We had no sooner settled in at home after our previous trip and cleaned up all the camping equipment, when Cynthia called to tell me that they were going on a ‘mid-week special’ to a place called Dube, near Brits, which Sandy told them about. André was taking leave and they were going as well. I thought it was a good idea for us to join them, even though it is not our normal holiday style. We had not holidayed at a ‘resort’ since the boys finished school. Resorts are places for people with school-going kids; we normally go on wilderness / adventure types of holidays. Be that as it may, Roger agreed, and we started preparing for another week away from home. This time would be in Ufudu and we were looking forward to it.
Our plan was to leave home on Saturday 19th October and go to Silver Creek Gorge to prepare Ufudu. Then visit Eugene and Marlene where we would sleep over, before travelling to Dube on Sunday 20th. But before leaving Jo’burg we attended an Art Auction at Strauss & Co., a first for us. I recently bought a new artwork and therefore had to dispose of one due to lack of wall space. The decision was to go the on-line auction route via Strauss & Co., and attending the live auction was to see how it all works. It was a most interesting experience. Our work will go on auction in April next year.
We eventually left home at 2 pm. Crossing the bridge over the Hartebeespoort Dam left us shocked at the state of the Hyacinth infestation; it was worse than ever before!
There was a lot to be done at the hangar, like transferring of supplies from the bakkie to Ufudu and taking Buzz for a quick flight just to get the cobwebs blown away. We arrived at Eugene and Marlene at 6 pm and spent a pleasant evening visiting with friends and making home-made pizzas in their home-built pizza oven.
On Sunday we watched the rugby world cup quarter finals with them and had a wonderful lunch before leaving for Dube. That was when Roger discovered that he left his wallet in the bakkie. Not having his driver’s license meant that driving duty fell on me. I enjoy driving Ufudu, so no problem there…
Dube has more of a game farm feel than a game reserve, as the name implies. That is my opinion at least. The game was concentrated around the fenced-in camping area where they spent most of the day around the feeding troughs. When one drives out there is not much to be seen once you leave the fenced-in area. The veld is very overgrazed and does not offer much nutrition at all. Perhaps due to the time of year, before the rains start?
As always, we had lots of fun bird watching, and of course socialising with the family; we don’t get see them very often.
As always, car mirrors stressed the birds out, making them believe that there is an intruder in their territory. So sad, as it distracts them from their normal behaviour. We did notice some considerate campers had covered their mirrors.
We saw some beautiful birds around the communal area where the garden is irrigated on a daily basis.
There are three indoor pools of varying temperatures; cold, warm and hot. Most folk preferred these over the open-air one, in order to avoid the sun. We liked the open-air pool which was fed directly by a windmill and had ice-cold water. A wonderful cool-down which we indulged in a number of times each day.
On the third day the heat was suddenly broken by an afternoon hail storm. It was over as suddenly as it started but at least it was cooler.
Each guest received an invitation to free tea/coffee and cake at the communal area on Wednesday morning. This is apparently a regular offering to the ‘mid-weekers’. The camp-ground is large and I only realised how many campers there were when they all came together for the occasion
The resort has a Putt-Putt course. We both love playing but hadn’t done so for years and we are not very good at it either, I might add. We enjoyed it nevertheless.
Before we knew it the time had passed, and we had to say our goodbyes. But first we had to stop at reception to collect our exit pass and see the many eland that hang around that space.
Back at Silver Creek Gorge we cleaned up Ufudu and went for a flip in Buzz before heading home. It was a good week, just chilling and spending time with the family.