Cape Town, Durban & KwaZulu-Natal Safari

I won a trip to South Africa at a training event some time ago and it finally took place in September 2013. We flew in overnight with South African Airways & I was delighted to see that we were due to visit Table Mountain on our first day. We quickly checked in to the Southern Sun Waterfront and had a packed lunch on the way over to the cable car. I did think it was all a bit rushed, but once we arrived we found that the clouds were rolling in and there was a chance that it might be closed down for the day. Luckily we made it up to the top and caught a few good shots of the bays before heading back down, but it was too cold and exposed to stay up there long – even the Dassie’s were huddled together for warmth! Down on the V&A Waterfront it was a different world with street musicians playing and people eating outside. So, my first piece of advice is that you should always visit Table Mountain early in your stay!

The next day we were due to visit Robben Island but that was also scuppered by rough weather out at sea, so we did the ‘hop on, hop off’ bus around the city instead which was very interesting. Our afternoon was spent visiting hotels and we enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Southern Sun Cullinan. The next morning we had breakfast and were checked out to leave by 8am for our journey into the winelands. The scenery changed as we got closer to Stellenbosch which has at least 140 wine farms and stacks of heritage, being the second oldest city in the country. With so many of the wineries offering rooms on bed & breakfast, it’s an ideal place to spend a couple of days learning about wine production and finding a new favourite to take home. We were lucky enough to stay at the award winning Grand Dedale in Wellington, which is right next to the Doolhof winery where we spent a couple of hours wine tasting before dinner.

Next stop – Durban! After a return to Cape Town and a short, comfortable flight we hit the Durban Heritage Route including a visit to where Nelson Mandela cast his first vote and a stop for lunch at a local restaurant. If you're local it's a 'bring a steak' party and cook it on the braai - our guide had already brought ours over earlier so it's a fun way to meet people and cook together and at night they have live music too. We walked off our braai lunch with a couple of interesting hotel visits before heading to the Southern Sun Elangeni to check in. The following day flew by – we took the Skycar Ride to the top of the Moses Mabhida Stadium and some brave souls took the ‘Big Rush’ bungee back down. We did a Segway tour around the stadium and then cycled to uShaka Marine World to visit the Aquarium – all before lunch! But it was well worth it – the Three Cities Docklands Hotel is a quirky hotel close to the docks. They operate a partnership with a cookery school and the food here was an absolute delight at a very reasonable rate. We stopped off at Victoria Market in the afternoon before getting dressed up for dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Over the past 5 decades, the Beverly Hills hotel in Umhlanga has been home to both royalty & celebrities and has its own style and elegance. The rooms are sumptuous and the hotel even has their own ‘dolphin bell’ to alert guests to the pods that frequent the waters surrounding the hotel – how cool is that!

The last part of the trip was our eagerly awaited safari stay at Phinda Private Game Reserve. After an early start we arrived next day at Mountain Lodge in time for lunch, but the journey from the gates became our first game drive. There are just twenty five suites here, each with a private veranda complete with plunge pool and romantic al fresco shower. The bathroom was huge with a walk in shower, freestanding tub and patio doors that open to give you uninterrupted views out over the valley. During our two days we visited five of the six lodges and saw amazing wildlife including black rhino and cheetah cubs. They not only have the big five here, but also over 400 bird species and part of the park is comprised of a rare dry sand forest with great towering torchwood trees. We also stayed a night in the Forest Lodge there which features stilted rooms with full floor to ceiling glass on three sides. Another area we drove through was very wet and muddy (it's not called "The Greater St Lucia Wetlands" for nothing!) We found this out to our cost when we got stuck in the mud for a while, but our armed rangers arranged for us to be towed out and served us sundowners whilst we waited – we couldn’t have asked for better service!