Goudini heat

On Thursday we spent the night at Goudini spa.

This is a lovely resort to visit during the cold winter months. With its choice of heated pools (varying from cool to hot), this is the perfect way to enjoy the outdoors during winter, while still staying warm.

But, since it is now summer, and the past few days have been really hot, our visit to Goudini was less than ideal.

When we arrived on Thursday, we were enveloped by the most overpowering heat, resulting in me developing an instant headache.

After unpacking we went off to the coolest pool in search of some relief from our discomfort, but even this pool was as warm as one's bath water.

No one swam. Everyone stood about in the pool, looking as lethargic as I was feeling. I realised that wetting one's body entirely and then getting out of the pool provided one with some degree of temporary coolness, which felt like a few moments of utter bliss.

This is the hot outdoor pool- it was far too hot to even sit in this pool

Later we traipsed lazily back to the rondawel, hoping that the fan would provide some relief before we sat down for supper. I was so glad that, I had had the good sense to insist upon giving the braaing (barbequing) a break, and had brought along chicken pasta (prepared at home on Thursday morning) for supper.

Despite my heat-induced haze, I vaguely remember Aisha peeing through her Swimmers nappy (which is only designed to catch baby's poo while swimming) and onto the rondawel floor numerous times that afternoon.Yet she refused to let us take it off to put on a normal nappy. And we had no energy to fight her. It took all Mo's energy to mop the floor each time, while I irritably tossed her into the shower each time, threatening her with serious consequences if she did it again. She giggled, most likely enjoying tormenting her poor zombie-like parents the whole afternoon.

On Thursday night the temperatures outside dropped slightly. This made swimming at night an absolute pleasure. Mo and I did not swim, but sat next to the pool enjoying the slightly cool air.

Shakeel thoroughly enjoyed leaping from the cool pool to the hot one, in which about thirty people were lazing about watching the movie 'Transformers', which was playing on a very large screen in front of the pool. The atmosphere was so inviting, but I had to head back to the rondawel with Aisha, who was threatening to pee through her Swimmers nappies at any moment.

That night Aisha slept between Mo and me, adding to the uncomfortable heat in the rondawel. I have no idea what the time was that she awoke and threw a tantrum of note. I had been expecting a rough night, since she hates getting hot- she does not even want to sleep with a blanket on the coldest of nights. We knew that she had awoken the neighbours with her shrieking when someone switched on their porch light, most likely letting us know that we had awoken them. After about 45 minutes she calmed down, probably too drained to persist as long as she normally would. Who would have thought that the heat would also turn out to be a blessing.

Friday was slightly cooler (though not much). We had had to book out of the rondawel, but could laze around by the pool for the rest of the day.

Nuha was incredibly excited, since it was her birthday. She has been planning her birthday since the middle of this year- inviting friends and talking about her party. Who would have thought that she would not even be home to have a party on her birthday. Her happiness at it being her birthday did not stop her from nagging that she was not able to enjoy her party on her birthday. She was not comforted by the fact that we were making last-minute plans for a birthday party at home the following morning.

In the pool it was so much fun watching the Goudini staff entertain the holiday-makers by leading them in an Aqua-aerobics class, and dances. Although more activities had been scheduled according to the programme, these did not take place, which I can only assume was due to the heat.

At about midday Mo left to attend mosque in Worcester (which is about 25 kilometers away from Goudini). I stayed at the pool with the kids. And then; as if she had been planning it; just as her dad left, Aisha once again threw a massive tantrum beside the pool.

I tried to appear to be more composed than what I felt. The child was screaming like a freakin' maniac, attracting sympathetic stares from some people, and annoyed glares from others.

Later the kids enjoyed time on the huge water-slide. Mo took Aisha down the slide too, which strangely did not evoke any reaction from her. Considering the height of the slide and the speed at which one comes down, this was rather surprising. I remember my first time on the slide (since my childhood)- I had been shaky and dizzy for a while afterward, teaching me that one should probably not hold one's breath for extended periods if one doesn't want to pass out.

The kids also spent time playing mini-golf; which, as usual, resulted in a massive argument among my competitive kids.

I have been visiting Goudini for a few years now, and yet the beautifully landscaped gardens never cease to impress me. The beautiful palm trees ensure that I always experience that typical 'holiday feeling' whenever we arrive.

Despite our general discomfort due to the heat, we were still quite sad to leave. I really hope to return during the winter months.