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The Oyster Box is about 30 minutes outside of Durban itself, in a nice suburb by the sea and is directly on the beautiful long sandy beach, alongside a pretty red and white lighthouse.

From the minute you arrive at The Oyster Box, with the staff in their Colonial uniform including hats and gloves, you know that you are in a special place. As we walked into the spacious lobby, to the sound of a grand piano tinkling in the background, we all fell in love with The Oyster Box!

Before I went on this trip, I mentioned the hotels to a number of people, and a few knew of or had stayed at this stunning property, and said how lucky I was. I even had specific instructions from my editor at Selling Long Haul Magazine that I write for every month, to go up to the roof terrace bar, drink a glass of very nice red wine as the sun goes down, and have my picture taken in front of the lighthouse! I did as I was told and toasted him!

We were delighted with our rooms, with large shuttered doors opening onto a terrace facing the Indian Ocean, where we took in the crashing waves and the local men fishing for any stray sardines. Our dinner that evening was their wonderful Indian buffet with perfect food and wine with perfect service.

Our last night in South Africa ended with after dinner drinks in the Terrace Bar again, where we had the chance to catch up with one of the managers from the hotel of our first night, who was in Durban for a family funeral and had tracked us down to The Oyster Box.

The following morning, after an oyster and champagne breakfast, we visited the hotel next door – the Beverley Hills and found this to be a lovely hotel as well. We were shown a suite that Matt Damon had stayed in; some of the girls were delighted to know that they had sat on the bed that he had slept in!

We had a really lovely lunch at The Beverly Hills – one of the girls had the biggest fillet of beef that I have ever seen, it was as thick as a small tree! Then it was time to head back to the airport - about twenty minutes away ready to depart for our long journey home. Starting with a short one hour flight to Johannesburg, followed by, after an hour’s fruitful shopping at this excellent airport, a night flight home. Again I was lucky to have an extra leg room seat, which makes economy that much more bearable for eleven and a half hours!

All in all, an amazing trip and one to remember.