South African Experience
I was lucky to win this trip with work and flew from London to Johannesburg in Upper Class with Virgin. The first 2 nights were spent in the beautiful Westcliff Hotel in an affluent suburb north of Johannesburg. The hotel is very luxurious, traditionally furnished and the luxury rooms and junior suites are spacious with huge marble bathrooms. The food and service was excellent. We had lunch on the terrace outside overlooking the infinity pool. It is about 30-40 minutes from the airport. While in Johannesburg it is worth visiting the Apartheid Museum and the Constitutional Hill Museum and Soccer City, the new football stadium which will stage some of the World Cup matches. It is also worth visiting Soweto. I did a tour of Nelson Mandela's house and visited the Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum which was quite moving. Colleagues did a cycle tour of Soweto.
On the third day we set off to the Mageliesburg Mountains, about a four hour drive, stopping en-route at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site where we explored the caves and visited the museum, which was very interesting. We had lunch at the Maropeng Hotel which is at the site.
We stayed at the Mount Grace Country House & Spa Hotel in Mageliesburg. This is set in vast grounds and is a good spot for walking, bird watching, mountain biking and there are also tennis courts there and a relaxing spa. Our rooms were like thatched roofed cottages scattered around the grounds.
The next day we set off to Madikwe Game Reserve, about a 3 hour drive away. Our first night was spent in the luxurious Madikwe Hills Game Lodge, a stunning thatched roofed property with modern, African furnishings. There are 8 beautiful suites. I had one overlooking tree game reserve and water hole. It had a separate lounge with TV, bar and open fire. The large bedroom also had an open fire. There was a separate dressing area and huge bathroom with bath, walk-in shower plus an outside shower. The suite was all glass fronted and opened out onto a sundeck with private plunge pool and sunbeds. We also saw Little Madikwe, a 2 bedroom private villa in the grounds with its own ranger and personal butler. We had 2 game drives, one late afternoon and one early morning. We went out with our ranger and assistant in an open sided 4WD and saw an abundance of wildlife. This would be ideal for couples and honeymooners.
Our next lodge was Morukuru, 45 mins drive from Madikwe Hills. Another beautiful property in a peaceful location by the river. On arrival we were greeted with the staff singing to us and giving us a welcome drink. The property is like a private house, modernly furnished with an African influence. The minimum occupancy is 4. It would be ideal for a family holiday or holiday with friends. There is a butler, chef and 2 female staff who are also trained to do massages. All drinks are included and guests can help themselves. The food and service was excellent. The game drives were very good. We had a late afternoon and early morning drive again and we saw 2 lions eating their kill.
We visited the Farm House, a new lodge due to be open at any time now. This was a luxurious, modern, stunning property with 5 bedrooms and an outside pool. It is completely enclosed from the game reserve so it would be very safe for children.
After a wonderful stay we made our way back to Johannesburg airport, which took about 5hrs 30 mins. We had a very comfortable return flight with Virgin in Premium Economy.