As I touch down onto South African soil, it’s all happening here. Not only is newly elected president Jacob Zuma half way through his inauguration speech, but at Indaba, Africa’s biggest tourism marketing event, in Durban, everyone was getting excited about the FIFA World Cup, which will be held in the country next year.
I was here on a trip hosted by South Africa Tourism, invited to lap up the best value luxury a lady can get. With spas and wineries smothered teasingly all over the itinerary, I got the distinct feeling I was in for a treat. And with the rand faring a lot worse than the pound, British holidaymakers can share in these high-end highlights too.
Durban
The first place we lay our heads is the four-star Southern Sun Elangeni on Durban’s North Beach. This hotel focuses mainly on business travellers, but anyone would get a kick out of the glorious views of the city’s Golden Mile and Indian Ocean surf. We decamp into the hotel’s upmarket Jewel of India restaurant for the evening, and discover dishes that belie their pound-friendly prices.
The following night we get our teeth into more top-class cuisine at the nautical-themed Cargo Hold restaurant, housed inside a restored shipwreck on the Durban beachfront.
Its giant two storey-deep aquarium makes for an absorbing backdrop, and we feast on excellent seafood while 5ft-long sharks eye up our dinners. Again, I am surprised by the prices – guests can snap up a three-course meal in this upper-end eatery for a mere £13.
Karkloof Spa
An 80-minute drive northeast of Durban takes us past scenic green pastures and pine forests to Karkloof Spa in KwaZulu-Natal, which opened last summer.
On checking in at the entrance and transferring to a jeep, it takes just seconds to see we are somewhere special as a resident giraffe ambles by and moments later we spot rhino, zebra and impala.
Now this is Africa, I think to myself. Still awestruck from our arrival, the rest of the day’s events repeatedly astonish: the sight of the unbelievably vast-yet-cosy villa that’s home for the night, the mind-blowing massage I receive while wildlife peeks in through the window, the exquisite dinner in the main lodge.
The next morning’s race against running impala while mountain biking at dawn is another unforgettable moment.
Fordoun Spa
On the move again, it’s 20 miles east to our next stop – Fordoun Spa in Midlands, KwaZulu-Natal.
The style and decor instantly transport me to an idyllic English country cottage, enhanced when I learn of its previous life as an original 1860s settler homestead and farm. I can’t wait to relax in the darkness of the saline flotation pool that’s housed in a former grain silo.
After being played like a human xylophone by a massage therapist’s Zulu Knobkierie sticks, I meet traditional healer Dr Elliott Ndlovu for a consultation in his hut, just outside the spa.
Dr Elliot hands me a leather pouch, asks me to blow into it and then spills the contents – ancestral relics, bones and artefacts – onto an animal skin.
My future is duly deciphered by where they land and I am warned to expect problems with my feet. I make a mental note to book a pedicure at the next spa visit.
The next morning is spent on the Midlands Meander, South Africa’s first and largest arts and crafts route. After admiring some football- and wildlife-inspired bronze sculptures at Blueberry Hill, we watch craftsmen at work at the remarkable Ardmore Ceramic Arts Studio in Champagne Valley, KwaZulu-Natal. Both venues are ideal for shoppers keen to splash out on unique, opulent creations.
The Cape Winelands
A short hop on a Boeing 737 takes us to Cape Town where we pick up a 45-minute transfer to sophisticated Stellenbosch – South Africa’s second oldest village, in the heart of the Cape Winelands.
Lanzerac Manor and Winery is our home for the rest of the trip. Inside the classic, whitewashed Cape Dutch period buildings, I half expect to be issued with a smoking jacket and slippers as I take in the old-world decor and formal grandeur that well-to-do over-50s will love.
The candlelit spa is a world away from this and I receive a full-body pampering with wine and grape-based products, before retiring to an enormous suite in a grand building set among Lanzerac’s gardens.
Of course, the chance of a wine-tasting can not go to waste and we get sipping at the Fairview Wine Estate, whose Goats Do Roam and Bored Doe brands nimbly sidestep a copyright dispute with French wine producers. Utter marketing genius. Like it’s history, the area is all very French.
The picturesque lavender beds of the Paarl district are very Provence-esque, while chic Franschoek – French corner – is home to a string of upmarket shops, delis and boutiques.
We wine and dine on some divine creations at the aptly named Grande Provence wine estate, tour its impressive gallery of local art and peek inside a lavish luxury cottage once visited by Jude Law.
Cape Town
Lunch the next day is at Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant at the glittering new One and Only resort. It opened in April on Cape Town’s Victoria and Albert Waterfront.
We are quickly engrossed in a range of tantalising tasting-sized dishes, including a memorable pepper ice cream, which are all washed down with some of South Africa’s largest collection of wines. The view is equally impressive with Table Mountain staring down through a multi-storey expanse of floor-to-ceiling glass.
After a short trip around the Waterfront’s shopping mall, we’re delivered to the airport for our much-lamented flight home.
Verdict: If a first-timer asks about taking a luxury trip to South Africa, tell them what stands out: genuinely welcoming staff, stunning spas with exceptional attention to detail, excellent wine and dining and a real value-for-money offering. Even the modern and deluxe offer a sense of Africa, helped by beautiful open landscapes that abound out of the cities.
Sample packages
Virgin Holidays has a seven-night Winelands tour, including return flights from Heathrow to Cape Town, transfers and bed and breakfast at the Lanzerac Manor and Winery in Stellenbosch. Prices start from £1,291 per person twin-share for departures on September 7. (0844 557 3860, vhols4agents.co.uk)
The Zorgvliet Vineyard Lodge and Spa, near Stellenbosch, is offering a Wine Experience Package on its 123-acre estate. The package includes three nights at the five-star Zorgvliet Vineyard Lodge, on a bed-and-breakfast basis, and activities such as wine tastings, food and wine pairing dinners and a couples spa treatment at their on-site spa, such as a Pinotage balancing facial. The price of £365 per person excludes flights. (zorgvliet.co.za)
Hayes and Jarvis has an eight-night luxury twin-break package, including five nights at the Cape Grace Hotel, Cape Town and three nights at Le Franschhoek Hotel and Spa departing Heathrow on July 4. The price of £1,589 per person, including bed-and-breakfast accommodation, car hire and flights with Emirates. (0871 664 0246, hayesandjarvis.com)
Keith Prowse Attraction Tickets offers a new full-day Shakaland tour from Durban. Guests visit a typical Zulu village and learn about culture, crafts, beer-brewing and music. Prices lead in at £68 per person. A full-day tour of South Africa’s winelands, taking in Paarl, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, costs from £42 per person. (02890 23 24 25, keithprowse.com/agents)
Football Fever hits South Africa
Official travel packages for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa went on sale late last month. Thomson Sport has an 18-night package including flights, named accommodation in Cape Town, transfers and a safari experience leading in at £3,999.
Thomson will also offer official match tickets at face value (tickets start at £190 to see three matches), as well as tailor-made trips in the Western Cape. And if England don’t qualify, the company will offer a full refund to those passengers who want one. (0845 1212018, thomsonsport.com)
Check out our recent feature on the sports tourism market, and some selling tips from Thomas Cook Sport account managers.
