There was ice hanging fromthe branches. The crystal-clear tears framed the panorama of mountains and the Karoo, coating a bench in a surreal web.
We snapped photos enthusiastically, hurried to escape the icy morning air and eat breakfast in a cosy dining room.
The day had barely begun, but already we had been infused with enthusiasm as ranger Les Slabbert had pointed out the winter scene. It was the last morning of a whirlwind trip to Samara Lodge in the Great Karoo and we were now accustomed to Les's infectious energy.
The night before, he'd phoned us to tell us there were aardvark in the area and we all rushed to the game drive vehicle to go out and have a look at these elusive creatures.
Sitting in the vehicle, noses streaming from the cold and hands numb, we watched as the aardvark ambled through the night.
Located 55km outside Graaff-Reinet, the fourth oldest town in South Africa, and 258km from Port Elizabeth, Samara Private Game Reserve covers 28 000ha.
Owners Mark and Sarah Tompkins bought the land more than 10 years ago, when it was still farmland. They knocked down some of the old farmhouses, set about restocking it with the game that had once wandered over it, and brought a dream to fruition.
Sarah laughingly recalls being taken to view the land, saying to Mark if the estate agent thought she would buy even one centimetre of the Karoo, he was mistaken.
Sarah, a South African now resident in London with husband Mark and her three children, had grown up driving through the Karoo as quickly as possible and thought there was nothing there.
Mark and Sarah were instantly charmed that first day, picnicking atop one of the mountains that cradle a natural amphitheatre.
This is near the place where Eve Palmer's The Plains of Camdeboo was set, and the land does charm with its vistas of soft light, clouds gently blowing across the landscape.
The couple now make several trips every year to oversee the running of the Samara reserve.
The Karoo Lodge, which opened 18 months ago, has three suites within the main buildings.
A manor house is also being constructed, which will be for the exclusive use of eight guests.
There are also plans to open a tented camp.
But Sarah's vision extends beyond hospitality. Standing on the top of a mountain we look out over a vista of plains. "Imagine," said Sarah, "hundreds of years ago, with animals migrating over these plains."
And we could just about do that.