We are planning 2 new Joxilox Group Tours in future (mostly naturist friendly accommodation):
From Port Elizabeth (now called Gqeberha) to Cape Town including the Garden Route
From Cape Town to Paternoster including the West Coast area.
Amanda and I decided to first do research for the Cape Town and West Coast Group Tour because it was December/January and the Garden Route was too busy and too costly to go there in December.
A new naturist guesthouse had recently opened called PORT NATURE HOUTBAY and we needed to see the facilities and to meet the 2 owners, Nat (Natasha) and Craig. We contacted Nat who is really on the ball, and we booked accommodation for 2nd and 3rd January. We always personally check accommodation before we book for our guests.
We decided to drive down and to sleep in Beaufort West and from there we went to a Big5 Nature Reserve called Aquila Lodge near Touws River on the road to Ceres. It was very impressive but very costly – obviously aimed at International Tourists with lots of Pounds, Euros and US Dollars. We might still book accommodation there for our group tours, but it is far too expensive for locals.
We then stayed at a guesthouse on a farm near Worcester for New Year's eve, and for the 1st of January, which was beautiful, peaceful and quiet. We had a lunch at a bush pub in the mountains between Worcester and Wellington and the food was really good. There are many wine farms in the Worcester area and so we got to know our way around that area.
On 2nd January we drove from Worcester to Houtbay where we met our hosts, Nat and Craig who are both lovely people. Port Nature Houtbay has 2 units of accommodation available. There is an upmarket 2 bedroomed unit with en-suite bathrooms and a lovely kitchen for self-catering. There is also a 1 bedroomed unit which is where we stayed for 2 nights. There is a new salt-water swimming pool and some loungers and large umbrellas.
We had arranged to meet with Juanita and Martinus there and of course, she is the famous organiser of the World Naked Bike Ride in Cape Town every March. It always coincides with the old Argus Bike Ride which is now called the Cape Town Cycle Tour. The World Naked Bike Ride will be on Saturday, 9th March and the Cape Town Cycle Tour will be on Sunday, 10th March, 2024. Juanita also has a group called Naturism South Africa which arranges camping weekends in the Western Cape. She is a past vice-chairperson of the Western Cape Naturist Association (WCNA).
We spent the morning talking in the swimming pool and we discovered that Nat is also the Events Coordinator of WCNA. Joxilox Tours and Naturism SA are committed to supporting all naturist associations, naturist resorts and naturist guesthouses. We all agreed to do our utmost to bring all the naturist groups together to work for the good of naturism in the Western Cape and South Africa.
We spent the afternoon with Juanita and Martinus at the Sandy Bay Naturist Friendly Beach (which is not actually legal) and we got badly sunburnt. At Sandy Bay we spoke to naturists, who previously were members of WCNA. It was nice to remember the good old days when WCNA was a member of SANNA and when the WCNA members would go up to SunEden to attend the GNA Big Bash. That has not happened for a long time, and it makes us rather sad.
We heard that SANNA had offered a free year of membership to WCNA if they return as a member of SANNA but evidently the WCNA MANCO cannot make any decisions until the next AGM at the end of 2024. We wonder why there is a MANCO if they have no power to make decisions or to call for a Special General Meeting. There are a few splinter groups and a lack of strong leadership which has destroyed naturism in the Western Cape and that is a great pity.
