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| The view from my office at Magoebaskloof Hotel |
If you have ever driven from Polokwane (Pietersburg) to Tzaneen in the Northern Province, in all likelihood you would driven past the huge ZCC (Zion Christian Church) complex and started climbing the mountain. From farmland the vista would have changed to forest and literally right on top of the mountain you would have passed Magoebaskloof Hotel before the road descended again.
That magical place no longer exists as it did back in 1990. Early in 2004 a fire destroyed most of the Reception, Bar, Dining Room and kitchens, so the huge lounge with its roaring fires in winter were definitely a thing of the past. To give you an idea of the character of the place, the staff were not laid off while the hotel was being rebuilt, they all literally donned overalls and learned new skills to build the hotel in the shape it is today... sadly the old magic did not survive.
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| The Management and Staff of Magoebaskloof Hotel at the F1 Powerboat Race held on Tzaneen Dam |
I was appointed as secretary to the General Manager but unless you have worked in a small country hotel, you wont understand how the position expands to encompass a whole bunch of additional tasks that needed to be done. I worked every day from 8 till 2 as the secretary and from 6 till whenever in the evening as hostess, complaints department, sympathetic ear or whatever else needed to be attended to for the guests. Horst Dombrock, a 6'6" German was the General Manager and ran the hotel with an efficiency that was quite scary. His presence in a 3-piece suit was quite imposing, and as an American guest put it, "he is darn ugly and his mother dresses him funny".
With all his quirks, foibles, funny handwriting and odd-pronounced words, Horst had a thing about protecting his staff and would do much to keep a guest happy, but only put up with the guest being a pain to a certain extent. It was not entirely unheard of for a guest to finish his dinner and find Horst at the reception desk with the guests bags packed, a refund and address for alternative accommodation!
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| The Viennese Ball - this is the Staff all dressed up, not the guests! |
Although isolated in the mountains, Horst was responsible for dreaming up some spectacular events to keep the guests (and staff!) entertained. From Viennese Balls to Halloween Parties, German Beer Festivals and even catering for the F1 Powerboat Race held on the Tzaneen Dam. What definitely ranked as the most spectacular event was the staff's production of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Having the dubious honour of being the Director for this event, you cannot understand the hilarity in trying to get a 6'6", highly disciplined, ramrod-straight German, to do a flapping wrist impersonation of the abonimable Frank N Furter!! But Horst did very well in the end and even managed a delightful hip-swinging sashay off the stage.
Living on the mountain with gallons of fresh air brought a different perspective into our lives. James attended the tiny Haenertsburg Primary School while I worked at the hotel. Traffic jams consisted of listening for cars before turning into the hotel entrance when the mist was so heavy you could not see two feet in front of the car. You met a whole bunch of very interesting people albeit transient people who never stayed long anough to become really great friends, so the staff became "family" until they too moved on to greener pastures; as did James and I did eventually.
I returned to Magoebaskloof Hotel to get married and had the reception on the ledge overlooking the valley, so it only seemed fitting that when I got divorced, I threw my wedding ring into the same valley.
The very fond memories of the years spent there will always remind me that no matter how much life threatens to overwhelmn you, if you are lucky enough to find a place to breathe and regain some sense of normality, things can only get better, much, much better!
