Welcome to Valley Lodge

We are hosting our first visitors to Valley Lodge next week from the United States of America. I got an idea from an ex-pat blog to make a guest book to record our visitors (courtesy of Landofnams.com). Thank you Namrata!

So I found this nifty lined notebook at Herbert Evans, the local art store. It has a cover made of Shweshwe, a natural-dyed printed cloth which is considered the"Tartan of South Africa".

Introduced by the German settlers in the eastern Cape in the 19th century, the local Xhosa women took a liking to the stiff originally solely indigo-dyed fabric. They slowly replaced their animal skin clothes with the new material worn under their traditional orange blankets.

French missionaries presented King Moshoeshoe with the material which soon became a favorite with the locals. Hence the name Shoeshoe or Shweshwe.

Typical use for the fabric today is for traditional ceremonies, while special designs might be produced for royal birthdays or national festivities. All original Shweshwe material is now produced in South Africa, still using the traditional method from the early German invention, where the fabric is fed through copper rollers which have the pattern etched on the surface. Over time new colors were added to the original indigo.

The paper inside the book is also unique. It is 100% locally produced in South Africa and is 90% sugar cane waste and 100% recyclable.

And I bought some letter stamps to personalize it ...




... and this cute pen that looks like a Sotho woman ...

entry foyer

... and put it on the entry table in the foyer. Welcome to Valley Lodge!

Lauren making her entry!