Umtata’s minuscule airport isn’t exactly a gateway to paradise, but the topography that surrounds it — interrupted only twice a day by the arrival of a plane from Johannesburg — is a signal that you are about to enter another world, where time has a different meaning and life can be unencumbered by the burdens of daily life.
That world is to be found less than an hour’s drive through the soft green hills of the Eastern Cape, at Umngazi River Bungalows. Nestled on the flank of a hill overlooking a spectacular estuary, it has become one of the few resorts on this largely unspoilt portion of the South African coast — and almost always fully booked.
The resort’s reputation has reached new heights with the opening, in January this year, of its spa. A range of superlatives can be used to describe the facility but its most extraordinary feature is, in fact, that it is for ordinary people.
Umngazi is essentially a family resort with an excellent and unobtrusive child-care system. Which is why people who don’t count themselves as part of the jet set go there, and get treated like celebrities.
The spa’s reception area sums up the place. A wooden construction with a thatched roof similar to the rest of the resort, it is bright, airy and unobtrusive. The treatment rooms make the most of their spectacular location. Large glass doors open out on to 180 of sand and ocean, allowing the pummelling and pampering that takes place inside to be punctuated by the scent of frangipani, bougainvillea and bird song that is blown in by a soft sea breeze.
The treatments are conducted by three beauticians, freshly arrived from Johannesburg and Durban with the magic touch. Friendly and professional, they offer a wide range of pampering options. You can opt for aromatherapy, reflex-ology or various kinds of massages — including an African head massage.
If you need grooming, manicures, pedicures, facials and waxing are on the menu. The treatments come in several packages — including duo pampering for honey-mooners — which can last from two hours to a day and a half.
It’s the kind of place that leaves you feeling like a Zen master. The only problem is that it has become so accessible that the spa was fully booked for the rest of my stay — even though opening and closing hours have been extended and it now -operates on Sundays.