Guest houses are great

There’s too much space. I put the last piece of luggage in and even though there’s five of us, there are vast areas of nothing just waiting to be filled. Something’s missing. It has to be.

Then it hits me. There’s no cooler box, no Weber, no bedding, pillows, no trolley-loads of food, no kitchen sink … For once I am going on holiday with my family without having to move house. No self-catering for us this year — we’re living high on the hog and being waited on for a change, in five-star luxury to boot.

My destination is Fairlight Guest House in Umdloti on KwaZulu-Natal’s North Coast. It’s my first move away from the slog of self-catering and by mid-afternoon I am sitting on the sea-facing balcony outside my room, a glass of chilled white wine in hand, chatting to Fairlight’s owner Bruce Deeb about this perfect little spot overlooking ‘Dloti’s vast expanse of beach.

The land has been in Deeb’s family for generations and the house used to be his family home. Over the years Deeb and his wife, Michelle, have added on rooms and when their children grew up they decided to turn it into a guest house, building themselves a townhouse in the back garden.

There are six bedrooms, all with en-suite facilities and all sea-facing, with sliding doors opening out on to the timber deck that runs the length of the house. At the bottom of the front garden is Beach Road, and on the other side of that, the beach.

The garden behind the house is dominated by two large milkwoods and a lovely big pool, with comfy cane loungers and armchairs, making this a perfect place to unwind.

A full breakfast is included at Fairlight — with the accent on “full” — housekeeper Maria believes that breakfast is the most important meal and makes every morning a gastronomic feast — cereals, toast, flapjacks, scones, pancakes, the whole English grill thing, fruit and yoghurt and freshly-squeezed juices.

I manage to do it justice each morning and save enough energy for the 40 paces or so from the breakfast table to the beach, armed with an umbrella and chairs borrowed from Deeb.

But there’s much more to this part of the world than beach. Umhlanga and its huge shopping malls and endless restaurants are a 10-minute drive away, and Durban proper is 20 minutes down the road. Half an hour on the highway has me in the Valley of the 1 000 Hills. This tourism route winds its way through some spectacular scenery and offers lots of opportunity to stop, shop and explore.

One of the highlights is Phezulu, just outside Botha’s Hill. It’s a cultural village, nature reserve and crocodile park rolled into one with a restaurant and an excellent option for a day-trip. An entry fee of R150 each buys a two-hour 4×4 safari down the mountainside through the nature reserve (great stuff), an hour and a half cultural experience at the Zulu village, complete with dancing and a tour of the village and a tour of the crocodile park. Now that’s value for money.

Which is more than can be said for the disappointing UShaka Marine World in Durban. I choke as I cough up a whopping R125 each to get me and my family through the gate, only to find that once inside, I still have to pay more for the attractions.

I bite the bullet and try the snorkelling, but the extra R125 only gets me 40 minutes in the lagoon in an uncomfortable flotation jacket and without fins (the one is compulsory, the other is banned). Combine this with the staff’s really bad attitude and you quickly begin to loathe the place. I was not alone in my assessment of UShaka — my 11-year-old hated it too, and he’s the market they are aiming at.

But, UShaka was the only low point in the holiday, which turns out to be one of the best we’ve spent at the coast, thanks, in large part, to our choice of accommodation. I leave contemplating the misconception that you have to win the lottery to afford great places to stay and good service in South Africa.

Rands & cents

Prices start at R350 per person per night (breakfast included)

Entering UShaka Marine World cost R125 per person