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Zitat
Dear Friends and supporters of Madi a Thavha mountain lodge in Limpopo and Madi a Thavha Craft Art centre at Victoria Yards Johannesburg,
We hope you keep well, despite all insecurities and concerns we all experience related to the COVID19 pandemic. All over the world we are affected by the impact of the virus on health and economy in general. We need to move forward and find creative solutions to actively handle the situation and make the best of our lives in the given circumstances. We are very much aware how difficult this is for many people who already experienced inequality, political imbalance and poverty before the pandemic started. We would like to share with you how Aart and my life are affected by COVID19 and how we have made far-reaching decisions.
Besides running the lodge, we were expanding our business to Joburg by having our home and guest unit at Parkhurst, running our CraftArt centre at Victoria Yards and offering international travellers a Joburg experience the past two years. Just before COVID19 started to spread all over the world we opened our new CraftArt centre at Victoria Yards. Our staff was responsible for Madi a Thavha and caring for our guests independently when we were not there, which they were doing very well. We very much enjoyed the combination of spending time at the lodge in Limpopo, enjoying the natural beauty of the Soutpansberg mountains and diverse culture of the area, and enjoying the vibrant city life in Joburg.
End of February we travelled to the Netherlands for the birth of our third grandchild, Fiene. It was exactly then that COVID19 started to hit Europe hardly and also started to appear in South Africa. Countries were locked down and flights cancelled. We could not anymore travel back to South Africa.
It was a very stressful period for us. From one day in the other, our income totally dried up, because all our mainly international guests postponed or cancelled their trip to South Africa. From a distance, we had to temporarily close Madi a Thavha, our 15 members staff had to go on unpaid leave for three months, we tried to save on our fixed costs and made plans who could take care of the lodge. We were happy that three of our staff families would stay behind at the lodge, which was a huge commitment of all of them. Finally, with the support of our staff, a few permanent tenants who stayed at the self-catering houses, cutting down costs drastically, closing our CraftArt centre at Victoria Yards and with our support from a distance, we managed to survive.
This dramatic development made us think about our future. We made the very tough decision to permanently move back to the Netherlands after living and working in South Africa for 20 years. This would however only be possible if we could find a way to hand-over the lodge, sooner than our initial plans.
Finally, on the 11th of July, after staying in the Netherlands for 4.5 months we managed to join a repatriation flight to Johannesburg, together with 130 other passengers, mostly South African citizens, personnel from cruise ships, people working for oil companies, students, trainees, a rugby player and families with small children, who stranded all over the world. With a face mask and a bag of food for the entire trip, we flew back to South Africa not knowing what to expect. After our arrival at OR Tambo we drove with small busses, in a convoy with police escort to a Sandton hotel: our obligatory government quarantine location for two weeks. Despite the luxurious 5-start hotel room, we were struggling the first days, being locked up on the seventh floor with very unhealthy food (only 5 kilometres away from our own house). Luckily, Justine, a Joburg friend, brought us grocery shoppings. When we could prepare our own meals and have a daily 10-minute break outside, we slowly got used to the situation
After two weeks being locked up and a COVID19 test we were allowed to go home. We stayed for a week in our Parkhurst home while packing our CraftArt centre at Victoria Yards. Sad that we had to give up our beautiful centre with Limpopo arts and crafts, that so many Joburg people enjoyed visiting before it had a chance to flourish. Those days in Joburg we could see with our own eyes how South Africa’s weak sides are getting worse due to COVID19. People queuing for food distributions and sharing their small rooms with many others. Many people losing their jobs and great uncertainty about the consequences for the tourism industry in the long term. Due to corruption the special COVID19 TERS unemployment fund does not function causing people to wait for their grants for weeks.
When we finished our work in Joburg, we travelled back to the lodge at the end of July. Being back there was a real shock. The lodge was almost taken over by baboons and monkeys and the impact of not using the place for four months was big. The staff who stayed behind at the lodge was disorientated and worried about their future, which is very understandable. We focused on getting everything up and running again and trying to sell the lodge. We worked extremely hard to clean and fix everything, having in mind that everything should be well organised for a future hand-over. After being closed for more than four months, local guests, mainly people from Joburg who stayed with us earlier, started coming back from the beginning of August.
Much quicker than expected we found a buyer for the lodge, Mrs Thendo Ramaite. She is a local Venda woman and has taken over Madi a Thavha Tourism CC on the first of October. We can hardly believe that the selling process and actual hand-over took place within two months. It is so sad to leave this beautiful place, at the same time it is also a big relief for us.
The Madi a Thavha experience that we have offered so many guests the past sixteen years will be continued. The staff remains employed at Madi a Thavha. Thendo Ramaite takes over all commitments we made for future bookings. She is committed to keeping our long-lasting commitment towards Fair Trade in Tourism. And she continues to support the artists and crafters in Northern Limpopo and run our CraftArt shop, the Sewing and Design studio and Gallery displaying the arts and culture of our area. Besides the international market, she will focus on the local market. We believe this is important as it will take time before international tourists come back. More than ever, travellers like to stay in remote places and experience local customs, arts, and culture. The North of Limpopo provides excellent opportunities to combine the best of culture, nature, wildlife, and history. We are therefore happy that the Madi a Thavha experience continues to be offered.
Musa Matchume and Percy Ngwenya stay in their roles as lodge managers. Musa is responsible for administration, finance, and our culture and nature tour programmes and Percy is responsible for the day to day running of the lodge.
