September on Kanoneiland is a magical moment in time that sits between seasons in a way that makes it the perfect time to visit the area. The worst of icy cold winter is gone, temperatures are starting to climb, and the gardens around African Vineyard Boutique Hotel & Spa are at their fullest before the extreme summer heat takes over.
It is a good time to be on the island, and a particularly good time to be there as a couple looking for romantic things to do in Upington. Kanoneiland has one purpose and that is to slow down time, and to help you create memories of a lifetime.
A Destination Spa in Upington, Set Apart from the Ordinary
The Kalahari Wellness Spa at African Vineyard is where the romance of the island finds its most intentional expression. Treatments are carried out in private rooms using Kalahari Ancient Desert Secrets products, a range formulated from indigenous Kalahari botanicals. In September, when the air is warm enough for outdoor treatments, the setting adds something to the experience that four walls alone cannot.
Luxury Accommodation and Couple’s Spa Packages
The Kisses for Two in the Orchard is the most complete option, combining accommodation, a two-course dinner, sparkling wine, candles and rose petals in the room, and up to 90 minutes of treatments per person on a one-night stay, or 180 minutes across two nights. It is priced per couple.
The Couples Connect is a shared half-day: a sauna session and hydrotherapy together, followed by a sixty-minute hot stone full body massage and a pressure-point foot massage, closing with lunch and a drink. The afternoon after is yours to fill as you choose, or not fill at all.
The Vineyard Date Night pairs a back, neck and shoulder massage with a two-course dinner. It works on its own or as one evening within a separately booked longer stay.
There are many more options available at our Wellness Spa and we can help you curate the perfect experience.
Other Exciting and Romantic Things to Do in The Area
Spring Picnics on the Island
Kanoneiland lends itself to picnics without much effort on your part. The property’s gardens are shaded and well-kept, the vineyards stretch out in every direction, and in spring time the mornings are cool enough and the afternoons warm enough to spend real time outside. Picnics can be arranged on request through the reservations team, tailored to what you want from the outing. It is an uncomplicated way to spend a few hours on an island that asks very little of you beyond showing up and soaking up your surroundings.
Augrabies Falls
The Orange River begins as the Senqu River high in the Drakensberg mountains of Lesotho, more than 3 000 metres above sea level, and travels roughly 2 200 kilometres before it reaches the Atlantic Ocean at Alexander Bay. For most of that distance it is wide, slow and flat. At Augrabies, about ninety kilometres from Kanoneiland, that changes completely.
The river hits an ancient granite plateau and splits into nineteen separate channels before dropping 56 metres into a gorge that the water itself carved over hundreds of millions of years. The gorge runs for 18 kilometres and reaches depths of around 240 metres. The Khoi people called it Aukoerebis, meaning place of great noise, and after good rains upstream the name earns itself fully — the sound reaches you before the sight does, and the volume of water moving through that narrow granite channel is genuinely difficult to process when you are standing at the edge of it.
In drier periods the falls are quieter, but the gorge and the surrounding semi-arid landscape are worth the drive regardless. The park covers 500 square kilometres, and the contrast between the parched, rocky terrain and the sheer force of the river cutting through it is striking in any season. There is also a local legend worth knowing: the plunge pool at the base of the main falls is said to hold the world’s largest hidden cache of diamonds, carried downstream over centuries by the Orange River from kimberlite pipes deep in the interior. Nobody has retrieved them yet.
Morning is the better time to visit, before the heat builds. From African Vineyard the drive takes about an hour, which makes a day trip entirely manageable, with dinner at DiVine Restaurant waiting on the other side of it.
The Orange River
The same river that carves the gorge at Augrabies runs quietly alongside Kanoneiland. From African Vineyard, the water is close enough to be part of the daily rhythm of the property — present in the mornings, audible in the evenings, and visible from parts of the gardens.
Several operators in the Upington area run guided canoe trips on the Orange River, ranging from a few hours on the water to multi-day trails that camp on the riverbanks overnight. The spring window is one of the better times to be on the river. Temperatures are comfortable, the water is calm, and the birdlife along the banks is active in the early morning making a slow paddle downstream feel like a proper encounter with the landscape rather than just exercise.
For couples using African Vineyard as a base, a half-day on the river pairs naturally with a late lunch back at the property or an evening spa treatment. The reservations team can point you toward operators in the area.
Vineyard walks on Kanoneiland
Kanoneiland is a working agricultural island. The vineyards that surround African Vineyard are not decorative — they are farmed, and walking through them in spring means walking through rows that are actively growing, with new green visible on the vines and the particular quiet that comes from being surrounded by something that is alive and unhurried. Early mornings are the best time, when the light is low and the air is still cool. No planning is required. The vineyards begin at the edge of the property.
Dining at DiVine Restaurant
DiVine Restaurant serves fresh, seasonally influenced food using locally sourced ingredients. In spring, evenings are warm enough for outdoor dining, and the restaurant’s pace suits a long dinner taken without urgency. Breakfast in the garden before a day trip to Augrabies, a relaxed lunch between spa treatments, or dinner under the Northern Cape sky — the restaurant accommodates all of these without needing to be anything other than what it is. Advance reservations are recommended, particularly over weekends.
Book Your Romantic Getaway at Our Luxury Accommodation and Destination Spa in Upington
African Vineyard has 14 en-suite rooms across four luxury honeymoon suites, six luxury rooms, and four standard rooms. Spring weekends fill up, and spa treatments require advance booking to secure your preferred time.
To enquire about availability or to put together a stay that combines accommodation, spa treatments, and dining, contact the reservations team directly.
Phone: 060 503 8449 | 083 461 1724
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.africanvineyard.co.za
