KAGGA KAMMA ADVENTURES
It has been so long since I actually wrote a post relating to anything in "my world" - I think I may have forgotten how to do it haha! As most of my #powerhousecreatives members know, for the first time in ages - we had decided to head out of town for the weekend last week and then @theycallmedan dropped the 20k delegation dpoll bomb on us hahahaha!!! I immediately hit panic mode because from what I had been told, the place that we were heading out to had no phone signal, nevermind any kind of internet connection haha!!! I won't lie, there were MANY moments that I actually considered cancelling the trip lol - but I decided to phone them to clarify the magnitude of the dilemma instead (seemed the more sensible approach haha!) and they assured me that there was wifi in the main reception area and that there was a little bit of vodacom signal down by the chalets. I think this is probably the one and only time you will EVER hear me say this, because in every other instance they absolutely Snck BALLS - but I was EVER GRATEFUL to be a vodacom subscriber "this one time" haha! And so, the trip was not cancelled and I figured I would simply try and make the best of both the getaway and the handling of the poll.
KAGGA KAMMA ADVENTURES
Kagga Kamma which we later discovered means "place of water" is a private nature reserve located in the Cederburg which proved to be about a 4 hour drive out of Cape Town with a 1996 S-Class Mercedes Benz hahahhaha!!! - Don't get me wrong, the trip in that spaceship always resembles travelling on a cloud, but she does not like the dirt roads, that is for sure haha! So after having the sun pretty much melt the skin off the left side of my face and arm for that entire time - and entertaining conversations with my 9 year old son Jude about it would take us about a week to walk home if we broke down anywhere out there because it was a complete DEAD ZONE... we eventually DID get there, thank goodness! haha!
As we approached, the first thing we became aware of was the really unusual rock formations! They were not like anything we are familiar with seeing... the photos actually do them no justice, as they were truly jaw dropping the way in which they stacked themselves somewhat like "alternative art pieces".
We were all too happy to finally arrive at our destination and get out of the car to stretch our legs. We headed to the reception area to check in and we were greeted with such friendly demeanor. We were offered juice, champagne and other tasty sweets as we went through the check-in procedure and then FINALLY we were handed the keys to our "home" for the next four days.
Our "home" proved to be absolutely fantastic! Definitely no "roughing it" vibes there haha! It was FULLY kitted with everything you could ever need (including cappuccino choc chip muffins on arrival lol) and an every morning cleaning service too. So we were, how to they say it... STYLING! haha!! It was full, KICK BACK and relax mode engage! Jude was too cute when we got there. "Mommy this place is so cool, can't we live here forever?!" - haha (I wish honey, I wish....) He immediately selected the best room for him and his granny (@lizziesworld) and then unpacked all his clothes and toys, putting a special something in pretty much every cupboard and drawer he could find haha! As for my mom and I, well - we poured some wine and proceeded to go sit on the front veranda to take in the view!
After unpacking we ventured back up to the main area to explore a little more and to have a drink and some nibbles in the restaurant. All along the road to and from the chalets there are stop off points which have a stone pillar with a specific planet on them. That was a pretty smart move, because I think without those pillars we would have gotten lost more than once. Needless to say - Jude (in complete innocence) for some reason kept announcing "URANUS" more than any other as we passed it... HAHAHA!!! Well, I like to believe it was in innocence.... PLEASE OH PLEASE let it have been done in innocence! lol - I really hope the only thing that spurred him on was our laughter every time he did it lol!!!
There are a few pools dotted around the various chalets and the next morning we decided to take a walk and go check out the one closest to us. it looked great and we headed back that way by car a little later in the day. We met some other Capetonians that were also up there for the weekend which was great! Later that day we booked ourselves on the sundowner safari trip. This was without question my favourite part of the entire getaway! And what made it even more special was that Jude absolutely LOVED IT!!! About 20 minutes into the trip he asked "mommy, how long is this drive" - to which I responded "2 hours baby" and that was returned with a shriek and "oh awesome!!!" He REALLY loved EVERY second and it was so great to see how well he interacted with our guide - asking a million questions a minute!
