newsletter february 2025
To all our friends and guests,
We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you a very happy and healthy 'Year of the Snake'. According to Chinese astrology, like the python shedding its skin, this is a time of transformation, renewal and growth; letting go of the old and embracing the new.
This seems fitting for us as we have finally finished the big project of the past year, building a home for ourselves. Moving from house to house is too much of a chore in our advancing years so happily the gypsy days of loading up the back of the cars and topping them with dog baskets to move again every few weeks are over.
The dogs have settled in well, including Saba, the new ridgeback puppy, now 9 months old. She is extremely sweet natured and we are smitten despite the fact she loves to sit down on the step in the swimming pool, get thoroughly soaked and then run around in the dirt. Not a good recipe for our floors. Neither is fluffy old Mwitu who brings in buckets of sand in her fur. As we are expecting visits from our four grandchildren (Isabella's three girls and Sammy's little boy) over the next couple of months, we are getting some mucky pup practise in.
Other animals happily settling in to the new home are the monkeys who sit on the roof of the courtyard each morning looking for an opportunity to steal. So far we have only lost a pawpaw, a loaf of bread and a packet of cinnamon (hope they enjoyed that!) which is well worth the amusement factor in trying to outwit them.
Paradisical as it is on the beach, getting away always renews perspective and widens the vision. We look forward to little breaks exploring this extraordinary country of ours, and often take a circuitous route upcountry via Tsavo and Amboseli. Please do talk to us if you'd like to make your next visit more of a safari and we can help you plan a bespoke adventure.
But for those of you who enjoy the ease of flying directly here from Nairobi (and we can't blame you), do remember to book early during the high season. In other travel news, the bypass from Mombasa is now open which means you can get from Mombasa airport here in an hour without needing to use the ferry.
At Four Twenty South, while embracing the new we are mindful of conserving the best of the past and especially, our unique character. We are proud of the long history of our family business and how it entwines with the memories of generations of holiday makers and we love hearing from guests who still remember us. We were thrilled to be sent these pictures from New Zealand recently from a holiday in the 1970s...
Back then, there was no electricity, water supply, or tarmac beach road. Lights were hurricane lamps, fridges were kerosene and water was heated outside in a 20 gallon drum over a charcoal fire. Along the beach there was nothing but forest south of us and the road to get here was a track.
A holiday here now has rather more creature comforts, from AC to swimming pools, but in other ways, it remains the same: the tides of the sea, the sand between your toes, the slowing of time.
There really is no better way to treat your mind, body and soul than fresh food, gentle exercise, plenty of pampering and of course Vitamin Sea. We hope you agree and visit us soon in this very special corner of paradise which is our home.
