10 Reasons To Stay On A Farm In SA

Fabulous Farm Stays

We stayed on a couple of farms this past holiday. A week felt like a month. Why? Fresh air, lack of distraction, wide open spaces and literally nothing else to do but gaze at a couple of cows, or head for the hills, might have had something to do with it.

A stay on a farm, no matter how long, gets you out there exploring the countryside.

Whilst travelling around our cities is great, and most of our towns are busting at the seams with accommodation options, markets and other activities to keep you and the family entertained, it is farmstays that get the thumbs up from me. Continued

What To Pack For A Camping Trip

Family Camping

South Africa is brimming with stunning places in which to go camping, ranging from the exquisite Drakensburg Mountains to the coastline of the wild Transkei. Camping is special. It allows holiday-makers to experience the country in a very personal way; being part of the natural flora around them without the physical limitations of hotel rooms or lodge boundaries.

Still, without the luxuries of formal accommodation establishments, the only way to enjoy a camping trip is to prepare for it properly. This means making comprehensive checklists of what you need to pack and packing well ahead of time to ensure that you have absolutely everything you need. All too often, last-minute packing leads to a motley assortment of random clothing items and foods, leaving a lot to be desired from the camping trip.

So, to enjoy your camping experience as much as possible, include the following things in your bags: Continued

Kids of Cape Town – 8 Great Activities for When it’s Wet this Winter

A Winter Beach Day

There is something about rain outside that makes us want to hibernate; turn into bears and head for duvetland. The problem with what would otherwise be a largely therapeutic exercise is that little ones invariably think you’re decidedly out of your head.

The thought of spending the day in bed is so far removed from the average pre-school and primary school child’s idea of fun that holidays can become something of a battle ground.

A wise parent has a list of back-up activities that keep little fingers and minds busy and creative, that involve the parent in a way that they can temporarily withstand the urge to get horizontal, and supply a healthy dose of imagination and creativity, or allow little legs to stretch. Continued

10 top things (with kids) to do in Cape Town this (winter) holiday

Things to Do with Kids

Just the other day I heard one of the local DJs on a radio station, whilst in my car in the middle of Claremont, talking about the ‘secret season’ in Cape Town. The Mother City’s winters might have a scheduled wet season, but they are, arguably, an even more beautiful time to visit the city.

Incredibly, whilst the worst can happen – it does sometimes rain for days on end, which is why accommodation in Cape Town with a fireplace is nigh on essential – it invariably doesn’t. And those days when the sun shines, the leaves are orange and red on the trees (or not at all) and the city green and glistening, are when Capetonians really come out to play. For without the summer wind or scorching sun, Cape Town turns into a welcoming playground, with plenty to do. 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

Pezula certified as a Preferred Family Destination

Pezula Resort Hotel & Spa, South Africa’s award winning resort on the Eastern Head of Knysna, has been certified as a Preferred Family Destination by Preferred Boutique, a collection of small, luxury boutique hotels in a host of stunning locations across the world. According to Gert Venter, GM of Pezula Resort Hotel & Spa, Preferred Family Certified hotels and resorts are destinations that go beyond family-friendly. “Each offers unique amenities, customised programmes, and age-appropriate activities for young guests and their grown-up travelling companions.”

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

Blue Water Cafe, Imhoff Farm – children’s parties to remember

Blue Water Cafe

The social calendar of the average pre-schooler without doubt challenges the ‘coming out’ – a custom for girls in those days to enter into society by attending a variety of balls and dances in search of a husband – of the average Jane Austin heroine. At least the outcome for the Emmas of this world is a wedding; ours is an over-sugared five year old. This is our umpteenth birthday party this year. And as each outdoes the other in terms of child entertainment, the search for available and easy to use venues increases.

On this particular Saturday, we find ourselves at Imhoff Farm’s Blue Water Café, just outside Kommetjie. It isn’t our first visit to the restaurant, although for a lot of the parents it is. We’ve been here before, although admittedly not for a children’s party … Continued

Child-friendly, tea-toting garden nurseries in Cape Town

Child-friendly nurseries

If you haven’t already taken up gardening since having a wee bairn, there is always time. Garden nurseries have undergone a metamophosis in the last generation as more and more of them cater for children and parents gasping for five minutes’ down time in an environment that isn’t a shopping mall. And, inbetween, you acquire a plant or two. It’s a win-win situation.

