Sunday, October 25, 2015

Akasha Mountain Retreat - The beauty of nature

When Chris and his wife Elana arrived we followed them through the outskirts of Heidelberg and then up the dirt road for approximately 12 kilometres, climbing all the time. It's a good road and you don't need a 4x4 . We came to the top of the hill and the countryside opened up before us. The hills slope down steeply towards the Duiwenhoks Dam and then climb again beyond it towards the far Langeberg mountains. You can see no houses, no people, only nature.
The garden is full of birds who come to feed on the ripe mulberries and later there will be figs and other delicacies for them. The Mouse birds play on the lawn, rolling around in fights for the females
The early morning mist
And the early light on the dam is like a mirror
Lynne woke very early on our first morning, peeped through the curtain and found two of these klipspringers grazing on the grass in front of our window. She quickly roused John who fetched his camera. They did not seem to be bothered by us watching, but did move on quickly
After those ripe mulberries?
Chris arrived at about 11 and took us on a small veld walk to see the local plants and birds
The wild flowers are in bloom in October
There is this interesting 'kraal', possibly a shelter or ceremonial site on the farm; there are two interconnecting circles and the stones are covered in lichen which must mean that they have been here many years.
Lynne took close-up photographs of the many tiny flowers in the veld
You can sit amongst the proteas 
and watch the sugar birds feeding
A Pagoda Mimetes attracts lots of birds
We sat down on the ground and watched for a while amongst the Pagodas and the pincushion proteas
Singing sugarbird
Far away on the top of the hill you can see cattle grazing under the trees
It is the end of the season for these Waboom trees, which the birds love
The river below the dam
Lynne spotted this baby kingfisher on a branch overhanging the river. It didn't seem frightened at all, just interested in us. It looked like it has just fledged. We identified it as the Malachite Kingfisher
It rained heavily that night and this is the misty sunset, warning of the wet day to come
It is a beautiful sunset
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015


Akasha Mountain Retreat - the house

Night 3: Off to a Moroccan inspired house, Akasha, in the high hill country behind Heidelberg
Everyone who had been here said to us we would absolutely LOVE this place and we did. We were invited to stay for two nights, which is always a good period to review a place properly. One night means you arrive, stay the night and leave the next morning giving you very little time to explore the place and the area it is in, get to know the locals and the staff and experience some of the differences, the drawcards and activities on offer to visitors. Akasha had lots to show us and we had time to wind down and stop a while instead of moving swiftly along to the next place
We agreed to be in Heidelberg by 2pm, where we would met the owner Chris van der Walt at Delish Deli so we could follow him to Akasha. In fact we arrived there just before one, which enabled us to have some lunch. They make great pies and you can order these to take away to enjoy on your trip or where ever you are staying. See link here
When Chris and his wife Elana arrived, we followed them through the outskirts of Heidelberg and then up the dirt road for approximately 12 kilometres, climbing all the time. It's a good road and you don't need a 4x4 . We came to the top of the hill and the countryside opened up before us. The hills slope down steeply towards the large dam below and then climb again beyond it towards the far Langeberg mountains. You can see no houses, no people, only nature
The house is concealed a little way down the hill and is magnificent. It is in a Cape Maroc style (the owners term) and built for relaxed living and casual entertaining indoors and out
Parking is above the house
The entrance. The whole house is painted a shade of warm desert sand
What a view to enjoy from a hammock slung onto the fruiting mulberry tree. We had some of those with our breakfast
Into the lounge with its built in divans. They are made of concrete and fitted with comfortable foam mattresses. There is a small library of books and games but no television. As the owners say on their website, an ideal off-grid location in which to "disconnect from digital & reconnect with nature". There is a Bluetooth/analog speaker for your iPod/phone. And there is also a cell phone signal, so you won't be cut off entirely. But you should be, this is a place to come and de-stress and relax
Wonderful views from every window and small Moroccan touches everywhere. The Sanskrit word Akasha means space or sky or "to shine or radiate". In Hindi it's the ether, the basis and essence of all things in the material world. There is a bed of mint in the front garden and the first thing Lynne did on arrival was make a refreshing pot of mint tea
The house is full of mineral samples and crystals because Elana van der Walt has a very good collection and uses them for healing
A shelf for crockery
One of the two bathrooms in the main house with the handmade Moroccan style tiles they had made locally
One of two mosaic glass windows made by a local craftswoman
A Moroccan painted cupboard front used as artwork
A painted chest, a shuttered window, a lamp and a decorated mirror all add texture to the house
A lamp which casts magical lacy shadows when lit. All the ceilings are of reeds locally known as spaansriet
The wonderful view from our bedroom
Interesting quartz crystals with inclusions
The Langeberg mountains in the evening mist
Our bedroom doors
The cutlery shelf has everything you need
and so do the coffee and tea shelves
Another view of the lounge with the dining table
Look either side of the console table at the two enormous tree trunks which support the roof
There is a Dover stove for traditional wood-fired baking and extra heating in winter
The kitchen is filled with light. It is a very Green house. The stove, hob, fridge and the water heating all run on gas. The lighting is all solar powered from batteries, which are re-charged by photovoltaic panels on the roof. There is a large granite chopping block so visitors don't wreck the countertops by chopping food on them. One did. And there is a singing kettle. And clean fresh spring water for drinking is piped into the sink through its own tap
One of the two bathrooms has a huge walk in shower. The water is brown and smells a little of sulphur from local tannins and minerals in the water, but is perfectly safe
Our bedroom
Good crisp linen, huge, comfortable bed and lots of storage
Our en suite bathroom also had a huge Cleopatra bath. They are not that easy to get in and out of and use a lot of water, but are great to lie in for the view
and it also has a shower
The second bedroom
is also very comfortable and has views
The third bedroom has single beds
The humidity and rainfall are high in this area, so the land is green at this time of the year
There is a huge outdoor 'lounge' at the side of the house with a table and chairs, a divan and an outdoor shower
The front lawn
At the back of the house is a separate suite being the villa’s 4th bedroom with bathroom en-suite. Great for older members of a large family staying here?
It also has magnificent views
On the second evening we were joined by Chris and Elana after supper. They are well known as they used to own a very successful hand painted clothing business in the V&A Waterfront called Indygo Artwear

Elana
We lit a fire in the fire pit and sat out in the warm evening air
And sang along softly under our breath to the songs we knew. Thank you both for a wonderful stay. It was just what we needed, a chance to decompress and properly relax
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015