RUBY
– an unexpected jewel…
February
2010
With no long holiday break over XMas, both Hein
and I were starting to feel tired … we needed a weekend away.
Deciding on the weekend, Thursday 18 Feb till
Sunday 21 Feb, we booked ourselves in a double-storey Safari Tent at the Ruby
River Resort. The resort is in the
Limpopo area, between Middelburg and Groblersdal, about 2 hours’ drive from
Randburg, Johannesburg.
Thursday 18 February 2010
Excitedly, we packed up early Thursday morning
and left by 9 am. Picking up toasted
sandwiches and coffee on the way, we started our long weekend.
The Pajero was packed to the roof – all Hein
kept asking was: how long are we going
for? Tsk, tsk.
After a few stops along the way, we arrived at
the resort just after 12. It’s fabulous
to book in that early and we eagerly took our key and drove to our tent. And stopped short … why was there a staircase
on the outside of the tent?
Exploring closely, the bedroom is upstairs with
a double bed and 2 single beds, but to reach the bathroom and kitchen/dining
area, you have to use the outside (without a roof) staircase. Very puzzled I phoned the reception. It seemed there was some miscommunication
about the staircase info – or maybe I was so tired I didn’t hear her mentioning
it.
Within a few moments, she phoned back to say we
can move to another chalet. For the same
rate, but it’s an A-shaped thatched roof chalet. Not right on the riverbank, but we could still
see the river flowing by (quite fast!).
It has a loft (only to be reached from the outside) with 2 single
mattresses and a small balcony.
Downstairs it has a bathroom with toilet, basin
and lovely big shower. A small open-plan
kitchenette, double bed, basic door-less wardrobe, dresser with mirror and a
desk with 2 chairs. Outside is a sunken
bath under the roof, hidden behind canvas screens. No view from the bath. Then a built braai and pub table-cum-bench
set.
All of a sudden, a Pointer dog joined us. He carried around a plastic pipe and fetched
it every time anyone threw it. Everyone
called him a different name, no-one seemed to know his real name.
Unpacking everything (or mostly everything), we
had tinned Viennas and baked beans on toast.
And relaxed on the bed for a while.
When we re-surfaced later the afternoon, the
people opposite us were complaining heavily about their hot Safari chalet. These tents are right on the river bank, with
a double bed and bunk beds, open plan to a kitchenette, bathroom and also with
a sunken bath on the patio. But at least
sitting in the bath you have the gorgeous view.
When they walked into our chalet, they couldn’t believe the difference. With our thatch roof and a fan in the chalet,
it was a lot cooler.
Ruby is a big resort with numerous different
accommodation options. I’ll mention 4
that I think most appropriate:
The camping terrain –
lovely grass, not too many trees and some of them close to the river. During the week, the rates are R40pp, weekends
are R50pp and high season, R60pp. I
didn’t check the ablution blocks, but they looked fine from the outside. There are 2 swimming pools.
The Safari tents –
there are 6 of them, right on the river bank.
Sleeps 4. During the week they
are R230/night, weekends R360/night and high season R420/night. Unless
you take your portable aircon, its advisable to go when its cooler. They do say it gets very cold in winter, but
at least one can put on a heater/jersey.
A-frame chalets
– there are only 2. Sleeps 4. During the week they are R230/night, weekends
R360/night and high season R420/night.
Log Cabins – there are
only 2. They sleep 4. They are quite big, have 2 bedrooms (1 with
double bed, other with 2 single beds), 2 bathrooms and a nice patio out
front. I didn’t see the inside
though. During the week they are
R420/night, weekends are R580/night and high season R620/night.
With coffee in hand and a peaceful atmosphere all
around, I read my book.
Do you remember Daisy de Melker? She was reportedly a serial killer, killing
her 2 husbands and son with poison. From
the library, I took out the book: Daisy
de Melker, Guilty or Innocent? Written
by Lènor Tancred. Lènor is from Pretoria and she
recounted the story of Daisy and how she was found guilty and sentenced to a
hanging. It is absolutely riveting
material!!!! Lènor wrote: What if
…she had not? This is not a plea for
acquittal, an application for a belated reprieve, but a query whether there was
not more room for reasonable doubt than was considered in 1932.
