Augusta de Mist Country Retreat, Swellendam

Ordinary Miracle

I was beginning to feel a bit bored with luxury accommodation – spoilt by too much of a good thing I guess. I was on the search for something exceptional. I needed art. The moment I opened the delightful website of Augusta de Mist Country Retreat in Swellendam I knew I had found it. In fact, don’t even bother reading the rest of this review – really, I won’t be offended at all – just click straight on www.augustademist.co.za.

A sense of humour and creative flair pervades every aspect of this beautiful 1802 manor house. Augusta de Mist was named after diary-writing teenager Augusta de Mist, who travelled through Swellendam with her father, a Dutch commissioner. This is one of the oldest buildings in one of the oldest towns in South Africa.

The gardens are lush, with lots of secret hideaways and paths to discover. There is a pool with elegant handmade loungers made by a local company from used wine barrels. The gardens are quiet and one feels far out in the country, even though the guesthouse is right in the centre of Swellendam, near the Drostdy Museum. It is within easy and safe walking to excellent local restaurants, even at night.

The integrity of the original homestead has been beautifully preserved, with original Yellowwood doors and beams. And now each room has been turned into a living art installation, with dramatic décor and gorgeous furniture. Sage and soft blues meld against the meter-thick walls. A show-stopping silver couch and feminist South African art work draw the eye in the lounge.

Apart from your own indoor and outdoor seating areas, there are at least 3 different dining areas inside the main lodge – one off the kitchen, out front on the “stoep” (verandah) and at the back patio – such that one may follow the sun around the building at all times of the day.

After much nail-biting deliberation (and a few backwards and forward emails), I choose to stay in the Buchu Suite, a freestanding cottage at the top of the garden and edge of the forest. It has large sash windows, a stable door as well as another set of double doors facing out onto the woods. In the lounge there are two funky upholstered armchairs and a fireplace.

I would be hard pressed to choose between my favourite room in this cottage – the lounge, bedroom or bath. The heavenly bed has white linen, a quilt and cushions of Dutch settler Jan van Riebeek. It is one of the most comfortable I have ever slept in. There is a deep, shuttered window at the head of the bed.

A glorious bespoke Livingstone bath is set up against a high window. There is a spacious shower and double basin. Cool screed floors and reed-and-open-beam ceilings bring the modern fittings perfectly back into context.

Accommodation Experience

Discovering this place feels like one of Sarah McLachlan’s “ordinary miracles”, bringing hope and creative inspiration at a time when I need it. I have a fun afternoon bounding around taking photographs of the main lodge and my loveliest of suites, enjoying the textures and colours which come with good decorating and an historic building. 

Finally I settle into an armchair, doors on both sides of my lounge opened wide to let in the breeze. As I enjoy a richly flavoured coffee, admiring the artistic room and the way the light comes in from the forest views, I realise that what is at the end of the rainbow is so much more than what one expected to find, if we are open and awake to the ordinary miracles of life. 

Umngazi River Bungalows, Port St Johns

“Your one wild and precious life”

I love winter beach stays, where the days are clear and the sun warm and inviting. One can walk for many miles and feel energized and alive. In the evenings there is the enjoyment of sherry by the fire and the nights are just cool enough to sleep under cosy covers. Umngazi River Bungalows (www.umngazi.co.za) are the perfect place for a warm winter beach escape, as there are beautiful long beach walks, and much to do including canoeing, fishing, tennis, darts, snooker and a fabulous spa.  

The setting is spectacular – as riverside and beachside as it gets, with cottages facing the river, indigenous forest or ocean. Not called “the Wild Coast” for nothing, the coastline is pristine, with dramatic gorges, river crossings and cliffs.

The luxury you will find here is not the usual imported, urban, angular modernist kind. It is soft, curved, natural and intensely local. The rounded thatched Pondo huts are finished with timber and stone, and even the door handles and towel rails are smooth, curved, natural timber. The bungalows all have wide glass doors, with little separating one from the beach other than a stretch of green lawn. Outdoor showers, generous baths with sea views and fine linen elevate this stay well above the usual beach bungalow standards. This is barefoot luxury at its best.

At Umngazi there are plentiful indoor and outdoor seating areas – lounges decorated in bright colours by someone with a great love of fabrics, recliners, dining areas and decks facing all directions.

I like Pondo hospitality – there is no simpering or gushing, only dignified generosity. With a distrust of insincere “quick smiles” as they say here, you are more likely to receive an approving grunt when you make the most of their ample catering. The caregiving arrangements are excellent and I saw several children enthusiastically greet their hosts. I have heard of many rest-deprived parents of tiny tots travel to Umngazi just for the amazing baby-sitting service.

By contrast, I am in the Eastern Cape to visit a worthy project of incredibly dedicated women who care for the sick in their community. Having not visited this area often, I had a hankering to discover more of this pristine wild coast and found Umngazi River Bungalows one of the more accessible beachside locations. However I had worried that the contrast between the stories of these women and a luxury stay might unhinge me. But the women in this project are now being paid by the government for their work, and supported by a local NGO with debriefing and training. They are assertive and professional. And at Umngazi, the evident respect for local culture, the plentiful employment created by the resort for the surrounding community, and the multiple local income generating projects made possible by this place leaves me feeling inspired and hopeful. True development is not about patronizing charity or handouts, but about inclusivity, ownership and employment which allows people the satisfaction to raise their own families well, and this is one of the best examples of that I have seen in a luxury holiday hotel. Both the women’s project and the Umngazi community support make me want to be a better person, to enjoy life to its fullest, while supporting others. As usual when I do community development work, I thought I was coming to give something, but find myself learning and gaining more than it was possible to offer.

Accommodation Experience:

And so I thoroughly enjoy my work and find I am able to have an energizing stay. My favourite time of day at Umngazi River Bungalows, it turns out, is the evening walk to and from supper. I stay in the furthest cottage from the restaurant and love the mindful stroll along the river. Schools of fish swim past me, catching the silvery light as they jump in unison. A cool breeze comes off the water. The skies are full of stars and it feels like I can touch the Milky Way. I swing my scarf to and fro as I walk and throw my head back to drink in the night sky. I feel wild and free and I am reminded of Mary Oliver’s questions:

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?