Walkabout

The weather turned cold on Saturday night while at Mountain Sanctuary Park, and the wind was howling on Sunday morning.  Despite the weather, we went for a walk down to the rapids before packing up and heading home late morning.

 

Reflections on MSP : I'm 15 years older now so I didn't enjoy 'roughing it' as much as I used to.  We deliberately booked huts without bathrooms as an introduction to camping for the girls, but the lack of bathrooms irritated the adults more than the kids, so next time, we'll book chalets with all the amenities.  It's really hot at MSP so I think it will be better to visit in Autumn when it's a bit cooler.  I loved being with my family and it worked well having Boo and Bridget with us; we really enjoy their company so we will definitely arrange another getaway together in future.

Entertaining little people

While at Mountain Sanctuary recently, we all worked hard to keep the little people entertained.  On Saturday afternoon, I provided fabric painting kits for the girls, and Tonia organized a treasure hunt.

Katy 

Boo 

Elizabeth 

Mountain Sanctuary Park

Our visit to Mountain Sanctuary Park was a walk down memory lane.  We used to come here a lot many years ago to camp and relax.  We haven't been to MSP for about 15 years, so decided it was time to bring the little people for a visit.

 

We stayed in 'cosy huts' - in reality, just wooden zozo huts with a window, but the layout was great and very well equipped. 

 

My friend Bridget Sutton and her daughter Boo joined us for the weekend.  We went for a long walk after breakfast on Saturday morning, and the girls swam at Fountain Pools.

 

Settling down around the fire on Friday evening after arrival - the girls were very excited to rekindle their friendship

Boo and Elizabeth

Miss Katy and her dad Robbie 

The water was icy so the girls warmed up and dried off on the rocks

 

 

Tonia and Bridget

It was a good day in Africa

 

Weekend in review

Our Scrap Addicts group spent the weekend scrapping at the 2-day Scissor Sisters event on the West Rand.  The venue and food were awful but we always enjoy being together and the scrapbook layouts were great, so we ended up having a great time.  We're still settling in to being a group of 4 instead of 5 since Lynette retired to Cape Town recently...we really miss you my friend!!

An owl family lives in one of the courtyards at the school, and baby owl was quite chilled with all the ladies taking photos of him/her; Mom glared at us from a nearby tree

 

Linda had these cool T-shirts made for us which we all wore on Sunday...

Linda

Leonie

Lynn

Bush breakaway

I was blessed to have a few days away last week.  First stop was a weekend away with Leonie at Zaagkuilsdrift Lodge (find them on Facebook) near Bela-Bela, an awesome lodge deep in the African bush owned by Gerrie and Jaco.  It is recognized as one of the top birding areas in South Africa; a group of birdwatchers from America were at the lodge while we were there.

 

The entire lodge is off grid, but you won't now it unless they tell you.  The lodge opened in December last year, and the cost of R650 per person per night including dinner and breakfast is ridiculously good value.  We shared an upstairs loft with 2 separate bedrooms and a huge bathroom with beautiful views out over the bush.

 

 

Gerrie welcomed us after our journey along a long and dusty sand road, and a beer shandy on the verandah washed the dust away.  The lodge staff then proceeded to spoil us and take care of our every need until we left on Sunday. 

 

We spent some time at the dam watching birds, and slowly switching to "relax you're out of the city" mode

Sunset in the bush was spectacular

 

Dinner was hosted in the boma, where our food was cooked over the open fire by Jaco

A bucket containing a flask of hot water and delicious rusks was at our door early in the morning for coffee in bed

Jaco and his team cooked up a delicious breakfast the next morning, which we enjoyed while watching the wild birds and the turkey mama and her babies

Hmmm - the tables are the perfect size for scrapbooking...

It was hot hot hot - 39 degrees in the shade!  After an afternoon snooze, we headed out on a game drive.  The property is relatively small, but we enjoyed seeing several buck species, giraffe and zebra

Jaco and Gerrie are the perfect hosts, and they really made us feel at home - thanks guys.  This is their 'weekend hobby' - they both have regular jobs in the city.  We loved our stay at Zaagkuil...we will definitely be back!