of the sun, rising with its rays and sinking with it below the ‘Krans’.” And that’s EXACTLY what we did during our stay!
The space is minimalistic but fully-furnished with linen couches and open spaces.
It has two single beds (which, when pushed side by side appear to be one double), a bathroom with a bath and a shower, a kitchen with a fridge, gas stove and other necessities.
The garden is rich with life and home-grown veggies, with herbs and flowers that you are welcome to help yourself to during your stay!
Owner of McGregor Country Getaways (and Pnina’s daughter), Mira, arranged for an organic food basket to be delivered upon our arrival from a local vendor. This is a service that is available to all guests at an additional cost.
The best part (as mentioned before) is that this is strictly-vegan accommodation.
I have to be honest and say that as lovely and relaxing as our stay was, we didn’t spend a lot of time in the gem of a cottage. We found a good many activities to keep ourselves busy in McGregor, which included a gathering of the villagers to celebrate their Liggies en Liedjies street carnival: a year-end celebration which included several choirs from surrounding communities, a steel band and performances (in the street) from some ballet dancers!
Friday night’s choice for dinner was Tebaldi’s Restaurant at Temenos Retreat.
The platter we opted for consisted of masala potatoes, dahl and bamboo panda and Asian salad. Whilst it was absolutely delicious and burst with flavour, we did think it was over-priced at R120 (even by Cape Town standards!).
The beauty about McGregor is that it is so tiny that you can walk everywhere, which is exactly what we did in the pitch dark, back to Rhythm Full On that night.
Pnina and Mira have provided yoga mats, which we made full use of on Saturday morning before heading off to the weekly market held in the church square. The hilarious thing is that it only lasts for one single hour, from 9am-10am which means if you’re on Cape Town time (which is late for everything), you will miss it! The market consists of locals, selling and buying fresh produce and baked treats along with preserves, jams and jewellery. There were one or two vegan-friendly goods, but we just settled for some homemade seed crackers to take back with us to the cottage.
We grabbed some of the legendary sourdough bread from Cafe 51 which was opened in 2018 by Gerard Back and Phillip Loxton who moved to McGregor from Cape Town, in favour of the country life. We understand why it is so popular and stayed for a cup of coffee (black) before making off with our prized bread.
After making our own breakfast at Rhythm Full On, we set out to explore a bit, which included the local stores (one, in particular, Made in McGregor, had vegan products aplenty!), art galleries, and a museum (which is literally a tiny room!).
After a Saturday afternoon nap, we were treated to a relaxing therapeutic couples massage (R400 pp/ph) by Deirdre Scott-Rogerson and Atholl Hay of Riverstone Farm Retreat. The experience was other-worldly, as both Deirdre and Atholl clearly knew how to hit all the “right spots”. We totally “zenned out” from the hour-long session and left feeling absolutely rejuvenated.
We popped in at The Fat Lady’s Arms for an early dinner. Whilst not seemingly offering any specific vegan options, the folks at this gorgeous eatery were more than happy to make us vegan-friendly pizzas, sans the cheese. They were absolutely DIVINE!
As you drive towards McGregor, there’s a sign on the left saying “Eat, bray, love.” Turn into the Eseltjiesrus Donkey Sanctuary and spend an hour or two with the donkeys!
Mira also invited us to her house to have lunch with her mom Pnina and cooked us (what can only be described as) a banquet of plant-based goodness. I have NEVER had a home-cooked meal like THIS in my life before!
This is what I managed to dish up onto my plate:
Grilled smoked tofu, basil pesto, kale chips, Yugoslavian finger fruit, tahini-miso dressing, white and red quinoa cooked in organic corn broth served w/gomasio sprinkle and toasted pistachio nuts (perfected by Pnina), whole roasted cauliflower, char-grilled baby marrows, roasted tamari parsnips, turnip, radish, cucumber, red onion and beetroot pickles, toasted nori spirals, toasted black sesame seeds, toasted coconut flakes, organic black olives, organic sunflower sprouts and rocket AND (!) coconut-almond keto-friendly naan.
Have you ever!?
Just when I thought the feast couldn’t possibly get any better, Mira and Pnina brought out a trio of desserts (as they couldn’t decide what to feed us!): a keto-friendly chocolate protein brownies made with apples (covered in a vanilla coconut cream), a raw vegan blueberry and a lemon cheesecake (grain-free, gluten-free and sugar-free) and baked apple crumbles!
And just like that, our little getaway was over. The time absolutely flew!
I can highly recommend Rhythm Full On for a gorgeous vegan-friendly getaway!
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Loved reading this 🥰 A magical trip to the country