About us - The Story of la Food Forest


Our Team

Each member of the team, including their names, roles, and a sentence or two about their background, interests, or skills.

Amos Kapenda
Steward - La Food Forest

Passionate Gardener, skilled Handyman and Nature Lover. Longterm employee since 2015 at La Vista Lodge. Loved the concept to grow food at the property from the beginning.

Shanté and Sphe
Front of House, Hospitality Angels at La Vista Lodge
Shanté and Sphe

Adé Alao
Hotel Manager - La Vista Lodge

Smart and Visionary Thinker. Started in February 2019 taking responsibilities for the accommodation business. Takes the challenge to marry the Food Forest with the Hotel Kitchen.



Axel Will
Owner of La Vista Lodge since 2010


Founder - La Food Forest, the 7 year permaculture Garden project on the property
Artisan Baker and passionate Gardener living in Germany with Eva and the kids 🇩🇪 . Visits Plettenberg Bay with family in the quieter months also to maintain the property in the winter months. Can’t wait to get hands dirty in the Food Forest Garden again.


Vision and Values

At La Vista Lodge we are known for incredible views, attention to detail, lovely guest service & our growing efforts towards becoming an ecofriendly tourist attraction in the heart of South Africa’s Garden Route.


An explanation of our vision and values: Offering delicious food for holiday makers that comes straight from the garden was the ultimate goal.

We share our vision to grow food and values of permaculture gardening for the food forest and the hotel, and explain how they align with our personal and professional goals. This helps visitors to understand the purpose and mission of the project, and to build trust in our brand. 

We are creating a peaceful and rejuvenating environment for guests.

  1. Fresh, sustainable, and delicious: our hotel's food forest."
  2. "Luxury and sustainability in perfect harmony: our permaculture food forest.“
  3. "Experience the freshest ingredients with our hotel's food forest."
  4. "An eco-conscious culinary adventure: our permaculture food forest."


Our Story

La Food Forest is a 7 year project to establish a stable ecosystem from edible perennials at la Vista Lodge **** in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. La is an old word which is defined as "Oh look!" An example of la used as an interjection is in the sentence, "La! What a beautiful food forest!" which means "Oh look! What a beautiful food forest!"
Covid-19 has impacted our business drastically just like most other businesses across South Africa and the rest of the world.
 

How the idea for the food forest came about?

September 2019 we wanted to grow more herbs and googled how to perfectly grow herbs. After a short research section Axel found out about the concept of a food forest where herbs are just one out of 7 layers that constantly produce food. The food forest concept was started.

challenges we have experienced along the way.

- covid19 Pandemic
- Drought, heavy Rains and Winds
- Reducing the dependence to shop for food.

successes we have experienced along the way:

- herbs grow incredibly well.
- Cape Gooseberries are one of our favorite plants, they are self multiplying throughout the food forest.
- We reached 100 different edible plants by 2021

 

This helps visitors to understand the history and evolution of the project, and build a connection with our journey.

We offer delicious artisan baked goods as well as having our restaurant for guests positioned inside one of the most popular accommodation in Plettenberg Bay.

We hope to have all of you as future guests when this crisis is over and a more beautiful food forest then ever before producing food also for you as a guest. 

We are looking forward to offer our boutique personalized service that you won’t forget!

Contact Information

Get in touch with us 
email addresses:
info@lavistalodge.com
phone numbers:

and physical address:
Rosheen Crescent 17
6600 Plettenberg Bay
South Africa

reach out to us with questions or feedback.