“The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day.”
The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss
“Good morning! Thank you. We are all settled in amidst the pouring rain.”
This is the email we received from our tenants on Sunday 21st April – Easter morning.
We have a couple from Johannesburg and their 3 small children, a granny and two aunties renting our Morgan Bay home. They booked for 6 nights and are our first paying tenants.
Hubby and I were nervous-excited to get our first let. I’d put together a welcome pack filled with info about what to do and see in our idyllic South African seaside village. It promised to be a wonderful holiday!
The Heavens had other ideas.
Instead of horse riding on the beach, building sand castles, sipping cocktails on the deck or making sunshiny braais, the Indian Ocean and blue skies stretch as far as the eye could see, our dear tenants have been trapped for days inside a strange house while wind and rain pummel the windows and roof, and torrents of water flood the garden and pool on the roads outside.
Here are some photos of our village:
Our own house has not gone unscathed. We have a minor leak in our main bedroom, a major leak coming through a light fitting in the ground floor ceiling which is apparently coming from the chimney of the pizza oven and our wine cellar is 3 inches under water.
Thankfully our builder is on hand and has assured us that all will be put to rights!
The villages of Morgan Bay and Kei Mouth (and we in London) prayed for rain – prayers answered!
We have decided not to ask our tenants to do a review on Tripadvisor.
EEK!!!
SMALL PRINT:
P.s. Did you know that it rained so much when Hubby and I got married that I arrived at the church in plastic purple wellies bought by my mother the day before in the local Chinese odds-and-sods shop?!
P.p.s. Our builder, who lives in the village says he’s been called out to 16 houses to deal with leaks.
P.p.p.s. Sadly, in Kwazulu Natal 51 people have lost their lives because of the flooding (see photos of Natal South Coast – below).
P.p.p.p.s. The only place our tenants could have gone on holiday and not had rain, would have been the Western Cape. The rest of the country is pretty much under water.
P.p.p.p.p.s. As a result of the dam overflowing, the Morgan Bay lagoon has broken out into the sea! This is a good thing because the council tested the water in December and notices when up to warn people not to swim because of a sewage leak. As my ever-funny, ever-punny Hubby said when we heard this news: “Good-bye to e-coli!”
Nyamazela 
The rain has been impressive – reminding us again how we are so vulnerable! So required, no needed, but scary when it is so destructive.
LikeLike
Gosh so much rain after such a long dry spell.I hope your house is being repaired by your great builder.Spectacular photos of the flood.I hope your recent tenants will return again in sunny climes and see the area in all its glory.x
LikeLike