As regular readers know, last winter in Sweden almost did me in. November is always tough, with permanent twilight and often less than an hour of sunlight over the entire month. Last winter it rained for weeks, followed by snowstorms and terrible snow clearance. I slipped and slid on ice and snow for months, and was sick from early December to about April. It felt like winter would never end.
But it did, and summer has been gorgeous. I have been out in the sun as often as I could, to store up the feeling for the dark winter months. For I fear I would not cope with another winter like the last one. The good news is, I won’t have to. We are going to South Africa from 16 December to 14 January. In addition to celebrating my big birthday, we will be having a summer African Christmas and new year. My bonus mother is 92 and my bonus siblings are all getting older. Time is not a given, and I want to cherish as much of it as I have.
My husband and I will be spending New Year’s Eve in a remote lodge near where I was born. I grew up by the beach so I don’t normally like inland, arid, hot places, preferring the sea and sand. This is beautiful though and my husband has never been there. My best friend and I spent New Year here in 2011/2012.
Here, shared with permission, are some photographs of Huntshoek Lodge
This is the room in which I stayed previously
And the gorgeous pool
We are staying remotely this time, in the Zebra Chalet
How lovely. And to go for a decent length of time too. Have a brilliant time
I think that the fact that your body was so sick last winter was a very clear sign that you needed to be in South Africa! I am so glad you can go for so long and I cannot wait to see all your blog posts on the subject!
Wow,how great is that???I am green with envie😂👌💓
Wow Janet, something to look forward to in Winter, I wish I could afford to spend a month (more or less) somewhere hot in the middle of Winter. Enjoy yourself and I’m sure that your husband will love the scenery and the wildlife in Africa.
The tickets are spendy (one reason we only go every two years) but luckily we stay with my family most of the time, and Swedish money goes far. I cannot believe I used to travel there once or twice a year!
Wow, Janet! This place is amazing! I’m so glad that you have wonderful plans to look forward to!
Donna
Me too! Our leaves are already changing which is rather depressing (though I love autumn colours too), but at most there will be two months of darkness before we have some heat and bare arms again!