The perfect spot

Every year for the last 12 our family climbs off the hamster wheel of life and disappears to a little chalet on a nature reserve where there is only good reception on the top of the hill looking down upon this....

We first started coming here when I wanted to go away to celebrate my birthday and wedding anniversary which are two days apart and since then it has become a tradition. This year was slightly bitter sweet as we left our elder two children at home to run the businesses and care for our menagerie of animals. So now I am 45 years old and have been married for 24 of those years and this week away has become one of the highlights of our year.

Days are spent fishing in the river mouth, swimming, sleeping, reading and taking long walks down to the beach. Meandering walks stopping next to flamingoes as they feed and walk on, examining the tiny to large bait fish swimming in the water in front of us and climbing the huge dunes next to the ocean.

It was exciting fishing this year when our youngest caught us a gorgeous Cob for dinner. Standing at "his" spot at sunset with perfect conditions and the yell comes...."I've got one, I've got one!" 

Superman prefers to fish on fly and he caught a little Leervis which he released. But the hours casting his line bring him back to the chalet with a peaceful content face just in time to light the fire for a braai.

All our cooking is done on a fire which means we can sit and laugh and talk and tease with one another and keep our hand on the 5 day long Monopoly game we start on the first day. When Monopoly gets too much it games of Scrabble and Blokus.

The best part of this holiday is that we are alone in the back of beyond with just a few reserve workers around in the day time but for the rest it is us, the tortoises, francolins, field mice and hares which come to see what daily pickings we have put out for them. Tortoises gorge themselves silly on watermelon staggering away drunk, the timid mouse birds pick the pawpaw skins clean and the francolins love our bread crusts.

Then it is time to pack up and head home, climb back onto the hamster wheel and keep going with this life that is ours.