About Us

Who are we?

Vicky and I travelled parts of South Africa for a year and a half when destiny led us to Plettenberg Bay where we ran out of petrol. We needed to find work and a place to stay, luckily we came across a room at Dots Plott a retired old farm house in the shape of a barn, owned by Erez and Toni Shaked who gave us the opportunity to start our Backpackers.

At the time Vicky and I had R250 to our name and worked as waiters at one of the local restaurants. We took our R250 and rented a floor sander and started to clean up the place. Armed only with a pack of post-it notes and a cell phone we handed our number to any one we thought could bring us guests. With a month and a half till Student rage (Pletts annual student festival) we took every hard earned cent we made at the restaurant and bought paint, linen and second hand beds. Our first guests came in on the 20th of November 2005, 30 students for 10 days. Our first shuttle was an old 1984 Volkswagen Golf we picked up for only R1000. The following years rage we took in 250 students for 14 days on beds and camping. Since then Starling has grown into a beautiful country style international backpackers accommodating visitors from all over the world.

For two years Vicky and I worked at the restaurant at night and carried on building and creating our special place. With very little money we renovated and built new structures on the property with recycled and reused building materials taken from broken down building sites.

Today our friends and guests enjoy the great atmosphere of country life and true South African hospitality.

Vision

Just like we were given the opportunity by people who believed in us, we BELIEVE in the people and would like to see Starling Village become more than just a Backpackers, but an institution that can make a difference in the community and achieve Fair Trade in tourism.

Mission statement

Our Mission is to be the best at what we do and share our home with travellers, where they can lay their heads down, relax and feel welcome during their travels in South Africa. In short - WE TAKE CARE OF YOU!!!!

Our Moto

Fond of company

We would like to thank all our guests who have stayed and supported us and for making all this possible.