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.