I ♥ Ifafi Because ...

I ♥ Ifafi

Hi, I’m Tieka from Cocomo Guesthouse and Conference Centre in Ifafi, Hartbeespoort Dam.

Ifafi IS BEST KNOWN FOR its ideal loc­a­tion in Hartbeespoort. Although Ifafi is extremely close to the CBD and res­taur­ants, it is loc­ated next to the dam in a res­id­en­tial area assur­ing for peace­ful­ness and tran­quil­ity. Ifafi is also closely loc­ated to Necsa Pelindaba for cor­por­ate guests.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the dam wall. If you are lucky a valve may be open for mag­ni­fi­cent photos.

THE BEST scenic sun­set PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the cross on Saartjies Nek. The sun­set over the dam is a breath tak­ing picture.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT any of the attrac­tions in the area. Continued

I ♥ Schoemansville Because ...

I ♥ Schoemansville

Hi, I’m Laurette Hanekom from Stirling Manor Boutique Guest House in Schoemansville.

Schoemansville IS BEST KNOWN FOR being the main town of Hartbeespoort.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the Snake and Animal Park, because there are many dif­fer­ent anim­als you are likely to see in real life.

THE BEST animal PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Bush Baby Monkey Sanctuary and Ukutula Game Lodge where walk­ing with the lions is a life chan­ging experience.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT the Welwitschia Country Market which is open from Tuesday to Sunday and all pub­lic hol­i­days from 09h00 to 17h00.

Continued

I ♥ Kosmos Because...

I ♥ Kosmos Because...

Hi, I’m Yolandi from Galagos Lodge in Kosmos, Hartbeespoort Dam in the North West Province.

KOSMOS IS BEST KNOWN FOR its tran­quil sur­round­ings, lovely walks, the most exquis­ite sun­sets and beau­ti­ful views of the Hartbeespoort Dam.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT any of the tour­ist attrac­tions in the area, per­haps even with a Cheetah at De Wildt Cheetah & Wildlife Trust, a lion cub at Ukutula Lion Park or an Elephant at Glen Afric Country Lodge. For the more adven­tur­ous why not glide through the tree top can­op­ies in a Hot Air Balloon at sun­rise.
THE BEST SUNSET PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN while tak­ing a cruise on the Hartbeespoort Dam. This 1620 hec­tare dam serves a dual pur­pose as both a source of irrig­a­tions for farms in the sur­round­ing area as well as a resort. Continued

I ♥ Rustenburg because...

I ♥ Rustenburg

Hi, I’m Marnice from Boubou B&B in Rustenburg in the North West Province of South Africa.

RUSTENBURG IS BEST KNOWN FORthe beau­ti­ful game parks high­light­ing the lovely nature, bird­life and Big Five ter­rit­ory of the Pilanesberg.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the Kgaswane Nature Reserve.  You can get a pan­or­amic view of the Magaliesberg Mountain from the highest view point at the Pilanesberg Nature Reserve.  Don’t for­get to get a pic­ture of the crater of an extinct vol­cano that exis­ted 1500 mil­lion years ago.
THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHS CAN BE TAKEN AT the Pilanesberg Nature Reserve – just remem­ber the park is home to the Big Five so get­ting out of your car is not recom­men­ded!
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS can be taken at sport events, musical events and fest­ivals ... Continued

Monique shares her tandem hang gliding adventure in the Magaliesberg ...

Tandem hang-gliding

Take a drive down the R512 past Hartbeespoort Dam. Smile as you see the hot air bal­loon in the dis­tance and drink in the won­der of the Magaliesberg moun­tain range. This is how a tan­dem hang glid­ing adven­ture starts. All you need is the sound of 'Born to be Wild' com­ing from the radio...

The tan­dem flights take place at Aviator’s Paradise, near Brits. It’s a small air­field but well main­tained and well loved.  Arriving at the air­field I found the tan­dem pilot, Mike, wait­ing for me with a cheer­ful smile. The team from Free Flying Adventures had already rigged the glider was and I was imme­di­ately popped into the har­ness for a quick test fit­ting.   Continued

The Madikwe Game Reserve

Madikwe Game Reserve

Game reserves, like dark chocol­ate covered straw­ber­ries, are one of those things that you just can’t get enough of. Millions of years of human evol­u­tion have designed us to nat­ur­ally prefer the great out­doors to an office cubicle. Who can argue with that?