Along the journey, our guide stopped and opened the "BOX" which he had told us to all stay well away from when the trip began haha! It was a puff adder snake (one of the most deadly snakes in the world) that had been found near the reception area of the resort... so he was "re-locating" it, which was a little sad to be honest, because he said that it only had about a 40% chance of survival after that as it would have to adapt to completely new surroundings. He did try to reassure us though, that he had placed is specifically where he had because it was a particularly "bushy" area and stood a better chance there.
Just before sunset we stopped and had our pre-ordered sundowners and some snacks. The view, although the camera failed... was nothing short of spectacular! It really was one of the best two hours!!!
After the sunset drive we went back to the restaurant to enjoy the most delicious dinner around the fire pit! Although I forgot to take snaps of our dinner, we had the most spectacular lamb shanks! They were seriously the BIGGEST lamb shanks I have ever seen in my entire life haha - so much so, that I only finished half of mine, although that probably had more to do with the fact that I "skoffed" about 6 of the chilli poppers on the sunset drive hahahaha - but no really.... they were ENORMOUS!!! I saved mine and actually ate the other half on the night that we got home. YAY for no cooking lol!!!!
We headed back after dinner, and I finally managed to get some work done. haha. I successfully found ONE SPOT in the house where vodacom had signal, so juiced it as a hotspot as much as I could lol! The following day we pretty much chilled around the house, I worked, slept and worked some more... and then decided to give a go at quad biking.... hahahaha!!!! It was an hour long drive over some VERY INTERESTING terrain!!! hahaha - I would love to have completed the hour, but I simply lacked the upper arm strength to maneuver the bike properly over the rocks haha! That thing is NOT an easy baby once air-born from a rock!!! lol!!! - No power steering hey! haha! - I lasted about 25 minutes and at the "opportunity offered" by the guide to go back.... I took it hahaha!!!! YIP, I am a sissy! I admit! lol - I just knew there was NO WAY I would have "enjoyed" another 45 minutes of that. haha! The sandy roads were great, but the rock roads with the LETHAL thorn bushes left and right somewhat detracted from the pleasure hahaha!!!
It took me about an hour to recover from the FAR TOO NEAR encounter I had with a thorn bush after flying over a rock haha! So, we chilled by the pool and took a walk up to one of the awesome viewing points before we headed home to enjoy our last evening around the fire with a braai of our own! Oh and for those less familiar, and African thorn bush... is NOT one you want to approach up close at high speed lol!!! I think even barbed wire takes a second to getting tangled in one of those boys! (I am doing a good job of convincing myself of justification for chickening haha) - but no seriously, I would do it again... maybe even for the full hour... with more experience, less rocks and NO thorn bushes!!! haha!!!
It was an amazing weekend away, despite my challenge of constantly seeking connection to try and stay involved in the dpoll. Definitely a place I would go back to and a very, VERY clear reminder of how important TIME OUT is! Hope you enjoyed the trip with me ;)
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Until next time...
Much Love from Cape Town, South Africa xxx
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I am so glad you had such a great time - notwithstanding the poll! Such a beatiful part of the country - I've not spent much time up there at all. So..
And seems you're continuing to pique the interest of our intrepid Poet Laureate, @quillfire whom we might yet convince to visit South Africa! lol
Hi jaynie, too many amazing photos and your writing.
Worth reading again
Wonderful photos! Looks like everyone had an amazing time, when you weren't fretting about the delegation contest! Jude is such a cutie, and this was a great educational opportunity for him! Win-Win! 😃
@jaynie,
Holy Cow, Jaynie. Great pics. I'm green with envy. I'm going to show them to Katie when she gets home. We've always wanted to go on a Safari together. (Although, in fairness ... this was a safari for Princesses. Not much "roughing it." Never-mind, it looks great.) :-)
And those African thorn bushes ... are WAY worse than barbed wire or razor wire for that matter. People unfamiliar with the phenomenon cannot imagine. Needle sharp.
And yet, I've seen goats climb up and ... oh-so-gingerly ... eat one tiny leaf at a time, somehow avoiding the thorns. Talk about working for your dinner!
