Sure Travel Journey 6.1 Summer 2020 | Page 22

DEPARTURE LOUNGE // SUMMER 2020 Tales Road FROM THE The morning started like all the others – woken by the increasingly volatile scuttle and banter of the kids. Then a step outside onto the veranda, where collections of shells had grown steadily during the course of our stay. People were making their way along the footpaths beyond the lawns to Victoria’s poolside breakfast buffet. Joggers trotted along the beach. There is something soothing about the ritual of it all. I once went to a Zen Buddhist retreat where every activity adhered to a strict schedule: ablutions, meal times, chores, meditations… all planned and performed with zealous timing and military rigour. When I asked why the schedule was so vigorously imposed, the Zen master said, “So that we do not need to think about it.” In this way, at least, holiday resorts are not dissimilar to Zen Buddhist retreats. Eat, swim, read, nap, eat, drink, swim; repeat. The same pattern every day. No need to concern yourself with what or how or when, or why. Just meander from the buffet to the lounger by the pool in a ritual haze. So when something out of the ordinary happens, it’s a shock. As we made our way to breakfast on that particular day – about halfway through our fortnight of Mauritian bliss – we saw that someone had left their towels on our loungers by the corner of the kiddies’ section of the two-tier pool. For a while we just stood and considered this travesty. Who would do such a thing? Newcomers normally take a day or two to learn and conform to the protocol: you book your spot by leaving your towel on a lounger. For a week now we had made this 62 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE 22 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE On a family holiday to the Victoria Beachcomber Resort & Spa in Mauritius, Ami Kapilevich discovered that friendships can be established in strange ways. particular corner of the pool our own. This was no mistake; it was an attack. We liked our corner of the pool. Close enough to the small island in the kiddies’ wading pool to keep an eye on our four-year-old and close enough to the bigger pool to keep an eye on his older brother. But more than that, it had become an indispensable part of our daily routine. This spot had become our lives. Breakfast was tense. “I’ll speak to Telkom,” said my wife. Tamlyn and Malcolm were another South African couple, who occupied the loungers next to us with their two kids. We had struck up a friendship with them over rum cocktails, kiddies’ chicken nugget lunches and left-behind water toys. They had recently moved back to South Africa from Australia and were enjoying the windfall of expendable income that had resulted from the move. Here for a luxurious three weeks. Good people. Allies. With an excellent name portmanteau: Talcolm – pronounced Telkom. After breakfast, the offending family were glared at. He, tattooed and square jawed; she with fake boobs. Only one child. Victoria Beachcomber is a popular After breakfast, the offending family were glared at. He, tattooed and square jawed; she with fake boobs resort with South Africans in particular, but these people did not seem like us. He had stomach muscles and drank Diet Coke. She wore sandals with her feet up on the recliner. The following morning I leaped out of bed and made a beeline for our loungers, towels and swimming goggles in hand. The goggles were an added precaution. The gym bunnies might try to move or swap our resort-issued pool towels, but accessories like hats or goggles send a much stronger signal. To my horror, two towels were already in position on our loungers. They must have known that we would try to reclaim our territory, and they had gym-at-dawn written over every ripple of their fatless features. I chose another spot and fumed back to our room. After breakfast, we assumed our second place. Both our loungers and Telkom’s were empty, which fuelled our wrath as the pool filled with the regulars. I ordered an extra strong mid-morning rum and juice. Eventually Telkom arrived and settled in, but our spot remained empty. We made our way over. “Hey guys,” said Tamlyn, “we kept your spot.” They weren’t the gym couple’s towels – they were Telkom’s. Order had been restored to Victoria. Justice had prevailed. And that display of solidarity resulted in a fondness that will last a lifetime. Telkom didn’t just leave a towel on a lounger, they put a placeholder in our hearts forever.