If the last fifteen months have taught me anything, it’s to be creative with week-end getaways and local escapades. It’s been hard not to be able to hop on a plane to London or Paris, but we have been luckier than most in South Africa, and there are so many lovely places to discover it almost doesn’t feel like travel has been restricted. Evidently, limited travel doesn’t mean that the school refrains from sending the children on “holidays” every six weeks, on the contrary! So keeping our two little minis busy and entertained has also been a full-time task lately. Alas we can’t go on safari or to the beach every week, so we mix those with getaways closer to the city, and finding Rosemary Hill and its adorable cabin cluster (CabinVille) so close to Johannesburg was a god-send.
Although Johannesburg feels like a giant forest and the winters here are lovely with the warm light and sunny afternoons, we sometimes miss a little bit of countryside, the kind that you would get from a trip to the Cotswolds or to Provence… It’s all a little urban at times. However, if you drive about an hour to the outskirts of Pretoria, you will find the most lovely farm now revamped into a wedding venue cum B&B. The farm offers more traditional accommodation in cottages, but what is unique is the little pods out in CabinVille: the idea of glamping in a very cool modern cabin just was too good to pass on. This is how we arrived at the Big Pod.
The Big Pod is a two-level cabin where upstairs is a large sleeping and lounging area with beautiful views out to the tree line; the full wood cladding look gives it a wonderful hygge atmosphere and the kids were so excited at a family sleepover opportunity. Downstairs is a double bedroom, a bathroom with the most perfect tiling, and a very well appointed kitchen. Outside is a deck with loungers, space to dine out, and a braai (you’re in South Africa, of course there is a very well functioning barbecue area!).
Whilst the Big Pod feels very open to nature, it is beautifully built and quite warm in the evening, not to mention the fluffy duvets. This did not feel at all like camping and my mind was very far from sleeping bags and communal showers, thankfully. Considering I am not the biggest fan of sleeping in tents and sharing my bathroom space with creepy crawlies this was perfect.
There are lots of things to do on the farm, from exploring the walking and bike paths to going on a horse ride, visiting the farm animals… The Autumn weather is perfect to walk around, as it doesn’t get too hot and the colours are beautiful, especially in the afternoon. The next morning we had signed the munchkins off for a session at Acrobranch, also on the farm, and they had a blast with the zip lines and climbing features.
All in, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Rosemary Hill. It is perfect for a quick one-night getaway from the city, to break out from the routine and enjoy something different as a family.
If you are based in South Africa, Mauritius is the ideal island get-away for young families, with all the ease that comes with an extremely tourist friendly destination, the beautifully appointed hotels right on the beach, and an easy 3.5 hours flight hop. I love Mozambique, but if you have a baby or a young toddler and want something easy, then I would recommend Mauritius. Similarly, if you are in Europe, Mauritius is an easy choice: despite the long flight, the time difference is minimal, even for babies who are on sleeping routines, and the weather is pretty fabulous all year round, making Mauritius a great escape when the weather gets a little too miserable. With the recent border closures and the disastrous oil spill on the Mauritian shores, one can only hope that the local tourism will be able to bounce back and thrive once again.
Although we had been to Mauritius before, we only discovered Lux* Belle Mare about four years ago… With two little munchkins in tow we wanted to find a hotel with great service, a pristine beach and possibly a children club, so we decided to stay at the Lux*, and we’ve never looked back. It’s easy and convenient and we stay here every time we come to Mauritius.
Like the gardens, the family suites are beautiful, modern and big enough to accommodate our little family of four. When Little Madame came as a baby, she had a baby cot, and now she shares the pull-out bed with her brother: the super attentive housekeeping team quickly learned that our littles go to bed by 8pm every night, so the bed gets pulled out whilst we are out at dinner, and ready for their early bedtime whilst we can enjoy one last drink on the terrace which leads on to the gardens and the beach (the view in the morning is spectacular). The bathroom is super roomy, with a bathtub perfect our two little munchkins to bathe together, and there is even a little walk-in closet, meaning nothing stays in the way.
We spend our days here mostly on the beach, because neither Hubby Dearest nor I understand the appeal of flying half way across the world only to lounge around a swimming pool (you can do that at the Harbour Club …) And what a beautiful beach this is: white sand, plush loungers, coconuts and parasols providing well-needed shade from the tropical sun, clear blue warm water where you can just bobble for hours on end.