Developing Madi a Thavha from a farm to a colourful tourism experience was a meaningful part of our lives for the past 16 years. Working so closely with our staff, rural communities, artists, and crafters was an enormous learning experience which enriched our lives tremendously. We will carry this forward and we will never forget all the special people that we got to know, who are such an important part of the concept of our lodge and Fair-Trade approach. We hope that empowering our people made them strong to take our vision forward and to continue offering the Madi a Thavha guests an unforgettable experience.
We are moving towards new challenges after having lived and worked in South Africa for 20 years. It was a great experience that Aart and I enjoyed so much. We will move back to the Netherlands at the end of the year where we will continue promoting sustainable tourism and South Africa as an amazing destination. We have nice plans to run a small guest accommodation at a farm like house in a small village along cycling and walking routes. We are also going to run workshop programmes and an Art gallery with South African arts and crafts, in this way, we will continue to support the artisans from Limpopo. We are already exploring various options and our daughters are helping to find a nice place that suits our plans. We think it is going to be a ‘small Madi a Thavha’ where we like to welcome all of you, hospitality is in our blood. We are really excited about being closer to our children and grandchildren. Being in the Netherlands during the lock-down, made us aware how they missed us while we lived in South Africa.
Before moving back to the Netherlands at the end of the year, we will travel through South Africa. First, we are going on a small Limpopo trip to say goodbye to the artists and crafters, people in the villages where we did projects, and our friends at various lodges and other beautiful spots. After our trip to the north, we start our big journey travelling from Joburg to Cape Town and back to Joburg, visiting many special people and places. We never had the opportunity to travel for a longer period, so now the time is there! In the meantime, we hope to sell our Parkhurst home and pack a container with everything that goes back with us to the Netherlands.
We would like to thank so many people who supported us during our South African journey in many ways. We enjoyed meeting, working, and having fun with all of you and we would like to express our appreciation for your friendship and ongoing support.
Warm regards,
Marcelle Bosch and Aart van Soest
For business related questions you can contact Musa Matchume at info@madiathavha.com, for personal messages you can use my personal e-mail address boschmarcelle@gmail.com.
Benutzer, die sich für diesen Beitrag bedankt haben:
Beate2 (14. Oktober 2020, 12:49), Tutu (14. Oktober 2020, 12:28), Cassandra (13. Oktober 2020, 13:00), toetske (12. Oktober 2020, 20:45), Blinki (11. Oktober 2020, 23:41), Cosmopolitan (11. Oktober 2020, 22:04), sunny_r (11. Oktober 2020, 19:13), Fluchtmann (11. Oktober 2020, 18:36), Bär (11. Oktober 2020, 14:22), SilkeMa (11. Oktober 2020, 13:27)
Benutzer, die sich für diesen Beitrag bedankt haben:
Cosmopolitan (15. Oktober 2020, 23:47), Blinki (15. Oktober 2020, 19:17), toetske (14. Oktober 2020, 23:22), Bär (14. Oktober 2020, 21:42), Bueri (14. Oktober 2020, 15:19)
Benutzer, die sich für diesen Beitrag bedankt haben:
buddiekasino (16. Oktober 2020, 14:32), Cosmopolitan (15. Oktober 2020, 23:47), Blinki (15. Oktober 2020, 19:17), toetske (14. Oktober 2020, 23:22)
Benutzer, die sich für diesen Beitrag bedankt haben:
Fluchtmann (21. Oktober 2020, 09:09), Tutu (20. Oktober 2020, 22:29), Cassandra (19. Oktober 2020, 15:24), SilkeMa (17. Oktober 2020, 18:53), toetske (16. Oktober 2020, 22:58), Bueri (16. Oktober 2020, 19:35), corsa1968 (16. Oktober 2020, 14:02), Blinki (16. Oktober 2020, 13:06), SarahSofia (16. Oktober 2020, 12:57), Marc (16. Oktober 2020, 12:54), lottinchen (16. Oktober 2020, 12:52), traveler57 (16. Oktober 2020, 12:14), Bär (16. Oktober 2020, 11:52), M@rie (16. Oktober 2020, 11:34)
In der Küche der Jugendherberge in Stuttgart ( so denn mal Gäste da sind) ist Maskenpflicht. Masken werden vom Arbeitgeber gestellt. Ist aber für die Köche hart.
So können wir die Unterkunft leider nicht empfehlen. Die neue Besitzerin scheint andere Prioritäten als die bisherigen Eigentümer zu setzen.[/size]
so nicht mehr weitergeben. Wir werden also für eine spätere Reise eine andere, bezahlbare Übernachtungsmöglichkeit in der Nähe von Louis Trichard suchen müssen.Zitat von »Bueri«
Wir werden die schöne Lodge weiter empfehlen und vielleicht auch selbst nochmals dort absteigen.
Benutzer, die sich für diesen Beitrag bedankt haben:
Cosmopolitan (12. November 2020, 18:50), Bueri (12. November 2020, 16:36)
Benutzer, die sich für diesen Beitrag bedankt haben:
Tutu (18. November 2020, 21:49), toetske (15. November 2020, 23:22), Fluchtmann (14. November 2020, 10:02), Bär (12. November 2020, 20:19), Bueri (12. November 2020, 19:06), Cosmopolitan (12. November 2020, 18:51)