BTW ... you're a good Mom. You know, since Jude is such a fit young fella, he might make a good candidate for the Legion. I'll send him some recruitment materials. He'll end up with great stories of adventure to put on Steemit some day. :-)
GREAT Post!!!
Quill
Awww.. is a place definitely for me! I can see jude is really having so much fun!
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OMGGG well that looks like absolute heaven :)) Would love to spend 4 days there as well :D Muffins are just a bonus haha...
Btw what sports is your son doing? I totally noticed his pretty nice shoulder muscle on one picture arriving to the house...dunno...boys in that age don't usually have such tones shoulders haha :D Is he mayble playing tennis or?
Hahaha @matkodurko – it is SO funny that you should ask that. I get asked that ALL the time by men and women alike haha!!! In fact, I was asked that EXACT question by one of the fathers at the pool because his son (same age) was pretty “chubby” (his words) and he said he wished his child would follow his example. Jude is like a walking advertisement for the NINJA TURTLES haha and I think he makes MANY men go “green” with envy (no pun intended) – because he literally has an 8 pack! His muscle definition is insane!
Sports wise though, he only plays one seasonal sport at school. Cricket in Summer, Soccer in Winter… and then the usual phys ed. And swimming at school. Although having said that, he is an incredibly active little boy too.
But most importantly (in my humble opinion as his mother)… his diet plays a large role in that. Jude has been brought up to enjoy savoury over sweet. So does not (out of choice) eat sweets, chips, cake – anything. He actually doesn’t enjoy any of it. The only sweet stuff he enjoys is the ocassional glass of chocolate milk and his chocolate cereal. The only liquid he enjoys is water, because it was the only thing I gave him as a toddler and so he has grown.
As for the place... it was a VERY beautiful slice of heaven!!!!
Ohhh thaaats what I call a conscious mother :)) Amazing amazing...I mean..I don't know anything about bringing up a kid as I feel im still a kid myself :D But when I see all those parents buying those disgusting colourful sweets to their kids...just to make their mouth full so they "shut up"...it feels like their failing their parenthood really...it's toootally amazing that you managed to bring him up that way that his hormonal system still works properly and isn't fucked up by sugar spikes all over the place etc etc etc...it's natural that we shouldnt crave cakes..we just lost it thru garbage diets :D really great job!
Hah well that shoulder was unoverlookable really...suuper defined and ripped! Crazy
hahah If I get him on a "good day" (because he mostly is quite humble and rather shy) - I will snap a shot of that 8 pack hahahaha!!!
And yes, I am grateful for my decisions when he was tiny. Like today... he was outside playing soccer with his friends and I had made him a cheese and cucumber sandwich for when he came in - but he came in, grabbed a bite of it and said "mommy I am too hot for a sandwich can I please have a CHUNK of cucumber." and happiness was!
Water was something I instilled in him from VERY young because it made "mothering" much easier - especially when out and about. You see so many mothers running around looking for hot water to make tea/ warm milk etc. it's bloody stupid if you ask me. haha - water is the only thing that truly quenches a thirst.
He likes the idea of sodas etc. and sometimes will ask for one. I will say yes now and again because I know, he has two sips and then asks for water haha!!!
Some mothers at his school say "why dont you feed your child" and I just smile to myself because my son does not have a bulging belly at the age of 9. Kids are supposed to look like him at their age... but society has forgotten that.
The rock formations looks so magical and after that loooong drive that pool looks so inviting. Longest I have driven so far is for 3 hours only and another hour probably wouldn't hurt lol. Your stay there looks expensive but all looks worth it. Zebras roaming and snakes slithering around kinda my place. Gorgeous adventure!
Nice story ;)
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That looks like a totally different world! Wow, I can only imagine how cool all that is to see in person. I just got an old client back last week to start training again, and he and his wife just got back from their first trip to South Africa. They went for her 70th birthday. They loved it! I hope you can go again some day, WITHOUT having to worry about some poll, haha! That way you can totally unwind from your head all the way down to your toes. :)