Bridge weekend

I know you have all been patiently waiting to hear all about the inaugural Maseru Bridge Club weekend away!  Well here it goes... on Friday afternoon we all met at our place, that is to say Kathy, Hesse, Sthe (Hesse’s girlfriend) Kit and I.  We loaded up Jeepy with a remarkable amount of luggage for a weekend away and headed off into the “traffic” of Maseru.  We had to make a quick dash back home for a handbag but spirits remained high.  There was chatter, singing along to our recently acquired compilation CDs and general amusement.  Traffic was acceptable and we made reasonable time.  Just under one and half hours south east of Maseru we turned off the main road (gravel and quite bumpy) onto a side road (gravel and super bumpy) but shortly after arrived at the gates to our lodge at Ha Ramabanta.  We arrived just in time to drop our stuff off in our rooms before heading in for supper.  By this time it was dark, but we had packed torches for the walk to the main building.  Our hosts were charming, the cook very enthusiastic (perhaps a little too), and dinner was lovely.  We opened wine and relaxed.  As soon as dinner was over, we took over the bar, re-arranged the furniture and sat down for our first session of bridge.  Fortunately there were only two other guests staying, a pair of bikers, who headed off to bed relatively early.  The bridge was great, and the wine flowed very nicely indeed.  Before we knew it, Kathy and I were up over 2000 points, everyone else had gone to bed and the lights went out.  None of this stopped us, we lit candles and carried on.  Perhaps it was the light, or perhaps the wine, but errors seemed to enter the game, with 5th suits appearing everywhere.  Eventually we decided to call it a night... a super night.

We woke up to a glorious morning.  There was a touch of mist in the air, very little in the way of cloud and a truly spectacular view.  We had obviously seen nothing the night before as we’d arrived after dark.  We sipped our teas, said hello to the lodge dogs and took it all in.  When all were up we sat down for breakfast and chatted about the previous evening’s play.  Hesse and Kit didn’t feel too sore, and vowed to carry on together and try and claw back the points deficit over the rest of the weekend.  After breakfast we had a lovely hike around the lodge, with more brilliant views.  We made it back for lunch, a short rest and then settled down for more bridge.  We set up a table in the ground overlooking the valley and Maluti mountain range beyond.  A most unusual but beautiful setting for a game.  We played all afternoon, moved inside when the sun set, stopped for dinner, and carried on after.  Once again bridge carried on beyond the 10 o’clock power cut and was illuminated by candlelight.  The second days play was a much closer affair and enjoyed by all.  There also appeared to be less wine consumed, so the errors were fewer!!

We had another stroll after breakfast on Sunday morning.  This time stayed we were accompanied by two of the lodge’s dogs.  We walked through the valley, beside a river, then over it and then through it.  We had come to a dead end and rather than turn back we took off our shoes and waded through ice cold water.  Sensibly Sthe insisted she be carried across by her man, which he dutifully did!  When we got back, we freshened up and sat down for our final bridge session.  We camped out even closer to the edge of the lodge’s grounds, overlooking the river and valley below.  It was the first time this winter I actually felt hot... lush!  The bridge was serious, Hesse and Kit, got some great cards and used them well.  When the time came to stop and head back to Maseru we all knew it would be close.  I did the sums and Hesse and Kit managed to come out 200 points ahead.  Amazingly close for a whole weekend of playing!!  On the way home we talked about the next weekend away and all hope it will be soon!!!