The wind is why most people come to Bloubergstrand. The reason so many of them stay for months, and come back the next season, is everything that happens around it. Every single week we put together a bespoke plan for the house, so you get to do the things and go to the events that usually only a local knows about, with a cool, ready-made community to do them with. What's below is a taste, not the full list. We do a lot more than fits in one blog post.
Every morning: yoga in the garden
About five mornings a week we roll out the mats under the trees for a 45-minute class, usually at nine, before the wind fills in. Vinyasa to wake up, hatha, or a slow yin to undo yesterday's session. It's donation-based, all levels are welcome, and mats and blocks are provided. The day's class goes up in the house WhatsApp group. Full details on our yoga page.
Windy afternoons: the beach
From around midday the Cape Doctor takes over the schedule. Kiters walk down to Kite Beach, beginners head out to lessons, and the house is quiet until sunset. Non-kiters use the afternoon for the beach, the pool, or getting work done in the co-working room.
No-wind days: adventures
When the forecast is calm, that's the signal for a trip. A small sample of what a season includes:
- Hikes: Lion's Head at sunrise or full moon, the quieter routes up Table Mountain, hidden waterfalls, and the coastal paths of the Cape Peninsula.
- Wine tastings in Durbanville, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, with a designated driver, always.
- Markets: the Saturday food markets around the city and the Sunday markets on the West Coast.
- Kite day trips to Langebaan, Shark Bay and Misty Cliffs on the days when the wind is better elsewhere.
- In and on the water: snorkelling with seals, surf lessons, and the odd shark cage dive for the brave.
- The big-ticket stuff for those who want it: skydiving, paragliding off Signal Hill, rock climbing with a view.
- In the garden: spikeball tournaments, games nights and whatever else gets started after yoga.
- Cinema nights, Cape Point, the penguins at Boulders and whatever else someone in the house suggests at breakfast.
Trips are organised in the house WhatsApp group the evening before, and car-shares are the norm.
Evenings: eat together
Braais and communal dinners, at the house and out at our favourite spots, happen all the time. Roughly every six weeks we fire up the wood-fired pizza oven for a pizza night that brings in the wider Blouberg kite community.
Social Sauna Sundays
Whenever there's appetite for it, Sunday evening becomes Social Sauna: rounds of heat in the sauna, cold dips in the pool and sometimes a DJ playing ambient tunes. Often it's an intimate one with just the house, and sometimes we invite some of the kite community round. It's the night the week's newcomers stop being new. R100 for guests and R150 for everyone else. See the sauna page for the private sauna and the hot tub.
The community behind it
Khaya has been running for seven seasons and has an ever-growing WhatsApp community of past and present guests: 370 members at the time of writing, and probably more by the time you read this. That group is where the car-shares, the lagoon runs and the "who's up for Lion's Head at 5 am" messages come from. It's also why the programme changes week to week: a lot of it comes from the guests themselves.
Nothing is compulsory. Some guests do everything; some stick to the kiting. But if you're travelling alone, or you've just spent a month hopping between apartments, this is the part of Khaya guests tell us they loved most, often to their own surprise.
We're open 1 October to 1 April. Check the booking calendar or message us on WhatsApp at +27 72 377 0575.
