Horrible Experience

We camped at Altyd Water from the 26th to 30th December having booked in April. Upon arrival we had drama with neighbouring campers over them using the fridges that our group had paid to use which (we were promised by the owner) allows you exclusive use of the lapa area, fridges and freezers. We had to sort this out ourselves.

We were warned upon arrival by both the owner and other campers that there had been a theft a few days prior and were advised to pack all our things away at night. Which we did. The owner also advised that there would be two of her workers on patrol at night. These poor guys have no security training, nothing to protect themselves with... not even torches to see in the dark. They have to work on the farm during the day provisioning firewood, collecting the campsite's dirt and heaven knows what else and then are expected to stand guard all night. Blatant exploitation of people who are forced into doing what the owners say because they have no other options.

On our final day one of the ladies in our group noticed her bag containing her cellphone and purse was taken from her tent. This was done in broad daylight.

That same night at 1:30am I awoke to somebody in the separate compartment of my tent which I was sharing with my wife and 6 year old daughter. I disturbed him and he ran off. I found a few of my items which he had taken hidden in a tire next to my tent. We alerted the entire campsite and everyone was on high alert and decided they would pack up and leave at first light.

He was then spotted at the opposite (entrance) end of the camp site and we chased him through the bushes where he dropped my 6 year old daughter's peak cap (an indication of his diminutive stature). Our group called the cops and another group called the owner who also called the cops. The owner called her guys who were patrolling the campsite and hurled abuse and blame at them for what was happening. She also asked them why we're all making such a big fuss at that time of the night when the bag and cellphone was ****** hours earlier (I heard her conversion with them myself). The cops arrived very quickly and told us that they receive calls about Altyd Water campsite every weekend. They told us there are a number of unsavoury elements in the area who torment campers there.

After the cops left we thought our nightmare was over... But they returned and while the one distracted us on the one end of the campsite, they returned to my tent and cut a meter long slit in it but he was once again disturbed and another chase into the vineyards ensued.

This torment continued until it was light enough to pack up and leave. So... I would recommend camping at Altyd Water if you're wanting to become a victim of crime, torment and potential physical harm. The owners have ZERO regard for the safety of the campers as you can just come and go onto the property. Nor do they have any regard for the people who work for them from what we saw of their treatment of those two poor farm workers trying to keep us safe while not even having the means to keep themselves safe.