In keeping with what seems to be general journalistic trends these days, the headline to this story has been unashamedly plagiarised — from the lodge's brochure. This is not to condone the mortal editorial sin by any means, but merely to honour an establishment with a marketing slogan that is for once undeniably, irrevocably … true!

Tsitsikamma Lodge is indeed easy to find. It's right on the N2, just seven kilometres west of the Storms River Bridge.

Such a location is a mixed blessing: wonderful for attracting business but tricky to convince people that here lies a tranquil holiday spot, especially when they've collected a handful of speeding fines along the way (beware, the Garden Route is ruled by grey cyclopses). Those who are ultra-sensitive to noise should mention so at booking and perhaps avoid the luxury cabins as they are closest to the traffic.

It's not worth making any more fuss about the N2. Once you've entered the lodge gardens brimming with greenery, tinkling streams and birdsong, received the characteristic charming greeting from the reception staff, settled into your cabin and tried out the bubbly spa bath standard in all the rooms, it's a case of "Road, What road?"

Rising from the ashes

The mastermind behind all this loveliness is owner Vossie Vosloo who, together with partners who soon fell by the wayside, bought the property in 1981. But the history goes further back to the early 20s and 30s when farmer van Tonder cut timber in the surrounding forests.

Then, in 1936 the Anderson family bought the place and put up a small post office, bank, grocery store, café and a service station. They also started the Pine View Motel for government officials and passers-by, offering eight rooms, a bath and a long drop. Even today old folk in these parts still refer to the area as Anderson's Halt but, by the time Vossie took over the motel, even the long drop was in a sorry state.

"I was still working for the Department of Forestry then," Vossie recalled over a glass of vino at dinner. "It was quite something to be a salaried employee and build up a lodge." But Vossie took things slowly, first establishing a camp for school children, then putting up cabins and expanding the lodge to a two-star establishment. His meticulousness paid off in 1996 when the lodge was awarded the AA Best Leisure Hotel in South Africa. Not bad for what started out as a one-long-drop stopover.

Then the worst happened: in August that year, just months after a fire had swept through the forest and nature trails, Vossie received a call as he was driving back from Knysna.

"The lodge is burning down," his staff panicked.

"I drove so slowly," he recalled. "Everything in that place had been built with my own hands. I thought, if the restaurant is gone, then it's all over."

Well, the gods must have been smiling on the restaurant if on nothing else — the fire stopped short of Vossie's pride and joy. Then the rebuilding began.

"All the records were destroyed. We had people who had booked and paid for holidays and no idea who they were or how to contact them. We had only one option: to get it all finished before Christmas. And we did."

Striptease the natural way

With his frank way of putting things and the naughty glint in his eyes, Vossie is quite a character. Recently he's settled into a state of semi-retirement from the day-to-day excitement of running a lodge, but his family has carried on with all the things that make it a great place to visit.

"I think we got a few things right here," said Vossie, tucking into the dinner buffet which offers guests an appealing spread. "After the fire we put spa baths in every cabin… and people love that. Then the prices are good for South Africans. Yes, and we have the nature trails."

The forestry land bordering Tsitsikamma Lodge is for walkers and daydreamers, with paths leading to rivers, swimming holes and secret lovers' benches. The trail that cannot be missed — even if you're up for only modest exhibitionism — is the Striptease Trail.

It's a four-hour meander following part of the Kruis River, which was the only passable route through the Tsitsikamma Mountains for the woodcutters and farmers of the 19th century. They tended to keep their kit on, but lodge guests are encouraged to do quite the opposite.

At regular intervals the river widens into tea-coloured pools which nature could only have intended for skinny dipping. But Vossie's trail advises a leisurely strip and the pools are named accordingly.

Closer to the lodge it's all modesty in the Pebble and Honeymoon pools, but once past the halfway mark, few could miss the intention as you pass the likes of Topless Pool, Bottomless Pool, the Boobs Pool and Fantasy Pool, each nestled amid flowering watsonias, serenaded by sunbird song and seeming to get lovelier than the previous delicious swimming spot. After exhausting your fantasies, there's an escape route, but the truly adventurous can wander still further to Kaalgat Pool, where nothing is left to your imagination.

It's all perfectly respectable (a bell at the entrance to Kaalgat Pool warns of any intruders) and also safe, as the brochure says:

"There is nothing in the pools that will pinch, bite, grab, sting or want to catch you (except perhaps your partner)."

Slipping naked into the cool mountain water that is as pure as the rain itself, more than one guest has declared: "I can't possibly leave all this."