In October 2018, we decided that we needed to get away. Even if it was just for the night, and close to home, it would be worth it. I’m always reading Getaway Magazine for ideas of unique accommodation and had come across an article about 12 off the grid destinations around South Africa.
One of them just happened to be Dream Lodge in Magaliesburg. I’ve been camping a lot of times in my life, so really don’t mind not having any electricity/cell reception. In fact, we had both been so busy with work, that we needed a break that didn’t involve our phones whatsoever.
On the way there, we noticed that one of the lights had started to glow in my car. It was the overheating one, but I wasn’t sure how long it had been on before we saw it, as we had already been travelling for over an hour. I told Luch to pull off and luckily we were close to a petrol station. They soon realised that there was hardly any water in my radiator and the water that was in it was bubbling out as super heated steam. The petrol attendant managed to pour a decent amount of water in, but I wanted to leave as soon as possible because we were close to our accommodation and there was a major storm coming.
So we got back on the road and travelled for another 10 minutes before the light came on again. We turned down a dirt road, which we thought was the correct road to get to our accommodation, only to have to turn around, stop the car and open the radiator again to fill it up. Luch kept freaking out that we might have cracked the gasket which would cost a lot of money and also meant we wouldn’t be able to drive it home, but I was just trying to stay calm. I told him that the accommodation was at the next turnoff, probably only 5 minutes away and we could make it. I didn’t want to stay on a empty dirt road with lightning flashing around us. I kept saying “once we get there, we can sort it out”.
Eventually he agreed with me and we went just up the road and found the dirt road through to our accommodation. Luckily it wasn’t too muddy, or I’m not sure my overheated car would have made it very far.
We checked in with Sam and got our first look at our electricity free accommodation for the night. I thought it was amazing, especially considering there were all these grooves in the wall for little tea light candles which I knew would look amazing later in the evening. There was also a lovely fireplace which was perfect for the weather we had brought with us.
We hadn’t even finished unpacking the car when the rain began. It was like a flash flood. It poured down all around us and at one stage it changed to hail. When the storm eventually subsided a few hours later, it looked as if it had snowed. White pieces of hail littered the ground around our cottage and the weather was freezing.
Sam came back around 6 pm to bring us our dinner which was a great three courses of home-made food. Salad for starters, beef stew for mains and date pudding with custard for dessert. It was incredibly romantic to sit in the fire and tea light lit stone cottage and just listen to the sounds of nature while we enjoyed our meal.
I had so been looking forward to seeing all the stars, but unfortunately the weather didn’t exactly play along. It was still an incredibly relaxing night and we spent it watching the fire die and talking about our childhoods. It was so great just to get away and reconnect a bit. I think most of us forget how technology rules our lives until we are away from it and can breathe a sigh of relief (for some people it is more a scream of terror).
With an incredible hostess (Sam) who made us feel most welcome, delicious food, a fireplace and the overwhelming feeling of being overseas in the snow; we felt like we’d spent a week on holiday (even though it was only an evening).
Finding my car in top condition the next morning and not having any problems overheating on the way home was a miracle to say the least. We both reckon that the hail had something to do with sorting it out. 🙂
The moral of the story is, although holidays don’t always go exactly to plan, it doesn’t mean that they still can’t be amazing. Even the short one-nighters!
For anyone wanting to go, I can definitely recommend Gecko Cottage.
http://www.dreamlodge.co.za