The Season Nobody Warned You About in South Africa

A walk before breakfast, a garden, a trip to the market, a visit to friends across town: each may change with the season.

By Neil Solomon · 2 min read

Picture a couple named Helen and Marcus. They found a house in South Africa after two short visits, both in months when the light was soft and the evenings were long. Friends who lived there had said, "You could come and see it in the other season too." They nodded and smiled. Then the other season arrived.

I read one account from a retiree who called the whole thing "the warnings nobody heeded." The tone was rueful, not angry. The warnings had been given. They had simply landed on ears that were full of the good months.

What stands out to me is how ordinary this is. We hear what we want to hear when we are excited. A kind friend says, "It gets a bit much in summer," and we picture a few warm afternoons. We do not picture a long stretch of days that shape how we spend every hour.

I think there are two parts to the surprise. One is the weather itself. The other is what the weather does to a routine. A walk before breakfast, a garden, a trip to the market, a visit to friends across town: each may change with the season. A place can be lovely and still ask you to live differently for a few months each year.

Helen and Marcus had a small conversation about it after the first full year.

"Nobody said it would feel like this," Helen said.

"They did," Marcus said. "We just didn't ask what it meant."

That last line is the one I keep coming back to. The useful question is rarely "what is the weather like?" It is "what do you do all day when it is like that?"

I am not saying any place is wrong for anyone. The same season that tires one household is the favourite of another. Some people love the long hot spell and plan their year around it. Others have a hard time. You cannot tell which you are from a holiday.

Here is how I would read it. If you have only seen a place in its easy months, you have seen half of it. That is not a warning. It is simply the other half of the picture, and it is usually easy to go and look.