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Note from Keith & Nicole

Posted on: October 19, 2023, in Latest News

Hello from a beautiful Umngazi. The humidity has not yet arrived so we are all enjoying the glorious Spring weather while it lasts. It did feel good to say goodbye to Winter and while we have had the odd cold day we can’t complain. The storm that hit the country and unleashed high tides and angry seas did not miss us. Our mouth, which had virtually closed, was gashed open again by huge waves that came rolling into the river and did some serious damage to our walkway. One of those waves splashed right up onto the Emlonyeni deck and once again we have gorgeous driftwood that has been deposited onto the beach and river banks. The kids love this drift wood and have had such fun making forts and houses and just spending hours building “places”. 

The hotel has been busy, we have built a beautiful new space at the tennis court and we hope that there will be endless exciting games of tennis with loads of champagne. We also have some Pickle Ball sets so there is plenty of fun to be had. The spa has also had a gorgeous refurb. We have had so much fun recreating that very special space and while it still maintains that special and unique feel there seems to be an extra calmness when one pops up there. The spa menu has been upgraded with a few more new treatments which we are sure you are going to love – look out for our Lava Shell massage it is a must when you next visit us and we have had wonderful feedback on it.

So, with Winter behind us it is wonderful to start thinking of warmer, sunnier and lazier days, beautiful longer evenings and slow balmy mornings. Umngazi is such a perfect place to embrace all of that. A lot of guests ask us what we do when we are off and we always say…..:we are going to Umngazi” Our off days are spent waking up to that wonderful sound of the sea and hearing the birds, sometimes we are lucky and the fish eagles come to the opposite side of our home and we hear their plaintive cries. Not too sure if they are calling for Kevin rather than Kevin calling them. When the weather is good, we get to walk on the gorgeous beaches that are so isolated and pristine, except for the odd local fisherman we usually have the beach to ourselves. Our favorite is being able to wallow in a rock pool at Flat Rock when the water is clear and the waves are gentle. We have incredible places that one can just go off and explore and we love doing a bit of trail running to Sugar Loaf at the end of a day with the sun setting and having to dodge the odd cow pat or cow always makes us smile and always takes our breath away at the sheer beauty of the Wild Coast. One guest actually told us she got to Sugar Loaf and was so overwhelmed by the beauty of it all she burst into tears – it really can be quite emotional. Running through the community is also such a treat – the Pondo people are incredibly warm and humble and their smiles when they greet you makes you so aware how contagious a simple smile can be – we get home with grateful hearts and tired muscles.

With just a few months till Christmas our kitchen has started making their Christmas cakes, brandy is being poured on them every week and the Christmas décor is being made. Where has the year gone but I suppose when you are having fun it will fly by.

Look after yourselves and sending warm Umngazi love from us all

Keith and Nicole 

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