Three Tree Hill Stories - Page 4

In celebration of 10 years at Three Tree Hill this year, Family Blackburn are celebrating by re-aligning design with their steadfast philosophy of sustainable tourism with old fashioned authentic luxury, family values, and personalised service. The new “three tree hill “ logo is inspired by the rich life and scratchy handwriting of one of Africa’s greatest and most renowned story-tellers to have ever lived – Sir Laurens van der Post. Handwriting, together with the summary of what we do at Three Tree Hill – history.nature.culture. makes up our new logo. A celebration of a life well lived, and the ancient, most valuable art of all – storytelling.

We are also excited to announce the launch of our brand new two-bedroomed Kiplings Family Cottage. We want to enable larger families (like our own) to all be under one child-friendly roof in comfort & style.

South African handcrafted fabrics & art fill Kiplings Family cottage. Original circa 1900 newspaper cuttings adorn the walls, as well as a number of custom-designed original artworks from the area. The children’s bedroom room has an en-suite wheelchair-friendly bathroom. In addition, the kitchenette, basin, light switches & door handles are modified to comfortably facilitate a wheelchair bound person.

Well done Three Trees team for winning Best Service Excellence for 4-star lodge in Tourism KwaZulu-Natal
In the provincial Lilizela Awards last week. Thank you Brent and Melanie for attending the ceremony & collecting our prize.

Simon Blackburn travelled to Port Elizabeth, his home town, to regale the tragic story of the iconic Battle of Spioenkop during the Second Anglo-Boer War between 1899 and 1902.

Simon was speaking at a fundraiser for victims of the Eastern Cape Thornhill fires. The event was held at the GFI Art Gallery, which is now running an exhibition by John Meyer , South Africa’s leading contemporary realist artist. The collection is a powerful and emotionally raw demonstration of the truth about war and the people affected by it. The expansive oil paintings weave history, imagination and narrative into a multi-layered realm that deals with the tragedy of war. They are at once compelling, delicate, emotional and foreboding.

“Whether you’re five yrs old or ninety-five, hearing a story well told is gripping…Lets rekindle the lost art of story-telling.” – Simon

While the builders are renovating…. the staff are doing training. Three Trees does most of their training in-house, but sometimes it is a lot of fun having an external set of eyes to help bring new ideas to the lodge. Thanks Sam for informative and fun few days!!

Since Sakhile Centre of Learning was formed, we decided to build a wall to remember & thank all the guests that have helped make this dream a reality. All those guests that have donated R10 000 or more have a plaque up on the wall, so everyone can be grateful for their generosity. The wall has been designed to incorporate the nature of the area to encourage the children to protect the environment & to encourage tourism. The wall is on the corner of the property & has bright colours, which we hope will attract visitors to the centre.