A Family Legacy & The Power of Possibility
Words – Claire Roadley
If you ever doubted the positive impact of tourism on local communities, The Cavern Drakensberg Resort & Spa is proof otherwise. Established in 1941 by Ruth and Bill Carte, this family-run retreat in KwaZulu-Natal’s Northern Drakensberg has flourished for generations, staying true to Bill’s vision: “Our work is to create beauty, to make the land more fertile, to make our living and to leave the world better than when we first came into it.”
After Bill’s passing in 1954, Ruth, with four young children, built The Cavern into a thriving resort. By the 1980s, her sons Peter and Anthony took over, expanding the family legacy. In 2000, Anthony, Jean, and their daughters established Montusi Mountain Lodge nearby. With Peter and Rhona now retired, sister property Sungubala Eco Camp has been added as a self-catering option. From humble beginnings, The Cavern has grown into a renowned award-winning retreat, still guided by the Carte family’s vision and commitment to hospitality.
But the true impact of this hotel is measured by far more than just its many happy guest returns. The family is absolutely passionate about making a difference in their local community… with an unwavering belief in the power of possibility, especially when it comes to education!
The Cavern family founded and is heavily involved in The Royal Drakensberg Education Trust which is a non-profit set up to help support and transform the local rural communities living in the region through quality education initiatives.
Each year the Trust aims to achieve these minimum outcomes:
Baby Boost – This project supports around 30 mothers and carers (often Gogos/grandmothers) annually to ensure the first 1000 days of a child’s life support development, through coaching sessions, toy libraries, books and interactive play groups. 576 carers and baby interactions through playgroups this year, with 72 home visits and 36 carers trained.
Royal Drakensberg Primary School – this facility was built and is financially supported by The Cavern family, corporates and friends to support 130 local children, including salaries for 7 teachers and 2 interns. They have a 99% progress and pass rate for grades RRR to Grade 4! Over 750 extra mural activities are provided annually.
Khanyisela Project – 18 pre-schools serving 850 little ones in the AmaZizi community, under the care of 50 practitioners trained in early childhood development, health and nutrition. With friends and supporters, they’ve helped build classrooms, repaired playgrounds, upgraded classrooms, installed toilets, painted and supplied learning resources.
Teacher Development – supported 55 practitioners across 21 schools, including 15 courses and 6 workshops. Six teachers were formally educated in 2024 as well as 4 interns with 120 mentor visits clocked up over the year.
Wellness Programme – provided 191 400 meals (porridge) for 1000 children across 21 schools as well as run 2280 yoga sessions and 4 nature outings
Community reading – The Royal Drakensberg Trust has gifted over 1,200 books across 4 local communities, reaching over 600 children.
The Trust focuses its energy around their “Theory of Change”, believing that if the local children, especially those from birth up to the age of 8, get the support they need at the start of their lives, that they will be better prepared for their next phase of education. Part of this is ensuring that standards in rural education continually improve so that these incredible young minds can realise their own power of possibility!
“This change”, Megan says, “begins in the first 1000 days where we stimulate neurological pathways through our BabyBoost programme. We grow and develop young children in our ECD, Khanyisela Project which supports 850 children and 50 practitioners and this all happens out of Royal Drakensberg, our hub and our heart… which incidentally has 130 little people enrolled in 2023. And our mission at Royal Drakensberg is that children learn2read so that they can read2learn”.
Thanks to the support of the greater Cavern family, (which includes many guests and Rotary societies around the globe, swirls and ripples of positive change are created – with the children being the cheerful beneficiaries!
Just one success story of this programme is that if Nkabini Phola. Phola grew up in the local village of amaZizi, raised primarily by his Gogo in very challenging circumstances. Not even the treacherous five kilometres walk to school, or any of the other obstacles that he faced on his path would deter him from his determination to gain an education. When he was in grade 9, following the untimely death of both his parents, he was forced to step up into the role of father figure and breadwinner for his younger siblings at just 14 years old, selling clay mouldings on the road to eke out a living.
Despite everything, he completed his schooling, and a year later secured a job as a waiter at The Cavern, quickly working his way up to bartender. He then managed to secure a place at UNISA university, working during his holidays back at The Cavern to earn money. Somehow, he still managed to find spare time to volunteer at a local primary school in his amaZizi village. Seeing his passion for education, Megan encouraged him to apply for their internship at Royal Drakensberg Primary School (RDPS) and today Phola is a qualified Teacher, fulfilling his childhood dream of shaping the lives of others through the power of education. He also now sponsors his nephews so that they do not have to pay for transport and school uniform, paying it forward. If you can dream it, you can do it!
Over the years there have been many similar success stories… including Sibonelo, the cook who has become a teacher, Phola waiter who now helps head up Parent Power, and Idah, the child-minder that now teaches – and Samkelo, a young student who has conducted the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra in Pretoria.
The Cavern is a unique home-from-home hotel with real heart, where strangers become friends, couples reconnect and families truly bond. With every year, and every repeat visitor, the Cavern family grows. Many guests become regular donors to the various projects supported. The African spirit of Ubuntu continues to make an impact wherever communities work together to create the possible.
Essentials:
Getting there: A 4hr drive from King Shaka International Airport, Durban
Where to stay: The Cavern Drakensberg Resort & Spa – https://www.cavern.co.za/
Montusi Mountain Lodge – https://montusi.co.za/
Sungubala Eco Camp – https://www.sungubala.co.za/
How to support: https://www.royal-drakensberg.org.za/