May 18 - The Oyster Box Hotel

The theme for today's blog entry is this hotel, called The Oyster Box. Opulent is the word to describe it. Customer service is of the utmost priority – there are staff everywhere checking that each guest is totally satisfied with the visiting experience. It is part of the Red Carnation Hotel chain, so the accent colour is red – red awnings, red flowers and red and white striped umbrellas. All the female staff (even the housekeepers) wear a string of pearls. Took me a while to make the oyster/pearl connection. Then the penny dropped. When we asked about load shedding and electrical blackouts, they assured us that their generator would kick in quickly. Must be a massive piece of machinery to support this place.

Sandy and I went for breakfast about 8:00 a.m. It was warm enough to sit on the covered terrace, located just metres from the ocean’s edge. What a view! The wait staff wear crisp white aprons with black trim and a front pocket that holds a water pistol! Monkeys are a real problem here – they can sniff out the slightest bit of food, so there are signs and warnings everywhere warning about feeding the monkeys and about the dangers of leaving doors and windows open. Water pistols are the gentle way of dissuading them, at least temporarily.

The breakfast selection was enormous, with, to my delight, every item clearly labelled. Their scones and clotted cream and strawberry jam got high marks from us. There was an area where you could order hot items to your specifications, and then outside on the terrace, there was an area to order pancakes and crepes. One of the toppings available is Smarties. I feel a crepe with Smarties calling my name for tomorrow!

We lingered over breakfast with Colette and Sylvia. Deb and Sue joined later. Sandy and I found the gateway down to the beach, and to our delight, there was a lovely brick walkway that followed the water’s edge. We walked off a small part of our breakfast. I then got my blog backlog caught up while Sandy walked in the ocean and then found the pool.

I spent some time by the pool – lovely location with a very attentive pool attendant. While out there, we were treated to a visit by the monkeys as they scampered along the brick fence and in the lush green bushes.

I searched out the Clock Library – a dark wood panelled room overlooking the ocean with leather wing back chairs and a wall full of old clocks. How many high-powered business deals have been negotiated in this room?

When I got back, I watched the ladies cavorting with the monkeys down on the pool deck. Our window overlooks the pool area. While watching the antics below, a monkey came and smacked on the window right in front of me. Cheeky devil!

The sun has gone in now (~4:00 p.m.) and the wind has kicked up. We are in for a storm. The pool attendant is putting shrouds on all the umbrellas to protect them and taking all of the chair cushions inside.

This hotel has fabulous mosaics everywhere.

We are dining in the hotel restaurant tonight with pre-dinner drinks in Deb and Sue's room. Dinner was a curry buffet followed by three choices for dessert. Behki joined us and told us about some tribal customs and some of the major migration patterns in Africa. Fascinating! We had booked our table for the ocean side terrace, but it was quite wet and cool, even with the plastic side panels down, but with strategic positioning of tables and a few warm, red blankets, we were able to enjoy our main course comfortably. We retired to the lounge for dessert because we were starting to get wet.

We are being treated to loud thunder and wild lightning and pelting rain right now (8:00 p.m.).

We are on the road at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow, so no crepes for me! It's a box breakfast for everyone in the van. Off to see hippos!Meer informatie