Back in 2010 when Lou and I first arrived in PE we were introduced to Wezandla Gallery and Craft Centre located at 27 Baakens St. in Central (near The Herald and Feather Market Centre). As it was my first African craft shopping experience I spent tons of time checking out all the jewelry, carvings, baskets and paintings, and failed to notice the coffee shop situated in the back of the store. Had Lou seen that coffee and cakes were available I'm sure he would have taken a respite there while I shopped. As a matter of fact, that is the exact reason why Glynis Baer, owner of Wezandla since 1994, opened the coffee shop on the premises in 1996. In her words, "I opened the coffee shop in the store to entertain bored husbands."
Well, there were no bored husbands among the Crawlers on Thursday at Wezandla. Gail Darne, Fran and Mandy de Beer, Rebecca Marx, Nomusa Nkomo, Stella and Beryl Dawson, and Margaret Zoetmulder all met at the store and spent a while perusing the wide selection (some by local artists) of paintings, craft items, books, CDs and clothing that Wezandla has to offer. We could have spent all day looking around!
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| The Big Five |
Soon, though, we were ready for some refreshments and found our way to the coffee shop area near the back of the store. Our hostesses/baristas, Nataly and Michelle, pushed a few tables together for us and quickly took our coffee orders. Wezandla uses Masterton's Out of Africa blend for their coffee beverages. It's one of my favorites of Masterton's various blends and has become a staple item at my house here in PE.
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| Meet the Baristas Michelle and Nataly |
After our coffees were served everyone wanted a sample of the carrot and chocolate cakes on display. No one was up for a whole serving so we ordered one of each and everyone shared. The delicious cakes at the shop are provided by Pie and Country, a bakery shop located on Rink St. in PE. A variety of meat pies is also available to patrons.
The coffee shop is not the primary business at Wezandla so it only occupies a small area of the store which seats about 25 people. The craft store /coffee shop hours are Mon-Fri, 9-5 and Sat, 9-1. A few parking spaces are available in front of the store plus there is a pay per hour parking lot directly across the street. Wezandla's brightly painted facade just screams, "Welcome!" It is a wonderful place for tourists and PE residents alike (including all you bored husbands out there) to stop in, shop around, and enjoy some refreshments.
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| This Week's Crawlers Margaret, Fran, Beryl, Nomusa, Rebecca, Stella, Gail, Mandy |
Our conversation at the table started out with Thursday's headline news in The Herald regarding the recent horrific slaughter of four rhinos at a nearby game reserve. The rhinos were found just days after the Third Annual World Rhino Day (Sept 22). The Herald's article on Thursday reported that so far this year in South Africa, 394 rhinos have been poached/slaughtered for their horns, a number which is creeping toward the 488 killed last year. For readers interested in learning more about ongoing anti-poaching efforts check out The Rhino Conservation Association of South Africa's website: www.worldrhinoday.org
Enough of this sad news.... the Crawlers figured we'd get onto a more pleasant topic so we began discussing one of our favorite things... books. I shared with everyone my excitement over my most recent read, that being Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. (What was that I just said about more pleasant topics?) Anyway, it was a great book.... now I can't wait to see the movie.... probably on my next flight back to the U.S.
~Thank you to Glynis, Nataly and Michelle for a great craft store / coffee shop experience
~Happy Birthday (double nickels!) to my wonderful husband, Lou - October 5
Until next week,
Ellen
