A South African Adventure

Nicola Benson on 02 April 2014
I have recently returned from South Africa on an educational of a lifetime.

I joined seven other Travel Counsellors and David from African Pride on an adventure that took us to the wine lands, Cape Town and then onto Kruger National Park.

Our first night was in Franschhoek, which is about an hour’s drive from Cape Town and we stayed at the stunning La Residence. It is truly a beautiful hotel, set in a 30 acre estate with stunning views of the mountains beyond and has a unique style of its own. The food and wine were excellent and the staff charming. There are only eleven suites and five villas, so expect very personal service.

Whilst in the wine lands we visited Babylonstoren, one of the oldest Cape Dutch farms in the region for a tour of the beautiful fruit and vegetable gardens and also Steenberg Winery for some wine tasting. This is a fantastic value for money experience in a lovely setting.

For the next two nights the Queen Victoria Hotel next to the Cape Town V&A Waterfront was our home. This is a 35 room boutique hotel in a contemporary style and it is worth paying a little extra for a corner or Table Mountain view room. This property is part of three hotels, the Dock House Boutique Hotel and the Victoria & Alfred Hotel which allow you to use the facilities of all three. Very friendly staff and food to compare with the best restaurants of Cape Town, plus it has a great location.

Finally we headed off to one of the private game reserves bordering the Kruger National Park in the Mapulanga Region, the world renowned Mala Mala private game reserve in the Sabi Sands area for a couple of nights. On arrival we had time for a quick change and a cup of tea before heading off for our late afternoon/evening game drive. We saw leopard, giraffe and elephants all within an hour! Back to camp for dinner in the Boma set around the fire pit where we were serenaded by the staff with traditional songs. We wandered back to our rooms complete with our rangers for safety, to be greeted by a wild elephant who had decided to wander in and eat some of the foliage outside our rooms.

The following day we moved to Mala Mala's other lodge, Rattray's and what an experience that was! We were housed in our very own villa’s with an extensive bedroom, his and hers bathrooms, lengthy terrace complete with plunge pool and sun lounges. It was amazing!

We had several game drives whilst at Mala Mala and everyone was very impressed with all that we saw. For our last night in South Africa we stayed at Pretoriuskop Rest Camp under canvas. The camp is enclosed by a fence so although you can hear wildlife like the hippos outside we were free of the bigger dangers disturbing our sleep, just the odd snorer to contend with. Our game drive here was in a larger vehicle and unlike in the private game reserves, all cars must stick to the roads.

My South African venture, although a whistle stop tour, will remain one of my favourite trips. This country has completely captured my heart. I will definitely be returning in the near future and look forward to exploring so many other areas of this beautiful country.