Staying and Splashing at Aan De Heuvel in Swellendam (2021-01-11)

The ongoing COVID pandemic is of course playing havoc with holiday planning and really any sort of rest and relaxation time away from home, but Chantelle, the girls, and I did at least manage to slip away for a bit of “recharge our batteries under a different roof” time back in January when we found ourselves travelling to the foot of the Langeberg Mountains and setting up camp in the historic little town of Swellendam.

Our home for the next couple of days in South Africa’s third oldest town was one of the lovely Aan de Heuvel Self-Catering Cottages, part of the very slickly operated Aan De Leisure Collection (ADLC) that manages a wonderfully eclectic group of Swellendam accommodation options. In terms of Aan de Heuvel, the three cottages that make up the collection sit next to one another in a quiet cul-de-sac near the top of a hill (as the name suggests) looking back at Swellendam and the mountain peaks behind it.

Great effort has gone into making the three cottages all feature the same facilities, namely a private wooden deck, a tiny splash pool, an outdoor braai, and of course a patio to sit under and enjoy the fire come rain or shine. (Which is just as well seeing as it decided to be overcast and grey for pretty much the entirety of our short, meant to be Summer, family getaway).

Of course, the cold weather didn’t deter my two girls for making the absolute most of the freezing cold splash pool, and so a proper few days of splashing about, braaing, colouring in, stacking Jenga blocks, and building LEGO followed, exactly what our little family needed to recharge its batteries and set us up for the new year and the challenges still to come.