🌹 Beauty & The Beast 🐗

Living in one of the most beautiful places in the world often makes one forget that it is called “The Cape of Storms ⛈️” for a reason. In what should traditionally be the start of our springtime (September), we have not really seen the gradual increase in temperatures we are used to, and have instead been visited by heavy rains, violent destructive storms, and cold fronts.

The SA Weather Service issued a Category 9 rainfall warning going into the Heritage Day long weekend, the highest in recent memory. Residents of the Southern Cape could expect rock and mud slides, flash floods, infrastructure damage, travel disruption and more.

We are quite sure many holiday makers were hoping that this would be one of those occasions where the meteorologists get it wrong, but it was not to be.

The Overstrand region (where Oppiedam Family Cabins are located) was hit extremely hard by the weather. Rivers burst their banks, roofs were blown off houses, whole sections of bridges and roads were washed away. Due to severe flooding, people were stranded in certain areas as all access routes were unusable. Electricity supply was knocked out and water supply to most of the Overstrand and greater Hermanus was lost, with 56m of pipe which feeds water from one of the main dams to the water treatment plant being washed away and destroyed by this force of nature.

We must commend the Herculean efforts of the Overstrand Municipality, the executive mayor of Hermanus & her team, all the wider departments, first responders, medical staff, NSRI, disaster management teams, NGO’s, civil, electrical and mechanical engineers and all others tending to all people affected, helping repair damage, and fix essential services through these storms 🏆🙏

Once Sir Lowry’s Pass and the R43 was cleared for travel by the authorities, we paid the cabins a visit for a few days to do some maintenance and check for any damage.

Thankfully all the structures were fine, except for some trees and plants which were unfortunate victims of the high winds.

Even during the tempest, nature was quietly getting on with what it does best. Growing. Nesting. Thriving.

From flowers to birds, it was all on display at Middlevlei after the storm had subsided.

We were treated to a few beautiful sunny days and we managed to snap some lovely pictures.

It is hard to believe when seeing the beauty of the flowers, hearing the murmuring of flamingos, and watching the gorgeous sunset, that just days before, beastly torrential rains and howling winds were causing trees to fall and washing away major infrastructure.

Whilst the aftermath of a storm like this is immensely tragic, one can appreciate that there is a kind of awe in witnessing that powerful destructive side.

It is like Mother Nature is subtly reminding us that we are custodians of this planet and that we are all live here at her pleasure. That she can show us wonders of the animal kingdom. The splendour of the plant kingdom. The majesty of her mountains and oceans. Reminding us, that she can also bring calamity.

So, with that thought, come, and experience a little slice of what mother nature has to offer with Oppiedam Family Cabins. Book that relaxing getaway you've been thinking of. Choose from the Flamingo 🦩 or Milkwood 🌳 cabin. Get out and explore your surroundings if she’s showing off or curl up on the couch with a good book and a hot chocolate if she's not 😉