Taim-go-loer – a farm stay where time stands still in Napier

Taim-Go-Loer

The first thing to grab my atten­tion, other than the obvi­ous pret­ti­ness of our accom­mod­a­tion, is the name of the place we choose to stay just out­side of Napier — a little town in the Overberg close enough to Caledon not to feel like a trek-and-a-half for a week­end break.

It's called Taim-go-loer.

I love words, and can't res­ist play­ing with this obvi­ously lov­ingly selec­ted phrase to describe our self-catering venue. Time to go and look, time for a walk­about? It sounds a little like pidgin English. That it has some­thing to do with time stand­ing still is obvi­ous, as no sooner are our bags on the floor of the bed­room than time slows. Continued

Special Offers in July — Hibernate on holiday!

Bona Ntaba Tree House

We're in July, oh yes we are, you might be think­ing of some way to treat that spe­cial someone, wish­ing to take the kids on an adven­ture or you are just look­ing for little time out for your­self. But whatever it is you are think­ing you might not be able to do because of budget restraints — help is here. You will find some great dis­counts and spe­cial offers that are avail­able this month at estab­lish­ments through­out South Africa.

Don't for­get that while you are plan­ning your hol­i­day there are plenty of Things to Do as well as Annual Events and Festivals tak­ing place, so have a look and per­haps you will find some­thing extra spe­cial to do on your hol­i­day. Save a bit of cash this July and hibern­ate in a new place this winter, enjoy what this fant­astic coun­try has to offer ...

Continued

A Brief Escape to Magical Wildekrans

Wildekrans Country House

A recent mid­week break found us on the road to the lovely Elgin Valley, touted as an ideal des­tin­a­tion for nature lov­ers and wine enthu­si­asts, and gen­er­ally for any­one want­ing a break from city life out in the coun­try. The first sur­prise is its close dis­tance to Cape Town. Under an hours drive from the city makes this a great des­tin­a­tion when pressed for time or for those who don't feel like driv­ing for hours to their des­tin­a­tion. And once you get there? The views and ambi­ance will have you believ­ing you drove for hours to get to this little piece of para­dise. Continued

Special Offers in June — take a midyear break!

Far North

Are you feel­ing that midyear slump yet? Are you des­per­ately try­ing to plan an adven­ture for your chil­dren dur­ing their midyear school hol­i­days? Are you think­ing of a spe­cial way to treat your dad this Father's Day (19 June 2011).  Well we are here to help, here are some of the fant­astic spe­cial offers being offered through­out South Africa.

So many estab­lish­ments are offer­ing you the oppor­tun­ity to visit while sav­ing some money, but without min­im­ising the exper­i­ence. If you are look­ing for dis­coun­ted rates, pack­ages or even a com­pli­ment­ary night here and there then look no fur­ther. Enjoy hav­ing a look at what is being offered and plan your hol­i­day accord­ingly. If you need some help on what to do while away have a look at our Things to Do for some added inspiration...

Continued

Stanford Valley — time out in the company of mountains

Stanford Valley

Stanford as far as the crow flies is not far from Cape Town. But there can be the odd occa­sion when, by the time you reach there, after hav­ing battled the numer­ous sets of lights through Somerset West, you feel slightly as though you've been through a man­gler. Which is even more reason why, in the shadow of the Akkedisberg Mountains in a val­ley through which the Klein River flows, a stay in Stanford Valley can feel a little like com­ing home.

The Overberg is quite the most beau­ti­ful part of the Western Cape. With its rolling wheat fields, sheep and beef farms, gor­geous moun­tains, sea­side and river­side vil­lages, and swathes of sump­tu­ous scenery, one is eas­ily enrap­tured. Stanford Valley, des­pite sound­ing like a val­ley in which the town of Stanford lies, is infact a beau­ti­ful organic farm, which also offers a guest farm and retreat centre, roughly 10 kilo­metres out­side of Stanford on the R320. It's pos­i­tion is breath­tak­ing and the mostly restored build­ings and out­build­ings incred­ibly pretty. Continued

Special Offers in May — where will you be going?

Bankenveld House

It is time once again to find out about some of the fant­astic spe­cial offers that are avail­able to you through­out South Africa. Whether you are a busi­ness or leis­ure trav­el­ler we have some great deals and pack­ages avail­able with both catered and self cater­ing options. Don't for­get that it is Mother's Day on the 8^th of May and you are lucky because some estab­lish­ments are offer­ing your mom's spe­cials for the entire month of May. So if you for­got to treat yours here are some hints at how to spoil her.

Everybody likes a dis­count, com­pli­ment­ary night or added extras and we have it all right here. Whatever the case may be we hope that these spe­cial offers help you chase away the winter blues and get out to explore this amaz­ing coun­try we live (and hol­i­day) in... Continued

Special Offers in April — give yourself a break

905 Dockside

April is one of my favour­ite months of the year, not only because South Africa has a boom of pub­lic hol­i­days but because it is the month of the year when the weather is still decid­ing what it wants to do. One day we will have winter and the next day a beau­ti­ful sum­mer day. What this means to me is a per­fect oppor­tun­ity to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and take a break.

