Spa goes African
Spa goes African
What will visitors to South Africa be
looking for in our World Cup year?
Experiences that are entirely African,
experiences that are very different to any they
will find in their home countries, experiences
that make them feel as though they have got
something for the rather large outlay they’ve
made by booking plane tickets to come here.
Spa experiences have become standard
fare everywhere you travel – Indian
head massage, foot massage, sauna,
flotation tank, it’s all readily available.
So how can a South African spa offer
something different?
Fordoun Hotel and Spa, just outside
Nottingham Road in the Midlands, has
been working on its African identity for a
number of years. The spa has a well-known
and very amiable sangoma consulting on
the premises, and Dr Ndlovu grows a lot of
indigenous herbs (in a garden which is well
worth a visit if you’re staying in the hotel).
These herbs have been incorporated into
the spa’s treatments.
The African Earth Experience, one
and a quarter hours of head-to-toe
treatment, uses the aromatic Artemisia
afra in the raw, traditional Zulu clay
(collected from a nearby location in
the Kamberg), along with Dr Ndlovu’s
products created on the premises.
Dr Ndlovu’s Artemisia Body Spray,
which is sprayed all over you in the
beginning of the treatment, is so refreshing
and delicious-smelling that I bought
some to take home. The traditional Zulu
clay is like a special mud pack, and is
followed by a massage using Dr Ndlovu’s
Artemisia Massage Oil and two African
poultice stamps containing Salt and raw
Artemisia, known for its uplifting and
healing properties. (You’d be right if you
thought Dr Ndlovu has a real thing for
Artemisia – it’s the foundation of many of
his products. One of the other signature
treatments is a body wrap that uses
Artemisia and African Potato. I am now
growing Artemisia at home because I truly
think it helps with sinusitis!)
The 45-minute Nduku Nduku Massage
is another African take on spa treatment.
It’s rather a strange sensation at first, but
wonderfully relaxing and fantastic for the
kind of back-kinks and knots developed
by people like me, who spend their lives
hunched over a laptop. The therapists use
traditional knob kieries to boost the back
and leg massage, using (you guessed it!)
Dr Ndlovu’s Artemisia massage oil, and it
really gets into those knots, relaxing and
releasing tension.
When you leave the spa and stagger
back to your hotel room in a delicious
daze, you really feel that you have had
an African experience, and that’s what
our 2010 visitors will be looking for!
Contact Fordoun Hotel and Spa on 033-266
6217, e-mail info@fordoun.com, or visit the
website at www.fordoun.com.