Travel dreams shattered but memories of trips before Covid remain in our hearts forever!
Our little bnb has thus far survived the onslaught of a deadly second Covid wave with some cancellations over the peak holiday season.
I feel we're still in for a bumpy ride though as the number of cases increase and the available hospital beds decrease!
Fortunately the local training centre opened early and our regular motoring companies are back in full force, so we're truly thankful for that, even though it's a load of hard work with having to sanitize everything all of the time, sweating inside the PPE's in the midst of summer!
Units are deep-cleaned before and after guest changeovers, but we no longer offer a daily cleaning service as per guidelines from the tourism bodies to minimize contact, so it makes our task easier in that respect!
I really miss the interaction with guests, but we still manage to have the odd short chats all masked up from a distance or by cell phone!
The son made sure Mom and Dad now have the best medical grade masks which were being sold online when our Covid curve flattened.
Our live-in staff member came back from his vacation but is in quarantine for another week before he can help indoors!
We thankfully had one long booking by a family that's survived real stormy weather; a car crash claimed the life of a young mother with two gorgeous little girls, then granny who now takes care of them, lost her husband unexpectedly.
Mother and son with the two little ones came to stay at Lily's Cottage for a lengthy holiday which they extended, thus saving us when cancellations took place after the beaches were closed for bathing and walking, and a stricter curfew was announced.
Our pool provided much fun for this family during some real steamy hot days!
Never under-estimate the will of a strong woman though; granny discovered that all they needed to step onto the beach, was a fishing license and fishing rods, as angling is still permitted.
Although I do not encourage breaking the rules I find prohibiting people from being outdoors on the beaches really ludicrous, as sun and fresh air is what we need now during this pandemic!
I do understand closures that were initially imposed for public holidays, as that was to avoid over-crowding, but to still have that in place now, really in nonsensical!
Hubby being a keen fisherman provided the gear; the little ones had their fishing nets and they fished on the beach between rock pools to their hearts' content a little south of Durban:)
Pictorial Memories of 2019 travels
Some of you have already read about our trip to the Western Cape, and this post sums up a real special time with good friends just before our hard lockdown during the first Covid wave in March 2019.
Our trip started with a flight to Cape Town, from where we took a three hour road trip to the secluded Stonehill River Lodge outside the historic little town of Swellendam in the Overberg region.
Farming landscape framed by the Langeberg Mountain range
Swellendam
Drostdy Museum in Swellendam
One of the most photographed churches in SA, the historic Dutch Reformed Church in Swellendam
Cogmanskloof Pass
Route 62
Die Kloof Padstal
Wine Experience at Platform 62 outside Ashton
Struisbaai
We did many road trips down that way, and our next destination was the little fishing village of Struisbaai, where we stayed in an authentic fisherman's cottage with mod cons; bought Yellowtail straight from the fishermen's boats and drank in the fresh sea air.
Cape Agulhas
We visited the southernmost tip of Africa and Mr @pinmapple joined us on this leg of the journey :)
Wind-blown where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet
Quaint Suiderhart Coffee House
Mossel Bay
We stopped by our friend's sister whose apartment overlooks the misty harbour area and enjoyed a delicious Yellowtail Curry.
Graceful historic Prince Vincent & Co Building
We were sad when the plane took off from Cape Town again to fly back to Durban as news started coming in that Covid was on the rise here in our country.
Little did we know then just what a devastating effect this was going to have on the entire planet, with tourism being one of the hardest hit of all business sectors!
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Thank you so much @pinmapple;)
It seems a very quiet and beautiful place to meet and spend a few days of rest. Hopefully this year the trips will be activated.
Thank you @cryptoxicate, let's hope this second wave passes soon, it's quite awful right now.
I expect the same thing, we must take care of ourselves. Stay safe!
!wine
Thank you @minnowspower!
I was at University in Capetown - and really miss it. Your photographs brought back some fond memories. Sorry for the little ones who are now being cared for by their granny. Looks like they're in good hands.
Yes, it's really tragic, but Gran is still fairly young and really takes good care of them.
Cape Town certainly has a charm all of its own, need to go back as there's so many places we'd like to visit still!
I loved Capetown - graduated there.
I'm amazed by your fortitude, it is inspiring.
We all pray that things will get under control real soon and we can once again enjoy the company of those we miss, be it family, friends, or those that stay at your BnB.
Cogmanskloof Pass
The pic of the tunnel going threw the rock is cool.
South Africa is VERY much on my go-to list, and is sort-of a hop-step-jump from the "Dream Destination" I mentioned in my comment on @riverflow's post just now. LOL. Hey Kylie - Wanna come visit @lizelle after Mali?
Luckily I have a good Chiang Mai friend who remarried in her 60s and has moved to Cape Town! So lots of connections.
Overberg looks just lovely - I can understand why my marauding Dutch ancestors chose to settle.
Hope all is well in your world, my dear.
That would be a dream come true to have a fellow Hivean visit me here;)
Cape Town is beautiful and offers much more than Durban, but at least we're spared the strong winds here. You really should try to visit your friend sometime.
Our country offers such diverse scenery and your ancestors (& mine) discovered this by oxwagon. Kwazulu Natal has the majestic Drakensberg mountain range, game reserves and the beaches, all within reach. A road trip is the best way to discover our country, if time allows of course!
Thank you for the virtual visit @artemislives;)
How tragic to learn of a family going through such tough times, I would have made sure the youngsters made one visit to the beach.
Well done overcoming obstacles, slowly things fall into place, one cancellation an extension to fill your cottage, almost meant to be not so @lizelle?
Your perfectly timed trip to the Cape with so many fond memories to hold close, now able to go through them quietly reliving each minute again. Have a wonderful weekend and keep smiling.
!WINE
It really is tragic, the little girls are too gorgeous! But you're right, it's almost like the cancellations were meant to be as things fell into place nicely with them being able to extend their stay. They have family here and that was the main reason they came to Durban, but they obviously needed their own space.
Now there's been a further development; the children's Dad has to undergo surgery on an old arm injury that flared up during the holidays and as his surgeon is away till month end, he's having it done here so they're only leaving next Saturday now.
Not an ideal time to be in hospital though, but it's stainless steel pins etc etc causing inflammation and needs to be sorted out!
It took some moving up and down from one unit to the other to accommodate them further as our trainees are back, but we feel truly blessed that they chose us as their base.
Our Cape Town trip could not have been timed better; it was so funny as hubby's friend was stressing before we had booked the flights and accommodation about us possibly cancelling due to the bnb being busy; imagine if we had postponed, we would definitely not have gone!
Our friend contracted Covid, but fortunately only had nausea and extreme fatigue for two and a half weeks, was man down, but is 100% well now. They're both avid walkers and he's a health fanatic; turned 70 last year! His wife's sister sadly died from Covid a week ago, she was only 59!
This second wave is really scary!
Thank you for your encouragement always Joan, have a great weekend further!
Lovely post Lizelle. Thank God we have beautiful memories to keep us going through the rough times.
So very true, thank you @pandamama, times are really tough right now with this pandemic at its peak here!
Hope @edenmichelle can soon visit you in Cyprus again!
Thanks Lizelle
We just couldn't believe just how lucky we were and that we did not postpone that trip!
This second wave with its new strain is really causing havoc, praying that we don't go into another hard lockdown!
Thank you for stopping by @kohsamui99.