There are four restaurants, including one Indian and one Chinese, but the beach one was our favourite for lunch. The main restaurant is great, with buffet for breakfast and dinner, and options for all the family. The chefs didn’t mind making vegetable purees for Little Madame when she was a baby, she has since graduated to helping herself from the great buffets. For snacks, there is a food truck on the beach, serving American junk food (there is no nicer way to describe it but it is delicious!) and fabulous ceviches, although in the afternoon the little ice cream parlour by the pool is quite popular, when children and adults flock for a taste of the tropical sorbet lollipops. My favourite? Coconut milk.
Children have a grand time at the Lux* Belle Mare, with the kids club fully equipped for children from 0 to 12 years old, and for teenagers there is a hang-out club with a ping-pong table and games by the tennis courts. We don’t really take our children on holidays only to have other people take care of them full time, but this is definitely an option Lux* give you, if you want… The kids club has a busy schedule which starts at 9AM, and children can even have dinner with the kids club team instead of their parents, if that’s your cup of chai… Whilst we don’t make use of these options full time, it is lovely for our children to spend time with others, go on beach themed adventures with a very dedicated team, and when she was a baby Little Madame had a nanny looking after her each day during her lunchtime nap and the hottest hours of the early afternoon (also meaning I was able to fit in a one-hour workout everyday whilst in the resort, including some pilates reformer work!)
If it’s your first time in Mauritius and you want to explore a little, I highly recommend a morning out at Port-Louis’ market, the fruit and veggie displays are quite unique and you can shop for local arts and crafts on the second floor. I also love the Pamplemousse botanical gardens. There are dozens of fantastic things to visit and explore on the island, but after five stays we just like to come here for the R&R…
Towards the middle of my gardening leave, before starting my current role, I booked myself for a week in Tulum in search of a bit of me time and a lot of zen. I found both, of course, but much more. This was my very own version of ‘eat, pray, love’…
My amazing trainer become close friend N. and I arrived in Tulum one balmy evening following quite a long flight and the most surreal passport experience ever (there wasn’t a queue so much as a sea of people trying to get through to a police official, of which there might have been more than one, but it didn’t feel like it…): I had scheduled my trip exactly on Spring Week, not by design of course, but that explained the scrum at the airport! Thankfully most people were headed to the slightly unsavoury resorts around Cancun right by the airport, whilst we were driven down a bit further to the thin land strip that is Tulum.
Where to stay
Our hotel, Sanará, was neither the largest nor the cheapest, but it promised a haven away from the stresses of urban life and the most beautiful setting, and it didn’t disappoint: minimalist boho decor with raw wood and brushed cement everywhere, and the super soft sand from the beach starts at reception, meaning you can spend the full week barefoot here. I had arrived in my kind of heaven. The room was gorgeous, such an inspiration for that holiday home that I’m still saving for, and we could hear the sea, but waking up the next morning we realised we had a jaw-dropping view from the balcony, which featured a lovely hanging chair, basically a front-row seat to the best sunrise show I’ve seen, pinks, purples, oranges. We also found out that reception had fresh coffee every morning, and we could pick up our cups on the way to the beach to admire the sunrise and its ballet of fishing pelicans.
Where to yoga
The main reason for choosing Sanará as a base was the yoga room: it faces the ocean and has big full height glass doors that can slide open. It is nothing short of spectacular. We went for daily yoga classes and sometimes double classes, and enjoyed most of them (there was a very grumpy and authoritarian instructor one day who really made me wish I had stayed on the beach and enjoyed cocktails instead of going for a second class that afternoon, she managed to strain my shoulder by forcing me down on chaturanga), enjoying the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, and looking out on to the turquoise waters and swaying palm trees. In the morning the sun shines directly into the room, adding some extra warmth to the Power Yoga classes, and I did wear my sunglasses for a couple of classes…
Where to eat
The other thing I’d been looking forwards to at Sanará? The in house restaurant, The Real Coconut, which offers fresh healthy food with a focus on wellness, plant based recipes, and fantastic taste-packed dishes. Before you look at the menu, you are struck once more by the beautiful simplicity of the decor, on par with the coolest hang-outs in NY and London. The breakfast here is to die for, especially if you sit on the sea-facing terrace, but do pack on the SPF50 sunscreen when you do, as the sun is super strong even at 8AM! My favourites were the coconut flour pancakes and the delicious Easy Green smoothie.