For dinner, Hein braaied a steak for himself
and chicken wings for me. We opened a
tin of Denny Cheese Mushroom Sauce and also had some sweetcorn and peas.
It was lovely outside. We had decaf coffee (from our trusted coffee
machine, yes) and looked at the stars.
Friday, 19 February
2010
We woke at 5, but lazed in bed till 6. Then we made coffee and climbed the stairs to
the small outside balcony. What a view!
With only a few people in the resort, we just
sat outside and relaxed. And we heard
some fish eagles! Hein opened a beer and
had a closer look at the river. But not
too close, since they warn you of crocodiles.
Apparently one of their dogs were eaten by one. Oooookaaaaay, then …
In the resort, they have a restaurant, called
Bike and Barrel. It’s filled with bikes
of all kinds and
opens at 8 till late. Even the pub opens
at 8 …. Holiday
heaven! At the reception, an old Vespa
is parked in the garden, with a flower sprouting from the ‘seat’.
Breakfast beckoned and we decided to try the
restaurant. It’s quite big, with an
inside pub, inside restaurant and a huge deck with outside seating looking out
over the river. There is also another
swimming pool and a mini putt-putt.
While gazing over the river, we saw this little fellow walking on the
railing.
Their breakfast menu consists of 3
options. A small English breakfast,
bigger English breakfast and a ham, mushroom, onion and cheese omelette. I chose the latter and it was absolutely
smashing!!!! With tea (when I read the
Daisy book, they all drink tea.) Hein
chose an English breakfast and although a bit cold, it was good. No real coffee though – only Ricoffy.
At the entrance to the restaurant is a big sign
advertising firewood and ice. No, they
didn’t have firewood.
After breakfast, we drove to Groblersdal (about
22 km) to buy firewood. I don’t know what
I expected of Groblersdal – probably just another small country town, but we
were pleasantly surprised. All your big
shops are there, even a Woolworths. And
Pep Stores – 4 different stores!!!!!!!!!
But in the whole town only 1 traffic
light. After buying the firewood and a
few odds, we drove back – anxious to be out of the town hustle and bustle.
Eager to try his hand at fishing, Hein walked
off with his gear. With a Leatherman
knife, he made himself a forked stick to rest the fishing rod on.
After a while, he phoned me to say I should join him. Covered with suntan lotion (but not enough!),
armed with my book and chair, another beer for him and a cold drink for me, I
walked down in the sun. There was a
lovely big tree with shade. I laughed at
the Pointer, he nearly took out the forked stick, thinking he could play with
it.
And when he was hot, he would walk through the
shallow river waters, splashing around.
He is obviously not too afraid of crocodiles. After a while, we packed up. Hein said the river is just too fast for
fishing.
For lunch we lit the fire and had our trusted
boerewors and buns with tomato relish.
Yum, double yum! I suddenly
spotted something in a small tree next to our braai – a tiny nest.
When I showed it to the neighbors, they said it was a Paradise Flycatcher’s nest, but he didn’t finish
it. It was just soo small.
Surprisingly the camping terrain has not filled
up yet … new people moved in across from us.
A lovely retired couple from Erasmia, Annemarie & Morris. They have family out from Holland and so everyone came to Ruby for the
weekend. They also complained about the
heat in the Safari Chalet. Also on the
patio of the Safari Chalets facing the river, there’s no hiding from the sun. They were actually sitting in the shade on
the other side (our side) of their chalet.
With a Sharks game on at 18:00 that night, we
first went for a swim in the big pool.
For some reason everyone used the other smaller pool, but yikes – the
water wasn’t even cold! Its almost the
temperature of bathwater.
Securing a table in the pub, we ordered a snack
platter for R52. Wow, how
delicious. A variety of calamari, fish
fingers, chicken wings, samoosas, deep-fried cheese bites and chips.