My all time favourite nursery lies in the pretty southern suburbs. Ferndale is a classic for children, and doesn’t suffer from the pretention or the ‘nursery supermarket’ syndrome that some of the larger, corporate nurseries (like Bugz in the northern suburbs) have succumbed to. It does sadly lack a coffee shop, however, the reason for which I have never been able to establish – it’s not as if there isn’t room for one, or absence of demand; the place, on the contrary, cries out for one … Continued

Cool Runnings – Africa’s first toboggan track

Cool Runnings

The concept of a Jamaican bob sled team is as about as far removed from Cape Town, South Africa as I thought it could get…or is it? On a wonderfully warm spring day, we headed out at 08h30 on a Saturday morning, accompanied by three eager seven-year-olds, to “Cool Runnings” in Belville, one of Cape Town’s northern suburbs. Now an early riser I am not (particularly on the weekends), neither am I an extreme sports person, but one will do anything (almost) for your first born’s birthday party!

Cool Runnings is a little like the super tube, ‘sans’ water, only here you are seated in a toboggan and hauled up a steep incline to begin the 821m downward  toboggan trail. Riding for seven-year-olds means flying duo with an adult, as only eight-year-olds and up may ride solo. But of course this provides an excuse for Continued

Adventure holidays for families with kids around South Africa

South Africa, land of perpetual sunshine, incredible vistas, diverse landscapes and a people who go to the nth degree to make one feel at home, is perfect for families with children, who realise that having kids does not mean the end to adventure. All nine provinces have something to offer …

Learn to surf

The Western Cape province’s beauty includes the wild Cape Agulhas coast, the Cape Winelands, windswept spaces of the Klein Karoo, Cape Town, and the constant reassuring presence of mountains. The Mother City alone holds a host of activities, like the Two Oceans Aquarium, the Cape Peninsula National Park, the Planetarium, the MTN ScienCentre, and Ratanga Junction.

Abseil Table Mountain, ride horses at sunset on Noordhoek beach, learn to surf at Big Bay, Bloubergstrand, take a helicopter flip over the city, go ostrich riding in Oudtshoorn, mountain biking in Langebaan, paragliding in Porterville, and a wine cruise on the river in Robertson … Continued

Creative ways to have fun in the snow

Build a snow man

Heavy snowfalls over parts of South Africa overnight have given many families the chance to enjoy fun in the white stuff. Here are some simple but creative ways to enjoy snow that you may not have thought of before:

First things first!
Wrap everyone up warmly – I know it sounds obvious, but children are not penguins and aren’t automatically enthusiastic about venturing out into freezing conditions! To persuade them to have fun in the cold outside they will need to feel very warm and toasty on the inside! Continued

What to do with the kids this winter in Cape Town – 10 great (mostly) indoor activities

Kids Winter holidays

What were they thinking when they designated five whole weeks to the June / July holidays this year? This is the time of year when it rains and children end up on the couch in front of television or before the computer screen, rather than out of doors where they would rather be. And parents end up tearing their hair, and each others’, out.

My sister always has a back-up plan. A list the length of her arm of options she can do with her kids at the drop of a hat. I confess, I tend to leave a lot of this up to inspiration. And on the desired afternoon, a I’ve-been-infront-of-the-computer-working all morning stupor usually prevents my addled brain from coming anywhere close to creative, and my attempt at competence falls flat on its face… Continued

Old Mac Daddy Airstream Trailer Park comes to Elgin in 2010

Old Mac Daddy

Daddy’s World (who brought you Daddy Long Legs Hotel and the Grand Daddy Hotel and Airstream Penthouse Trailer Park in Cape Town’s Long Street, is bringing some oomph to Elgin in the form of the Old Mac Daddy Luxury Trailer Park (due to open July 2010).

Positioned on a pine-slope in the famous fruit-growing Elgin valley, the site consists of twelve vintage Airstream suites and a luxury cottage, Daddy’s Villa, with a central communal facility for meals, meetings, events and leisure activities – as well as lots of fresh air, outdoor spaces, a pool, dams and a kid’s play area…, and its all just one hour from Cape Town. Continued

Holiday Fun at Emperors Palace

Holiday Fun

If you are a parent with a child at school you will be well aware of the long school holiday that has been set during June and July. You may be panicking slightly about how you will keep your kids entertained, because inevitably you will hear the words “I’m bored” during this time.

If the World Cup is not your child’s thing and you would like a safe and fun environment for them, then Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, Gauteng has come up with a few options. They have a super childcare facility, Jupiter’s, which is both run and managed by qualified and experienced childminders. They provide a safe, fun and stimulating environment for young children. Your child can be creative in the art room or get the creative juices flowing in the play room or discover new things in the edutainment room. Teens are not forgotten at Emperors Palace and they can play arcade games at the Magic Company with some of the latest video and arcade games. Perhaps they can even challenge Mom and Dad to a round or two? Continued