The use of pure mud as a treatment or therapy — officially ‘fangotherapy†— is one of the 44 treatments or healing mediums now on offer at the Caledon Spa.
Its historical hot-water springs have been used for healing purposes ever since the first humans came to the area.
Indeed, the original Khoikhoi and San inhabitants used to lie in the warm mineral water mud pools before there was any European-inspired development of the area many centuries later.
Today fangotherapy and Caledon’s mineral-rich mud is used because mud wraps are said to be excellent detoxifiers that, after bathing and a massage, finish off the cleansing effects of the application and should restore circulation and energy.
I never got bold enough to apply the mud to myself at the recent opening of the Spa, but the SABC’s Nancy Richards did and she said the effect was amazing.
Nor did I get into ‘thalassotherapyâ€, which, for the ignorant, is seaweed therapy. So, a Spa leaflet states, if you indulge in a seaweed hydrotheraphy you experience your mind and body being enriched. ‘Treat your back, neck and shoulders to an ultimate relaxing massage. Step out renewed …â€
But after swimming in the 37° ancient Victorian Spa, which has been renovated in keeping with the old spa, I was given a 30-minute foot, head, neck and back massage that cost R125. It was my first-ever therapeutic massage and the feeling at the end of it was sensational.
Could I go back into the mineral waters? I asked. Yes, I was told, but try the whirlpool and try and stand underneath the waterfall because that will increase the effects of the massage. Apart from when I lay on my back and literally got whirled around the pool, the coolish 20° water pounded on to my back, neck and head. By the time I got out, my body was completely relaxed. It was incredible.
These are among the different types of treatment on offer at the spa, apart from the warm mineral pools and bath, the Turkish baths, saunas and hydrotherapy pools.
Treatments are not cheap, most in the R200 to R300 a hour range, but then they also include clean massage rooms, trained staff, equipment and other facilities.
You can even go for the ‘phytomer transformationâ€, a three-and-a-half-hour treatment at a cost of R700. The leaflet explains: ‘Invigorate yourself with a remineralising wrap whilst calming your thoughts during a scalp massage. Renew your skin with a hydro-intensive facial and an application of self-heating mud to the spinal area. Complete this treatment by reshaping, buffing and painting your nails.â€
The spa also offers a number of ‘beauty treatmentsâ€, including tinting, waxing and nail care. In short, if you want to feel and look good, and you can afford it, it’s the place to go.
But, in the end, it is the warm, thermal waters that really make the place really special.
After the Khoikhoi and San inhabitants, the Dutch settlers ‘developed†the area. Coins dating back to the early 1700s have been found in the area and the Dutch East India Company built a guest house there in 1710 for their staff and guests who wanted to use the natural hot springs.
Records from that time show that, even though the Cape was regarded as merely a port where ships could restock, some visitors ventured into the ‘interior†to enjoy the hot, iron-rich water.
In 1804 a German, Dr Jan Frederik Hassner, who had settled in the area was so disgusted with the filthy conditions at the guesthouse that he wrote to the Cape authorities to complain. Two years later he was put in control and built a new guest house, servants’ quarters, stables, pig sties, fodder rooms and even a mortuary and graveyard.
Then, in 1897, work began on a handsome double-storey sanatorium and hotel to rival any English or Continental spa of the day. This became a haven for well-to-do Capetonians of the early 20th century.
Photographs of the old sanatorium in the adjacent Caledon Hotel show the magnificent Victorian building that burnt down in 1946 when a live coal fell from a fire, burnt a hole in the wooden floor and dropped on to a pile of papers in the room below.
Parts of the original sanatorium that were not destroyed by the fire have been retained in the spa building, but the hotel, which has now been renovated, and the adjacent casino are in a different location.
The thrill of the hot waters was enhanced early in the morning after my massage. To sit in a series of pools with strong running water and look out across the Overberg’s wheat and barley fields interspersed with the yellow flowers of canola, with steam rising off the water around me, was just unbelievable.
It wasn’t easy after that to undertake the return to the city. But I did promise myself that when I win the lottery I will go on the seven-day treatment special, at a cost of R7 300.
The spa is negotiating with the hotel for a special residential rate to go with the treatment special. That would be cheap at the price.