Home » Latest News » Introducing… Umngazi’s fab new GM couple

Introducing… Umngazi’s fab new GM couple

Posted on: April 5, 2019, in Latest News, Staff

We would like to extend a very warm Pondo welcome to our new GM couple, Keith and Nicole Craig. We share a fun intro with you…
What do you love most about Umngazi?
Keith: The beautiful surrounds, happy and friendly staff and guests…and supportive owners and colleagues.
Nicole: I love the people that work here, they are warm, friendly, sincere and they sing beautifully while they work. Umngazi has a beautiful soul of its own and I think we all feel it and are all influenced by it.
What do you do when you are not working?
Keith: Love staying in touch with family and friends, spending special quality time with my Nic and our girls.
Nicole: I have always been keen on doing excercise of some sort. Here at Umngazi there are incredible trail runs, walks and cycles…..I feel I live in paradise and am so excited to explore the area. I also love gardening, reading and cooking.
What is your favourite way to relax?
Keith: Walking, being outdoors and enjoying trips to wilderness and wildlife areas… nature.
Nicole: On a couch with a book or sitting chatting to friends and family with a glass of wine.
What makes you laugh the most?
Keith: A good sense of humour.
Nicole: People with an amazing sense of humour… who always see the quirky side of life.
What is your favourite book to read?
Keith: Any read to do with SA history.
Nicole: I love autobiographies. I love reading about people who have pushed limits to reach their dreams and have never given up.
What is your favourite inspirational quote?
Keith: “I’m the master of my fate and the captain of soul” – Nelson Mandela
Nicole: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Anne Frank
What makes you proud to be South African?
Keith: The people and our beautiful diverse countryside.
Nicole: The good old South African braai……nothing competes with our braai style.
If you could have a super power, what would it be?
Keith: To ensure peace in the world.
Nicole: Teleportation…I could pop round the world to visit my family whenever I wanted to. How cool would that be for our environment as well!
If you could have lunch with one person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Keith: Nelson Mandela. I unfortunately never had the privilege of meeting him but I have huge admiration for his humility, forgiveness and high moral standing…and this at times against all odds!
Nicole: Nelson Mandela. I love his unfailing humility, his ability to listen, his kindness, his deep respect for anyone and everyone, his boundless charm, his principled dignity, his generous wisdom and his huge heart…..what a role model for so many of us.
 
Nicole shared some more info on herself and Keith as they join the Umngazi family:
I was born in the UK however I grew up in Natal and matriculated at Westville Girls High School. Keith grew up on a farm on the Ciskei coast and after expropriation the family moved to the Grahamstown district in the Eastern Cape. The Eastern Cape is not an easy province to have to leave so we are delighted and excited for this new chapter in our lives at Umngazi River Bungalows.
Keith and I met at Pietermaritzburg University in 1984 while building floats for Rag and the rest is history as they say in the classics. We spent four wonderful years at university and survived a two year long distance relationship while I taught at Kloof High School and Keith did his National Service. We got married in Westville in 1990 and moved to Grahamstown where we have lived and worked for the past 29 years. I was the Office Manager at the Rhodes Business School, Rhodes University and Keith was involved in eco -tourism before moving to Umngazi River Bungalows.
Both Keith and I come from very close families and we have been so lucky to be able to emulate that with our daughters. Pippa (25) and Jess (20) grew up in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape and they both went to DSG. Once they had matriculated they both went to Cape Town and studied different degrees at Vega Independent Institute of Higher Education. Pips has travelled and spent a year teaching in South Korea, which she loved, but missed the beautiful people and way of life we have in South Africa. She is currently working at AirSorted in Cape Town as their brand manager. Jess is in her third year at Vega and living the carefree life of a student….taking each day as it comes.
We love being part of the Umngazi family and have been made to feel so welcome by the staff and the guests and our girls are dying to visit their new home!

back to blog