We love it when our valued guests and shareholders share their holiday experiences with us. As a new section, as part of our blog, we will feature stories that our guests shared with us – some from yesteryear and others from more recently.
Here is a story, told as seen through the eyes of shareholder, Friedel Wichmann:
My wife and I have had Timeshare at Mabalingwe for the past 32 years now.
We, as a family, love this place. Older folks enjoy nature, animals and birds. Younger people love horse riding, swimming, playing Mini-Golf and listening to music at Kalahari Oasis.
When we first came to Mabalingwe, Kalahari Oasis was only a stopover for a beer or cool drinks. The day the film was made for the oil advertisement, we drove through the area not knowing what was going on. As you can imagine, we were not very popular.
I still remember the site where the jersey cow raised the buffalo.
We had a narrow escape where the old elephant bull decided to storm our car at Buffel Waterhole.
Before they put the safety fence up at the Units, the warthogs came to your door looking for food. One wanted to enter our Unit, and I hit him on the bum with a newspaper, upon which he turned around and hit me with a tooth; luckily for me, it was not very deep. Friends phoned us and my wife told them “my husband is bleeding like a pig”.
In the olden days, the hippos used to walk between the Units and you had to be very careful when walking to your car at night.
The old bar called ‘Kanniedood’ was named after a Kanniedood tree – that was growing near the entrance. As you entered the bar, there was a leopard mounted between some rocks. Basie Wessels, the owner at that stage, would talk to the people in the bar. The barmen working there were Timothy and Japie. Unfortunately, Basie died in a plane crash on the farm and Timothy, I understand, in a motor vehicle accident. With the big fire at the restaurant, the Kanniedood bar and all its memories were destroyed.
The Resort has since grown to a 5-star holiday destination, from the time I first came to Mabalingwe. It is near Pretoria and Johannesburg, and I can recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxing holiday.
Friedel Wichmann
Share your Mabalingwe experiences with us by sending your stories to yourresortstory@vrs.co.za to be featured on our blog!