After morning yoga, we spent most of our days on the beach, enjoying our reserved sunbeds (super comfy of course) in front of our hotel room, with no cares at all beyond whether to read or swim, and when to get our lunch snacks delivered from The Real Coconut: delicious herb-infused cocktails (and mocktails for the very rare times we felt virtuous) and some pretty awesome guacamole and hands down the best tortillas ever, nice cream smoothies, all coconut milk based, also to die for etc. We also sometimes walk over to next door’s La Zebra and The Mulberry Project beach bar for the live music, the bespoke cocktails (my favourite: rhum, coconut, lychee), the ceviche and the adorable fishing boats filled with cushions that are used as seating areas. Further up the beach, we had some delicious cocktails on the swings at CoCo Tulum.
We tried a number of places for dinner… although we gave the legendary and over-hyped Hartwood a wide berth. According to the concierge at Sanará the famed place hadn’t answered email bookings in over three months; as someone who’d come here looking to leave stress behind, stressing over dinner was not an option. Instead, we sampled Kitchen Table (delicious, inventive and fabulous service), Nômade (sit in Macondo’s berber-inspired lounge area and order from both the vegan and non vegan menus), and of course the Tulum legend that is Posada Margherita (you guessed it, Italian, of the amazing variety, served by some pretty lust-worthy staff, as you’d expect).
Where to spa
Sanará does have a spa, which had some very tempting treatments and an adorable receptionist, but the cabins were a little boring and the European lady who appeared to be the lead therapist had a serious case of resting b*tch face going on, which made us look into other options. That’s when we came across Yaan Wellness Energy Spa, and with their treatment cabins on stilts in the middle of the jungle garden and the very cool water circuit to do before or after your treatment it did give us a more special experience. I had the house massage, where my sore back and hamstrings were rolled down to a soft pulp. Did I say zen?…
Other things to do
If you must do something else beyond beach lounging, yoga, and going to the spa, can I suggest strolling through the multiple little boutiques lining the beach road in Tulum, all selling a similar assortment of pared-down swimwear, boho dresses, and barely there (but oh so pricey!) jewellery. My favourites were the shops in the little alley around MurMur bar, although the most unique place was KM33 and its walls of fabulous Allpa Hats.
This trip doesn’t feature in my Insta highlights but I have a few pics from that week on my feed that are truly enticing… A few tips: 1) Tulum is a destination for everyone but this trip was only for R&R, if I had come here with my children I would have added some visits to the Mayan sites and an outing to a cenote, and included a couple more towns for variety, 2) Due to climate change and the sudden hype around the region, the beach gets positively inundated by seaweed most times of the year, so if you don’t like swimming in seaweed go somewhere else and 3) This is a very hype-ish place but you can avoid all the parties and all the craziness by just being you, doing your yoga, and enjoying your beachtime, as we did.
On our second day, we switched our flip flops for good hiking shoes and went up through the winding roads in search of La Fournaise. During the wet season (November to April) it does get quite misty around the volcano and we did arrive at the final viewpoint just in time for a major drizzle, so didn’t see much but did get positively drenched, especially as I had forgotten my rain jacket in the hotel room! However we had stopped en route to explore Pas de Sables, a large flatland of volcanic sand where you can walk on top of solidified lava flow ridges. Walking around the volcano feels like being on the moon, with some incredible flowers growing out of nowhere, and the most amazing bushes of wild hydrangeas lining the road on the way up to the viewpoint.
Day Three – Visiting the South East coast
Our third day was all about gardens and the coast. The botanic gardens here are something else: with the tropical weather every plant looks like a steroid version of what you find elsewhere, so beautiful and captivating. But also these places are totally filled with mosquitoes: even though I had sprayed myself and the children abundantly with insect repellent coming out of the car, we spent one hour admiring the trees and flowers at the Jardin des Parfums et des Epices, and when I came out my legs looked like they had chickenpox. Evidently no amount of appeasing gel would help and I spent most of the rest of our holiday scratching my legs like a dog with fleas.
