Roots & Fins Guest Manual

Dear Visitor & Creative Nature Loving Mindful Member of the Roots & Fins Circle,

Welcome to this Sanctuary!

We are delighted to have you here to enjoy the atmosphere of this creative writer’s retreat, with its enveloping wilderness and ocean sounds.

Roots & Fins was conceived as a dream to enable a sanctuary for creatives, writers, artists, nature loving souls, away from the city and by the seaside. This space is inviting you to rest, observe, reconnect to self, soul, body, hone your creative juices, finish that book, poem, PhD you need to get done. It is a space for enlivening those visions that go underground when life is continuously “too busy”.

Welcome to this time for yourself.

In order to tend to the space, please take a moment to absorb the following notes about how to care for Roots & Fins. Every place has its own personality, with quirks that add to its soulfulness and with particular needs so as to be sustained into the future. The same applies for Roots & Fins and together we can care for this beautiful house so that it is a space for many to enjoy into the future.

Here are a few pointers to take in

• Roots & Fins is a timber-structure NuTec home. It means that the outer shell is weather and to a degree fire resistant, with a wooden inside structure that is boarded and coated in crete stone. This creted outer layer on the walls is sensitive to water, oil and other substances, so please avoid any moisture on the walls. Our fingers carry natural oils so best to leave the walls untouched.
• Roots & Fins has a septic tank sewage system. Ablutions are traveling in pipes into the septic tank on the far end of the garden. This means absolutely no other substance than bodily excretions and toilet paper can go down those pipes. All else must go in the bin.
• The sewage pipes are sensitive to sand and clogging, so please rinse all sandy feet, swim costumes etc off under the outside taps before coming into the house and using any of the showers, inside or out.
• There are some washing lines on the stoep to hang up your cozzie and towels.
• Wilderness area at night – Roots & Fins is in a bio-reserve known as the Kogelberg. Nocturnal animals (and humans too) need the dark at night to go about their natural habitat, or to find the needed rest. Bright lights prevent this, hence we ask you to switch off all external lights at night please and use them only for the moments when you really need them. Most neighbours adhere to this and people mind if you leave the lights on as it is bright into their homes.
• Water is scarce in the entire Western Cape so please use the water mindfully. Burst pipes can happen in the broader Betty’s Bay area due to increased strain on the water systems at the moment. Should you not have water from the tap, let Undine know so she can report it, and also get back to you regarding restoring of the service updates from the municipality. There is nothing we can do about this, apologies. There are some full 5l water canisters under the sink for such cases so you can flush and cook. If possible, refill them before you leave.
• The current shower basin has a slight error in angle, hence water collects on the opposite side of the drain during a shower, and can flow out under the door if water is splashed onto the wood. Please use the scraper to scoop the water across the tiles and to the side of the drain and down the mesh after your shower. Also please shower so there’s no splashing and wipe the wooden floor after wards with your bath mat and hang it outside. We are planning to change this construction in the near future. Thank you for consideration here to preserve the floors in the current set up.
• Enjoy the outdoor shower. Move the small board and rock away before you step in and turn on the water. Please make sure all taps are closed well before you leave, and cover the drain of the outdoor shower again with the board and rock to prevent sand from entering the drain.
• Baboon visits – the baboons share the space with the humans here, but we want to prevent them from entering the houses or obtaining food, so they keep foraging in the wild and remain capable of survival as natural beings. There are several lone males and some troops that frequent the area. Keep all doors closed and locked unless you are out on the stoep yourself and can see them coming. If they approach even while you are there, calmly go into the house and lock the door and close the windows too. They know how to open doors that are unlocked, and smaller babies can climb through the bars on the windows. The adults won’t be able to get through the bars, but some of the young ones know how to open a door from the inside when the key is in the door, and may let the adults in that way. Baboons make a mess and can do a lot of damage. They are always after food.
• Close all windows and keep doors locked when you leave the house – this is key to prevent entry.
• If entry has happened for whatever reason and you are now faced with a baboon inside the house, do not fight them or approach them. They will most likely snatch some food and leave. Then close up and clean up.
• Fire hazard – this area is fire prone and fire spreads fast and furious once lit, especially when the wind is up. Please do NOT make a fire in the fire pit when the wind is on, even slightly. You have little control then. On a completely still day, fill a bucket with water and have the hose pipe ready and close. Wet the area around the fire pit and place it on an area that is pure sand with no vegetation (i.e. close to the stoep but not on it). Mind the fire and watch the wind at all times and immediately extinguish the fire if the wind comes up. Also quell it completely with water when done and before you leave the area. We do not have a braai yet but this will come in future.
• There are several board games to play at Roots & Fins. These are “The Chances to Change Game” and “Keyando”. Both are games with a strong mindfulness component and very exciting to play when you are on a transformational journey in your life, or with a group or family that simply wants to get to know one another better. They are for playable by all ages but not for small kids to play with as it may cause damage to them. Please look after the games, they are valuable and difficult to replace.
• There is the following arrangement around waste & cleaning when you come to visit Roots & Fins –
• All visitors must please take all your rubbish with at the end of your stay. You can drop it off at any of the municipal waste depots in Betty’s Bay, Pringle Bay or Kleinmond on your way home.
• Please strip the sheets and covers off your beds and place them by the washing machine (leave the mattress protectors on).

• There are two options for cleaning the place:
  • a) self-cleaning (which takes some work, so please consider carefully) or
  • b) paying a cleaning fee

• Self-Cleaning means
  • No fee but sweeping and wet-mopping all floors
  • cleaning up the kitchen, stove, fridge
  • wiping all surfaces, counters, desks
  • cleaning the toilets, showers, and basins in all the bathrooms
  • sweeping the stoep

• Paying a Cleaning Fee means
  • Add 350R to your payment for cleaning services
  • NB you will still need to take your rubbish away when you leave

• Breakage
  • If there is any breakage during your stay, please notify Undine. We will find the best way forward and appreciate your collaboration and contribution in such cases.