We have two long week­ends com­ing up this month, the Easter week­end gives us a long week­end and the week fol­low­ing that has three work­ing days — so if you plan ahead you can have a nice long hol­i­day this month. Lucky for you there are plenty of spe­cial offers and dis­coun­ted rates being offered. So make the most of this time and give your­self a break! Continued

Tswalu Kalahari introduces the unique Truffle Safari

Truffle Safaris

Tswalu Kalahari is offer­ing an excit­ing and innov­at­ive pack­age for food­ies and adven­ture lov­ers who would like to search for the elu­sive desert gold – the Kalahari Truffle (formerly Terfezia pfeilii, now known as Kalaharituber pfeilii).

Called !nabas by the San, these truffles are dis­tantly related to French truffles but are not as aro­matic and have a smooth brown skin. Like the French truffle, which is always found near the roots of oaks, the Kalahari truffle has a sym­bi­otic rela­tion­ship with a plant — the desert melon. Continued

Special Offers in March — treat yourself

Inn Victori

March is one of the months in the year when we have a long week­end, so why not make use of this and take a break, get out of the city, spend some time with the one you love and just enjoy one of the many won­der­ful accom­mod­a­tion estab­lish­ments South Africa has to offer.

Find out about some of the dis­coun­ted deals and spe­cial offers that are avail­able to you this month. No mat­ter what your budget or where you are there will be some­thing that takes your fancy. Be it budget get­away, five star retreat or some­where to restore your soul, we have the answers. Continued

Tswalu named one of the world’s most romantic hotels by Travel + Leisure magazine 2011

Tswalu Kalahari, South Africa’s largest privately owned game reserve, has been voted one of the World’s 50 Most Romantic Hotels by Travel + Leisure magazine. According to Travel + Leisure, one of the most pres­ti­gi­ous and highly regarded travel magazines in the world, “.. there are as many ways to define romance as there are humans, but this list of the world’s most romantic hotels has some­thing for (almost) every­one.” Continued

Special Offers in February — it is the month of love...

Bushwa Private Game Lodge

It is the month of the year that is regarded as the month of love. The time when you should have planned a fant­astic get­away for your loved one — because she (or he) has been hint­ing for months already, but you just didn't get your act together and now you need a little help. Thank good­ness we have some great tips on spe­cial offers all around South Africa.

So many estab­lish­ments are offer­ing spe­cial romantic pack­ages so that all of the details are thought of and you can just enjoy the time with your part­ner. Have a look at what is on offer and don't delay book­ing any longer... Continued

Pezula ranked in World’s Top 20 Best Golf Resorts

Pezula has been ranked No 7 among the world's top 20 best golf resorts by the British web­site Primelocation.com, the only golf resort in Africa to be nom­in­ated. A journ­al­ist on the web­site writes: “It is hard to say why or when the first per­son cooked up the idea of meld­ing sun, golf, hol­i­day homes and hotels into a single resort... they all offer one thing – an upmar­ket hol­i­day resort feel where you can own a golf villa or apart­ment and play on a private course…to many people they offer an ideal mix of their favour­ite sport as well as a safe, often traffic-free fam­ily envir­on­ment near the sea aug­men­ted by the refine­ments of a four or five star hotel on site.” Continued

Special Offers in January

Whalesong Lodge

Did the Festive Season break the bank a little bit? Are you feel­ing cash strapped but still have some time off and would like to go away? Well then here are some super sav­ings that will allow you to have a great time away and save some money.

All around South Africa there are some great deals and spe­cial offers for you the eager trav­el­ler. Whether its a week­end break, busi­ness accom­mod­a­tion or some fam­ily time you are look­ing we are here to help. Don't for­get that there are spe­cial offers avail­able through­out the year. Take a look and see what you find... Continued

The Cobbit of McGregor

Cobbit of McGregor

We find the house via a com­bin­a­tion of dir­ec­tions from McGregor's loc­als and the abil­ity to fol­low our noses once we have the rather obvi­ous house in sight – there are not many homes in McGregor that look quite like it. Outside is a sign – cob­bits cot­tage. It's an apt descrip­tion of what stands before us, built com­pletely out of earth and serving as MAT's headquarters.

Jill is lar­ger than life. She would have to be. After build­ing her own house out of cob she is the walk­ing epi­tome of what it is to live sus­tain­ably, off grid — no link-up with Eskom at all — perched on the edge of McGregor where the town joins the Krans Nature Reserve. She is also, when we finally meet after hav­ing been vir­tual friends via email for a while, a won­der­fully warm indi­vidual who is only too keen to show us around her home, and drop pearls of wis­dom about how best to go about build­ing your own home out of earth into our ears ... Continued

10 great ideas for a family holiday in South Africa

Great for Families

Waiting for hol­i­days to simply 'hap­pen' when you have chil­dren is tan­tamount to expect­ing your fairy god­mother to make an appear­ance, wings and wand intact. The chances are that the hol­i­day, unless other chil­dren and a ream of activ­it­ies are 'on tap', could go hor­ribly pear-shaped and find you in the star­ring role of cir­cus ring­mas­ter respons­ible for a list of children's enter­tain­ment.  If you want 'down time' then a little plan­ning doesn't go amiss.

There are sev­eral child-friendly ven­ues in South Africa that cater for exactly this. Whilst not everyone's idea of a hol­i­day is get­ting cozy with a host of other couples with whom you have only  chil­dren in com­mon, gone are the days of 'hol­i­day camp' style ven­ues. These days some ven­ues man­age to cre­ate a won­der­ful bal­ance between keep­ing your child out of sight and barely in mind, and lay­ing on a num­ber of activ­it­ies that chil­dren and par­ents can do together ... Continued