We also went up to see the Cascade de Grand Galet, one of the most beautiful waterfalls in this part of the island. I love the turquoise pool it makes at the bottom, and a few years ago, when it was just Hubby and I, we would have probably jumped into the water for a little swim… This time we just took pictures. I don’t think it’s as tall as some of the ones in the North coast, but we wanted to avoid the heavy traffic around Saint-Denis and too long travels so we stayed mainly in the South of the island during our trip.
We had a wonderful creole lunch on the coast, where we filled up on curries and palm salad, before walking it all off on the lava rocks by the sea, admiring the souffleurs: that is where the volcanic rock forms an underwater cave which ends with an opening shaped like a small funnel, through which the water escapes into high jets when there are big waves.
We took off for the fresher hills of Saint Gilles Le Haut to visit the Villèle Museum. Once the home of the Panon-Desbassyns family, wealthy landowners who contributed to the growth of the local sugar industry through the systematic use of slavery with some of the most gruesome methods I’ve read about… We skipped the compulsory guided tour for the house (no offense, but I don’t need a 2-hour laboured tour to view a planteur’s house, I listened to enough history classes in my youth) and visited the gorgeous gardens instead, as well as the outbuildings where an exhibit of the family’s slave books, rules etc made for a very sobering visit.
Day Five – Up to the Maïdo and into the tamarin woods
The Maïdo is another volcanic peak, just above Saint Paul, with some stunning views over the Cirque de Mafate. You get some beautiful clouds flying up from the valleys, with little villages nested in the mountains below playing hide and seek. We went early in the morning so we could enjoy as much visibility as possible, and even so there were quite a few tourist coaches around. We drove down back to one of the tamarin forests, and tried to drag our little urbanites for a little hike and at first they were quite intrigued by bent and windy branches, the but the paths were both quite steep and slippery from the mist, so our attempt was quite short-lived.
Day Six – La Route aux 400 virages and Cilaos
Having laced the munchkins’ breakfast juice with travel sickness powder, we took off for our last visit of the trip, all the way to Cilaos, via a road of only 30 kilometers but that is famous for having 400 turns. I believe it has that and more, as well as super steep views down to the valley, and the tightest tunnels I’ve seen: in fact we saw a bus come out of one end and the driver must have a very special license as nothing else fit in that tunnel besides his bus… At the end of the road is a tiny mountain village full of creole charm and beauty, with colourful cases that I spent a couple of hours photographing from various angle, although there is a little shop where you can buy beautiful watercolours of all of them. We also visited the Maison de La Broderie, a place where ladies painstakingly embroider following decades-old traditions and make the most beautiful linen.
We flew back to Johannesburg the next morning, glad of all our adventures on this island with so much to see and do, regardless of whether you are visiting as a young couple, a group of friends, or a family with small children.
When we lived in London, one of the countries I covered for work was Spain and I would go to Barcelona almost weekly, without much time to visit properly: I spent my days in meeting rooms, my evenings in restaurants, bars and hotels, always with clients and colleagues, and constantly sped past the gorgeous sights in the city, often telling myself I would come back with time to see everything. So one week-end, to evade what promised to be a snowy Easter in London, Little Monsieur (a toddler at the time), Hubby Dearest and I relocated temporarily to Barcelona’s Hotel Arts and toured the city at length for three full days.
Day One – The Gaudi treasure hunt
The first place I wanted to spend time in was Park Güell: during my very first work visit to Barcelona, I was a junior analyst and I helped organise a majestic dinner for hundreds of clients on top of the terrace of the park, overlooking the city. I was amazed at the beautiful design of the whole place but I was so focused on not messing up with my table settings, who was who and who needed to talk to whom that I hadn’t taken a minute to walk around and look properly… So of course this was our first stop in the city: we took the hop on hop off tour bus (always a favourite for us, especially with a toddler in tow) and, after a short walk up the hill, we finally arrived at the gate. Park Güell is a fabulous place where you could easily spend a whole morning, and there is plenty for little ones to explore, from the columned hall with its doric columns and tiled ceiling (a court that was meant to become a market place for the local community when the park was originally designed) to the more modern playgrounds, but our little tyrant barely gave us enough time to take in all the details, I’ll need to go back when the children are grown up and I have all the time in the world.
After Park Güell, it was time for Hubby Dearest to choose a sight he wanted to see, so we headed back to Passeig de Grà cia to visit a building which is world famous as La Pedrera, also known as Casa Milà . It’s situated on the most fashionable street in Barcelona, in the middle of some of my favourite boutiques, so of course I planned a little shopping tour following our cultural afternoon… The secret of happy family travel, I find, is when everyone gets a little of what they really enjoy.
