Knysna’s Woodcutters…

In 1776, the Dutch East India Company employed the first Knysna forest woodcutters.   Unschooled and isolated from society the Knysna forest woodcutters lived miserable lives dominated by poverty. They lived in crude huts made of reeds & clay.

Once they had cut the trees to manageable lengths they used oxen to drag the timber along slip paths, made by generations of elephants, to where the merchants could load it on wagons and transport it to town.

Today you do not have to stay in a reed hut to enjoy what Knysna is all about.  Knysna Log-Inn Hotel offers 57 Luxurious en-suite rooms.  Just 5 minutes’ walk from the Knysna Waterfront and from the centre of town.  Come and enjoy our stained glass windows and find all the hidden carvings in the wonderful yellow wood of the largest wooden structure in the Southern Hemisphere.

www.kli.co.za  res@kli.co.za

Sophia Smith

Sophia Smith, one of our beloved Tour Guides, departed from the Knysna Log-Inn Hotel this morning with the Cosmos SA Explorer Group, on her way to Cape Town for the last few nights of this 5 day tour.

Sophia has been a Tour Guide for Springbok Altas for over 10 years.  Both the guests and hotel staff adore her.

Believe it or not, many years ago she used to be a  Springbok Atlas Coach Driver.

Sophia is originally from Manenberg in Cape Town and is a qualified Educare Teacher.  She loves singing and helping to uplift the community, but taking guests on tour is the ultimate high for her.

s.smith.tourguide@gmail.com

What a wonderful start to the day.

The first guests that I spoke to this morning when I came on duty were Anthony & Gail D from Wisconsin.

They travel all over the world, but were full of praise for our “Quaint beautiful hotel”

Our rooms were perfect, everything to hand and in the right place, and “Oh so clean they positively shine”

Gail said that they would not be returning to SA as they were getting too old to travel, but would not forget the “Fairy Tale Hotel” in Knysna.

THE MOST WONDERFUL GROWL

It is not often that one comes on duty at 7 in the morning, and on a public holiday when everybody else is still sleeping, and find a big smile automatically light up your face.

What a sight. The Audi R8 V10 in our parking lot.

This masterpiece has all the trimmings, everything that opens and closes and speed to boot. With 525 horsepower 5.2-liter FSI® V10 engine the speedometer is market to 350kmp/h. Sleek lines, soft leather seats and top notch sound system, this is my dream car, uhm ok… after my Volvo.

How awesome that the owners, Mr Kiran & Mrs Samantha Valjee, of this beauty decided to make our Hotel their “home” from home for a day or 2. They certainly know class when they see it. Luxurious rooms with all the home comforts, scrumptious breakfast and the best Barman in town. What more can one want from life?

MORNING CHECK-OUT

The TC 57033 group  (from China), booked through Thompsons Africa, checked out this morning.  As per usual, my trusty porters, Eric and Sandile, expertly arranged the suitcases for identification to be loaded into the bus.

Trust still exists

This young couple, Johann Snyman, and unfortunately we did not get the beautiful young lady’s name, checked in late last night, without a reservation.

Thembisile, our night auditor, checked them in, they wanted to pay and he told them that they could pay in the morning.

There reaction was, “What if we run away” . His reply was “but you won’t!

They said it was so nice that trust was still around, because these days it is hard to find.

Well done Thembisile!

Email – johannsnyman@gmail.com

Upgrading Gray Street’s “underground”

A big thank you to the guys from B & V Construction who, even on a Saturday, are hard at work to do the upgrades to the sewerage pipes in Gray street.

Thanks Guys!  I know many people get upset and rude because of the road closures, but we at the Knysna Log-Inn are happy about the upgrades.  This will prevent the “jam lorry” having to clear the pipes regularly which always caused a bad smell to hang around.

I asked Marcel to explain to me what they were doing, and I tell you, it is amazing what and how they swop the old pipes from 1965 with the new larger, stronger pipes.  It could have meant the digging up and destroying the whole of Gray street and then having to resurface the whole street again, but with the new method all that is being avoided.  So count our blessings dear Knysna People.

Instead of complaining and slinging rude words, hand the guys a bottle of water, coke, hot coffee or some such as thanks that they are working in all kinds of weather to make our town better.