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

Special Offers in December

Cathedral Peak Hotel

If your fam­ily is bug­ging you to find out where you're tak­ing them this December, but you've left your plan­ning a bit late — then carry on read­ing because we have some solu­tions for you. A vari­ety of estab­lish­ments through­out South Africa are offer­ing you spe­cial dis­coun­ted rates and pack­ages that will suit all budgets.

Your sum­mer hol­i­days are right on your door­step. Don't stay at home this year — get out and about and visit that place you've always wanted to. Celebrate sum­mer in style this December... Continued

Hebron — an oasis at the pinnacle of the Piekenierskloof pass

Hebron

There is some­thing about trav­el­ling that brings with it an ele­ment of the mundane. I'm talk­ing about that glazed eyes feel­ing one begins to emit after an hour or two in the car so that even when faced with the incred­ible beauty of a pass like the Piekenierskloof, which marks the entrance to the Cederberg and Olifants River Valley (isn't it slightly freaky the way the river flows the wrong way?), and which wends its way down to the town of Citrusdal, you remain slightly impervious.

To call the Piekenierskloof Pass, which links Piketberg with Citrusdal on the N7, stun­ning is to do it a dis­ser­vice. In real­ity it is a series of rather daunt­ing twists and turns that over­look a patch­work quilt of multi-coloured farm fields, beau­ti­ful blue moun­tain ranges in the dis­tance. In days gone by there weren't any wheat fields down  below one, and most of what you see would have been Renosterveld ... Continued

Special Offers in November

Gnu Ranch

If you abso­lutely can­not wait until your December hol­i­day but are feel­ing a little bit cash strapped, then don't worry we're here to let you know about the spe­cial offers and dis­coun­ted rates that are being offered this November.

All around South Africa you will find a spe­cial that caters exactly for your needs and budget. Fancy tak­ing the fam­ily on a week­end away or if you're look­ing for a romantic break­away with your loved one you will find it all here. Relax and put your feet up while we help you plan your hol­i­day... Continued

October Special Offers

AmaZulu Lodge

We are head­ing into October and if the short September school hol­i­days weren't enough for you or you can­not wait until the end of year fest­ive sea­son, look no fur­ther as there are plenty of spe­cial offers avail­able all over South Africa.

It doesn't mat­ter what type of break you are look­ing for, if it is a lux­ury five star hol­i­day you are look­ing for, a self cater­ing break­away for the whole fam­ily or simply a bed and break­fast you will find it here. There is some­thing for every­one and at very afford­able prices. So what are you wait­ing for... Continued

Luxurious L’ermitage in Franschhoek

L'ermitage Franschhoek

I don’t often get the oppor­tun­ity to enjoy five star treat­ment, but a night at “The Hermitage” in Franschhoek was a stay to be remembered. L’ermitage is exactly that, a retreat in the heart of the Franschhoek val­ley. The Franschhoek  moun­tains form the back­drop to this beau­ti­fully loc­ated chat­eau and vil­las. Our unit over­looked a quaint little dam, over­shad­owed by the majestic moun­tain range, and a chorus of bird song and duck har­mony greeted our sun­set and sun­rise respectively.

Increasingly pop­u­lar in the hotel con­text seems to be the self cater­ing unit, with the option to indulge in the res­taur­ant and room ser­vice on offer. The villa’s kit­chen was well equipped, com­plete with a com­bin­a­tion washer/dryer for clothes. The unit con­tained its own com­bined lounge and din­ing area, which was over­looked by the open plan kit­chen ... Continued

September Special Offers

Antoinette's

It is almost September which means it’s prob­ably your last chance to take advant­age of the winter spe­cials that are hap­pen­ing all around the coun­try, so why not take a look at a few of the spe­cials you can make use of this September?

If these spe­cials aren’t enough for you or you are look­ing for a spe­cial in a spe­cific region then you can find more spe­cials in our spe­cials sec­tion. Enjoy your South African her­it­age this September by vis­it­ing parts of the coun­try you haven’t been before, these spe­cial offers ensure you have no excuse not to ... Continued

A grand Old Mac Daddy time in Elgin

Old Mac Daddy

The weather was divine. It was a beau­ti­ful win­ters day, with rays of sun tick­ling your skin with warmth while leav­ing the sky clear and beau­ti­ful, when I left the hustle and bustle of the city and in just over an hour’s drive and a dirt road later I saw before me glisten­ing Airstream trail­ers nestled into the hill­side ... We had arrived at the Old Mac Daddy in the Elgin Valley.

Our first port of call was to sit and relax on the deck to enjoy one another’s com­pany and soak in the set­ting. I was told that the dam was soon to be filled with trout of many sizes and so those fish­ing enthu­si­asts will have plenty of fun, although once you see the deck I’m not sure you will want to leave that spot ... Continued

Get Cooking at La Cabrière Country House in Franschhoek

La Cabrière Country House

I abso­lutely adore cook­ing and am always look­ing for new ways to learn and share exper­i­ences with friends. So I am very happy to have found out about a fab­ulous cook­ing course that is right on my door­step and this is too good not to share ...

La Cabrière Country House in Franschhoek now offers cook­ing courses in the on-site Culinary Theatre presen­ted by Camil and Ingrid where you will learn new and excit­ing dishes with which to treat and wow your friends at home. The course will begin at 14h00 in the open plan kit­chen of the main house. You will be given an intro­duc­tion as well as a menu present­a­tion and an explan­a­tion of the recipes you will be tack­ling dur­ing the course. Continued

August Special Offers

This August there are so many spe­cials to take advant­age off, what is stop­ping you from tak­ing a few days off to relax and restore your body and mind before head­ing into the busy end of year? Here are a few sug­ges­tions to help sweeten the deal that won't break the bank! With so many to choose from per­haps you need more than just a few days off… Don’t for­get there are spe­cial offers run­ning through­out the year, through­out the coun­try and you can find there all here! Continued