Warmbaths

We spent Saturday at the Warmbaths Resort in Bela-Bela. It used to be a favorite place for a getaway when we lived in Kempton Park although we usually came for an overnight since it is a couple hours from Kempton. But day visitors (like us on this occasion) use the picnic grounds around this large hot springs pool. In the center (up the stairs you see and across a bridge) is a pool with mild jets, but we enjoy the force of those large jets coming out on the left for a good back massage.

The tent under the tree reminds me of the day-camping we encountered in Korea, where people set up a tent in a park as a base for the day where the baby can nap or whatever. 

Even when we left South Africa in 2008, Warmbaths was pretty white. But there is a rising African middle class and we saw lots of extended family groups, both African and Indian. Indian women wear bathing suits that cover most of their bodies. Many of the African young women did not and seemed to take delight in taking photos that mimicked swimsuit models regardless of their body type.

We had eaten a large breakfast at the hotel so we indulged in chocolate milk shakes at Spur and called it lunch. 

I went down all four water slides. The one in the foreground is VERY fast, and I found myself airborne more than once before plunging into the hot pool at the bottom. The lazy river (out of sight) kept getting held up in pools, and you had to wait for someone else to come down and dislodge you over the edge to the next descent. I like the twisty ones in the middle best.

We left about 2:30 and headed back to Kempton Park and our friends, the Burnetts with TWR. We have known them since our ‘90s days at Grace Baptist Church and seen each others kids grow up. Their son, Matthew (in conservation in KZN Province) married a girl from Appleton, Wisconsin, so they are familiar with our part of the US, having been there for the wedding.

This morning we went to our old church, Grace Baptist, where Steve preached. Obviously, there has been a turn over of people in the 12 years we have been gone solots of new faces. And some who are still there were away for one reason or another. Craig Botha, one of the teens from our girls’ era, is running the Comrades, a 90-km footrace--more than a double marathon--from Pietermaritzburg to Durban today along with about 24,000 other people. His folks have gone to watch. Other friends have moved away or changed churches. It was fun to see my old friends Brenda and Pindi. Both had little kids who have grown into lovely young adults. Brenda's husband Solly had cancer when we were here, and he has since passed. I recognized Pindi's daughter Tina immediately because she looks exactly like her mother. Her "little brother" Lebo is now well over 6 feet tall. They were the models Kathy Haasdyk used to illustrate a children's book about a gogo (granny) taking care of her orphaned grandchildren. Pindi's mom, who posed as the granny, is still living in Zimbabwe and will turn 90 soon. 

The church has always had tea after the service for socializing, but today there was also a lunch to say farewell to Lynn and James who are moving to Port Elizabeth this week. When they invited us, they thought they were moving next month, but things moved faster than they had expected. But lunch meant there was plenty of time to visit. They have packing pretty well in hand. As I write, they are finishing up the garage.

Tomorrow we will get out of their way and head for Pretoria.