No, we haven’t flown back home to Vancouver Island. This is Ladysmith, South Africa. I grew up and went to school in Ladysmith, British Columbia. I knew since I was in elementary school that there was a town of Ladysmith in South Africa that many of the streets in my town were named after. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever get to visit it.
Buller’s Rest Lodge
We checked into a B&B called Buller’s Rest Lodge. It is on the top of the list of places we have stayed so far. It was set on beautiful grounds and had a million dollar hilltop view over the city. There were three different decks to choose from to sit and enjoy the view.
It’s a bit more expensive, but if you want to really treat yourself, go for it. It offers luxury accommodation with a very nice pool. The rooms are in separate little cottages on the property. When we say more expensive we should explain in more detail. It is definitely more than we had been paying to stay in a backpackers. As far as the pricing goes in South Africa though, you get a lot more for you money than you would in North America. The price for the evening worked out to about $90 Canadian. We would have paid much more to stay at a similar place back home.
We decided we didn’t want to waste any of the view by going into town for supper, so we ordered some pizza and had a few drinks. We sat there until the sun went down. In the morning we were served a delicious Spanish Omelet. Breakfast was included in the price.
Comparing Notes About The Two Towns Of Ladysmith
The owners are very friendly. The husband happened to be a war history buff. He had his own collection of war memorabilia set up in a room next to the bar. He had heard of the town of Ladysmith on Vancouver Island and was keen to find out more about it. I unfortunately didn’t have too much of the history to tell him. We are both curious as to how it got named Ladysmith. We assume a British person who was in the Boer war came and settled in the area. I told him the names of the main streets. He was very surprised that they were the same as the names in his town of Ladysmith. He told us most of the names were generals in the Boer war. Some of the matching names were Buller, Symonds, Baden Powell and White street.
Touring The Town Of Ladysmith
We drove around some of the city, it is much bigger than my Ladysmith. It did have a quaint downtown area that was somewhat similar in appearance. It was even complete with a Ladysmith Trading Company, just like the Ladysmith back home! Unfortunately it was Sunday. It seems we have become so accustomed to everything being open on Sundays in North America, and tend to forget that it is not like that in other places. Many other countries still have many of their stores closed on Sunday. The town was very quiet, with the exception of a few places, most of the shops were closed.
Ladysmith Black Mambaza
What put this town of Ladysmith on the map is the wonderful group Ladysmith Black Mambaza. We tried to buy a CD in 2 different shops, but they were all out. We will be sure to pick one up somewhere else. We saw this group for the first time many years ago when they came to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. We had the privilege of seeing them again in Nanaimo after getting back from this trip.
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