The healing route

Designed to relax and revive stressed-out urbanites, the Healing Route takes you into the cool, calm heart of the Magoe-baskloof mountains with stop-overs at spots renowned for their soulful offerings and restor-ative powers.

First stop is Kurisa Moya — the name means tranquil spirit — set on a wild mountainside overlooking the Kudu’s River Valley. Here there are grasslands and mountains, pine forests and a thick tract of indigenous bush alongside a river. You can stay in the main farmhouse, which was built in the 1930s and has an enormous stoep that is perfect for assuming the recovery position. Or you can head for one of the forest lodges, which are built on stilts and set in the trees — highly recommended if romantic encounters are part of your recovery programme. There is also a newly built cottage for two.

Managers Lisa and Ben de Boer cater for you, pour you drinks, take you out walking, send you on a picnic or give you a massage. Yes please! Ben does a mean neck-and-shoulders and Lisa’s speciality is the more dramatic-sounding cranio-sacral therapy, which had me purring. It’s based on the theory that your body physically manifests stored emotional injuries, which Lisa unlocks and unblocks while feeling deep vibrations in your body, starting with your feet and ending at your head. My knees, kidneys and teeth-grinding would require work, she said gently, but there was hope.

Second leg of the Healing Route is Stanford Lake Lodge, a sumptuous self-catering log cabin on the edges of a lake, with wide views of pine plantations and lots of sexy mist steaming off the water in the morning. The cottage is double-storey, there’s a huge glass fireplace in the lounge and the whole place is kitted out with everything you’ll need for a couple of days of head clearing, shoulder loosening and good old-fashioned sleeping.

It’s a brisk walk up the hill to the nearby Growth Centre, but well worth the effort. The centre is a spiritual day retreat for those in need of affirmation, restoration or just a fine-tuning of their chakras. It is run by a living angel called Colleen and is the fulcrum of assorted healing activities on The Mountain (what locals dub this area). You can walk, meditate, hug a tree — even try a treatment with a strange instrument called the monochord, which sends good vibes through your body.

The third and most decadent leg of the Healing Route is a day at the Agatha Spa and a night at the Coach House, which is just outside of Tzaneen and is the mother of country hotels. Set in the gardens of the Coach House, the Agatha Spa is where ancient Roman hydro-therapy meets holistic modern health. Which basically means glorious steam baths and saunas, along with a jet-heated pool and gym featuring decadent Roman murals. Walking in, you half expect toga-clad Roman gods and goddesses to step forward with welcoming plates of peeled grapes. Upstairs are the treatment rooms, where you’ll be pleasantly rubbed, scrubbed, massaged, oiled and pampered as you gaze out over fine mountain views.

The rooms are peaceful and comfortable, and the Coach House is not the sort of place to frown upon you should you wish to include a Chardonnay or two into your restoration effort. It has a legendary wine list and the breakfasts and dinners are more like the downfall of the Roman Empire than a modern health spa. The menu features fresh produce from the area — trout, nuts, avocados, mangoes, litchis and, of course, its famous nougat. Oh, never mind, you can wash it all down with some delicious Cheviot mineral water, bottled at source, and go for another massage.

The details

u Kurisa Moya

Tel: 082 200 4596 or 083 294 1013 or (015) 276 1131

e-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.krm.co.za

u Stanford Lake Lodge

Tel: (015) 276 4996

e-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.magoebaskloof.com

u Growth Centre

Tel: (015) 276 2712

u Coach House and Agatha Spa