An interesting décor aspect of the pub –
countless Jagermeister bottles hanging from the ceiling.
At halftime I ordered a waffle with ice cream
and chocolate sauce. Delicious. Which is more we could say from the game
… ooooh well, so it goes.
We walked back to the chalet and decided to
have another swim. Hein looked at the
Kreepy and found it didn’t work properly.
When he felt around, he found a girl’s red bikini bottom sucked to the
Kreepy. How she got out of the pool …
Afterwards, we stopped at our neighbors (in
the other A-frame chalet) and had a chat.
He’s from the mines and she a housewife.
The evening was quiet all around and very peaceful.
Saturday, 20 February
Waking late, after 6, we made coffee and had it
on the balcony. The sound of the river
was just sooooo amazing – quite loud but very soothing.
For breakfast we lit the fire and talked to all
the neighbors passing by.
The Erasmia
couple were having a party that night. Ruby Resort also caters for parties,
conferences and weddings.
Feasting on our boerewors rolls and relish, it
was just pure holiday. Children were
splashing in the pool from early on and the adults didn’t sit outside – they
got in too. It was very very
hot!!! I preferred to read inside at the
fan, while Hein was chatting to this one and that one. In his element.
Deciding to have a light lunch in the
restaurant, we were not too satisfied with our choices – I had chicken livers
and Hein had a mixed grill. It was
mediocre. Our waiter, August, had on some spiffy black long-toed shoes.
But the soles of the one shoe was loose.
So he just tied some elastic bands around the front of his shoe … it
looked soooo funny!!!
Driving out to Loskop Dam, we took some photos of the
overflow.
Absolutely
amazing. But with the heat, we got back
quickly into our aircon car and drove around some more. When we pass some fields with green plants, I
became quite fascinated by it.
Note to farmers: could you please! Please have notices on your fields next to
the road – stating what you planted. It
drives me craaaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzy not knowing something like that …
Guessing what it could be, I guessed
tobacco. But when we stopped, I realized
the leaves were too small for tobacco and the plants had small green pods. For some reason, Hein suddenly guessed Soy
Bean Plants. When he googled it, it
looked just like that.
When we got home on Sunday, I googled it again. In a
Mpumalanga Agricultural Budget speech (http://www.mpumalanga.gov.za/media/speeches/agriculture/11082009_budget.htm)
the following were said:
Soya Bean production
for Bio Fuel: The department assisted farmers who benefited from the Land and Agrarian
Reform Programme to actively take part in the bio-fuel industry; we fenced 27
farms for the production of soya beans in Gert Sibande District. In addition,
19 tractors were purchased with implements and were used to plough over 8 000
ha and planted over 3 042 ha with soya beans, maize and sunflower on farms in
Gert Sibande and Nkangala Districts.
While the neighbors dressed for
their party, Hein started the fire while we had Cape Velvet
on ice (me) and whisky (him). But after
a while, he said he didn’t feel like a braai and suggested we walk to the pub.
I had my eye on chocolate
brownies, so I ordered the snack platter, but finished only half. Hein had a lovely T-bone steak with pap and
sauce. It was another heavenly
night. Kids were still swimming and
everyone was just lazing around. We were
quite shocked when we looked at the river level – it was steadily rising. Hopefully not too high, since the
restaurant’s basement is veeery close to the river.
Our last night …
Sunday, 21 February
While I made coffee, Hein said
he’s not climbing the ‘tower
of Pisa’ today for his
morning coffee. We had it outside.
Annemarie & Morris came and
joined us with their coffee. Most of the
people around us were Afrikaans and we had such nice chats.
With heavy limbs, we got up and
started to pack. It actually went very
quick and just after 8am, we said our goodbyes and left.
In Middelburg we stopped at a
Wimpy for breakfast and headed off home.
It was just such a lovely,
relaxing, winding-down weekend! Will
definitely go back again.
Just look at how relaxed I’m on
this photo … almost in a trance.
No comments:
Post a Comment