Staying in our flat for Christmas was not an option for some of us who serve in the Temple. A couple of months ago while traveling in the Nelspruit area we saw signs indicating that fly fishing was available throughout the area, so some of us decided that for our Christmas break we would look into going on a fly fishing vacation. I was given the assignment to research into what kind of places were available and what was offered as far as activities for both the men and the women. After some research I sent out an email to everybody to see who might be interested in going on such an outing over Christmas. The Mincks, Birds and Garretts all responded in the affirmative.
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| Mincks - Uzelacs - Birds - Garretts |
After some (lots of, you know Gail) negotiating Gail arranged a good package deal to stay at the Bergwatgers Eco Spa and Lodge located about 2 1/2 hours north of Johannesburg and just 30 minutes outside Nelspruit.
After church on the 23rd we all met at the van, loaded up and set out for our adventure. We all enjoy these kinds of adventure,s not knowing what we will actually encounter when we get there. However, in this instance the actual place looked just like the pictures on the Internet, a pleasant surprise for all.
Here is Bergwaters Lodge.
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| Our Individual Lodge |
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| Typical Lodges |
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| Grounds |
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| Grounds |
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Grounds & Swimming Pool
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| Each couple had a separate cabin to stay in. |
The more we travel throughout South Africa the more amazed we are at the beauty of the landscape and how richly blessed this country is with natural beauty. The location of the Bergwaters Lodge, nestled in the mountains was no different. As you can see, mother nature certainly blessed this part of the country with mountains, trees, flowers and wildlife.
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| A variety of African Peacock |
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| Weaver |
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| Brillenweaver |
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| Manco sunbird |
After getting settled into our lodges we all took a walk about the grounds before it was time for dinner. We had made arrangements to eat in the 5 Owl's Restaurant which was part of the Bergwaters Lodge. It was billed as a "4 Star" restaurant and to our pleasant surprise the food was delicious and well prepared. We also had breakfast here as it was included in our package. Dinner and lunch we paid for individually.
Monday morning we were up bright and early. One of the reasons for our trip was for the men to fly fish so as soon as breakfast was over the men set out to go fly fishing while some of the ladies took advantage of the Spa activities and the others just relaxed reading and whatever. We were to fish on the stream next to the lodge but it had not been stocked due to Otter problems so they arranged for us to visit another fishing lodge down the road to fish on their local stream.
This is me on the stream
Fishing was slow with nobody catching a thing. It was getting hot out in the sun so we called it a day at 12 PM and returned to the lodge to have lunch with the ladies.
On Christmas Eve we were treated to a 3 Course Gourmet Dinner. With Christmas music in the background to inhance the evening we sat back and enjoyed a delcious meal (salad, Chicken schnitzel & veggies, granadilla icebox dessert) with service to match the occasion. Once again I think everybody's expectations were exceeded. After dinner we moved out to the veranda where Brother Garrett presented a Christmas message and we sang Christmas carols before retiring for the evening. It had been a long, hot and tiring day so everybody was ready to call it an evening at that time.
Christmas morning we packed up, had breakfast and got ready to check out. After settling up with the lodge we got ready to load up the van to head back to Joberg, only to discover that we had a flat tire - how did that happen? One of the locals and Kyle, the son of the owners assisted us in changing the tire.
After getting the tire changed and cleaning up we went to say our final thanks, good-byes and Merry Christmas to our host family who had shown us a great time and treated us royally during our entire stay. Thank you to the Godsill-Stouff family, owners of Bergwaters.
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