Like Park Güell, this is another of Gaudi’s creations, and it looks truly magical from the street, inviting a long queue of tourists every day. When we got there just before lunchtime, the queue was going around the block… Ouch! But, here’s one piece of good news for those of you travelling to Barcelona with children: Casa Milà has a priority system for families with buggies, and you can store your pushchair in the locker room before progressing upstairs for the visit. We spent a lot of time on the terrace, which, in line with the rest of the building, is filled with curves and nature-inspired shapes. The chimneys are particularly impressive and Little Monsieur was quite taken with the tiling work and the fabulous shapes… Inside we saw what an apartment would have looked like when the building was built, in 1912, and I found it incredibly modern in its layout, and could have easily moved in had I been given the chance, seeing how beautiful it all looked compared with our London Victorian house!
Of all of Gaudi’s fabulous designs in Barcelona, my favourite is Casa Batlló, it’s almost across from La Pedrera, and though I always thought it looked like a house with eyes, due to the open work balconies, it’s actually known as La Casa de los Ossos, as when one looks at the facade it has quite an organic, skeletal quality to it. Inside there is the most beautiful blue tiled stairwell, and the terrace is just as magical. I never miss an opportunity to admire it when I am in Barcelona, even if just in passing.
Day Two – La Sagrada Familia and Montjuc
The following day was my birthday, so we started slow with a luxurious breakfast at Hotel Arts, with a little card from Little Monsieur (no, my son isn’t that precocious, my husband however is a doting father who never forgets a special occasion, unlike me…) and lots of cuddles. We took off for a morning visit at La Sagrada Familia: remember to order tickets online prior to your visit, that will save you endless queueing on the day. It is well worth it, for the cathedral is unlike any I’ve ever visited before, every little corner filled with artistic detail. Soon enough we boarded the tour bus once more, on the way to the hilly neighbourhood of Montjuïc.
Montjuïc is the home of the Palau Nacional, which was built for the 1929 International Exposition and now houses the National Art Museum of Catalonia. Here we found hundreds of works by Spanish artists, but in reality we were coming for a whole other reason: right under the dome of the museum cum palace, you’ll find an exquisite restaurant, called Oleum, where the food and the decor are truly amazing. With some of the best views over Barcelona from the double-height windows, reflected by mirrors on the ceiling, Hubby Dearest, Little Monsieur and I sat down for a most scrumptious celebratory lunch.
Two hours later, we put Little Monsieur in his pushchair for his nap and took off up the hill to walk off that amazing food. We ended up at the Miró Foundation and, as Little Monsieur was still fast asleep, we decided to go in and enjoyed all the rooms in relative peace. Soon enough it was the end of nap time so we had to sacrifice further cultural enlightening in favour of more toddler-friendly activities, so we went to the Aquarium where Little Monsieur squealed at the (hopefully sound-proof!) fish tanks… We finished our day on the harbour where we shared a crepe. All spent and tired, we returned to our room where the Hotel Arts staff had left one last little surprise for me: a meringue cake with a single candle for me to throw one last celebration before bedtime.
Day Three – Almost Picasso
The next day was our last day in Barcelona, and I had my heart set on visiting the Picasso Museum during the morning. Sadly, our mini despot wasn’t as generous as he’d been on the previous day, and rather than sleep through or enjoy the strange shapes, he screamed murder from the moment we entered the first room until we eventually gave up, within 10 minutes of having bought our tickets, and left, totally mortified and frustrated. Instead we walked the streets of the neighbourhood with Little Monsieur slowly settling down for a nap in his pushchair: he was just cranky… The Picasso Museum will just have to go on the list of things I must do next time I’m in Barcelona with a few hours to spare. In truth though, for a 15-month old, Little Monsieur had behaved admirably, visiting monasteries and incredibly fanciful buildings as well as trying foods he had never tried before… When I look back all these years later, I realise what an amazing little traveller he has always been.
Barcelona is, as I’m sure you know, a fantastic city with the most intriguing architectural, from Catalan Gothic to Modernist buildings, not to mention the amazing food scene and the truly hospitable Catalans themselves, it’s a place one yearns to go back over and over again. I know I will.
A Styled Life 