The Madikwe game reserve cov­ers 75,000 hec­tares mak­ing it one of South Africa’s largest. The Madikwe Game Reserve show­cases Africa at its finest. Immense plains of open wood­lands and grass­lands, the jagged Rant van Tweedepoort, the dra­matic Dwarsberg Mountain as well as haphaz­ardly placed insel­bergs, all make for awe inspir­ing scenery. Throw in the Big Five and this des­tin­a­tion is every tour­ists dream. Located against the Botswana bor­der, north of the small town Groot Marico. Continued

Rustenburg — not so sleepy

Rustenburg

Rustenburg does not live up to its name. Meaning “place of rest” this once sleepy little town star­ted out as a small farm­ing com­munity pro­du­cing cit­rus and Virginia tobacco, but now it is known as the Platinum City due to its extens­ive min­ing. A hub of activ­ity and only a ninety minute drive from both Johannesburg and Pretoria it is per­fect for day trips or a week­end getaway.

Rustenburg has a fine bal­ance between his­tory, arts, cul­ture and nature mak­ing it a place that every­one can enjoy. Its his­tory is closely linked to the Vorrtrekkers who foun­ded the town in 1851. They star­ted to settle in the area and named it Rustenburg after they defeated  Mzilikazi and his tribe ... Continued

Hartley’s Restaurant and Pub — A unique country pub and restaurant in an old milking parlour

Hartley's

If you are out and about in Rustenburg and want a din­ner or lunch venue with a his­tor­ical slant to it why not give Hartley’s Restaurant and Pub at Rainhill Farm a try.

The his­tory of Rainhill Farm (named after Rainhill vil­lage in Scotland) is that it was pur­chased by broth­ers Frank and Duncan McGregor and their sis­ter Helen McGregor in 1909.  Frank mar­ried Ella McGregor and she moved to the farm once an old stor­e­room had been restored to become her ‘house’!  Perhaps she didn’t like the idea of shar­ing a home with her new hus­band, his mother and sis­ter! Continued

Activities at Maropeng Centre on Heritage Day

Maropeng

As I am sure you are well aware there is a pub­lic hol­i­day this week – Friday 24 September 2010 is National Heritage Day in South Africa. If you’ve for­got­ten or (shock hor­ror) you don’t know why we cel­eb­rate Heritage Day let me tell you. It is a fairly recent pub­lic hol­i­day which recog­nises all aspects of South African cul­ture. Which I think is some­thing quite spe­cial besides mean­ing that we get the day off.

Now if you’re not already cel­eb­rat­ing the day with a braai – National Braai Day, and you can’t think of any­thing to do, rather than spend the day laz­ing about why not head out to Maropeng in the Cradle of Humankind for their cel­eb­ra­tion where more than 8000 people are expec­ted ... Continued

A holiday in the crater of a once active volcano ... Pilanesberg Reserve

When a friend of mine sug­ges­ted that our next hol­i­day in South Africa should be in the crater of a once act­ive vol­cano, I wasn't sure it was a good idea. I've seen way too many dis­aster movies to not know that people say “it’s been inact­ive for mil­len­nia” about fif­teen minutes before the thing erupts and the main char­ac­ters spend the rest of the movie fight­ing for their lives.

Turns out the main char­ac­ters in this adven­ture (a group of friends and myself) spent our time explor­ing and relax­ing for our lives. The long extinct vol­cano crater in ques­tion is now home to the Pilanesberg Game reserve and was well worth the vis­ions of dis­aster ... Continued

Tshukudu Bush Lodge — a perfectly indulgent bush getaway

Tshukudu Bush Lodge

Imagine lying back in a sooth­ing bubble bath with a sweep­ing view of the malaria-free Pilanesberg National Park, where over 80 spe­cies of animal roam the savan­nah. Imagine no more. Built high on a rocky out­crop, Tshukudu Bush Lodge has been designed to offer you a per­fectly indul­gent bush getaway ...

Overlooking its own water­hole, set in rolling plains that abound with flora and fauna, Tshukudu Lodge allows the vis­itor a spe­cial glimpse of Africa as she was: untouched, unspoilt, unfor­get­table ... Tshukudu Lodge, "Place of the Rhino" in the Pilanesberg Game Reserve, offers 6 lux­ury cot­tages and 2 cab­ins nestled on an isol­ated rocky out­crop in the heart of a 55 000 hec­tare, mal­aria free, wild­life para­dise ... Continued

The Palace at the lost City (Photographs)

Photographs and a short video taken at The Palace at The Lost City in Sun City, North West Province. The inter­na­tion­ally acclaimed Sun City Resort has a unique heart­beat and an African rhythm of its own and is unlike any other Resort des­tin­a­tion in the world. This is pure fantasy and your every desire is met ... Continued

King of Madikwe Photos

A gal­lery of pho­to­graphs taken in the Madikwe Game Reserve in the North West Province, South Africa. Madikwe Game Reserve is run as a joint ven­ture between the state, private sec­tor and local com­munit­ies who live on the bor­ders of the reserve and who bene­fit too, earn­ing an annual share of the park’s profits. There are day and night game drives within Madikwe Game Reserve, bush walks and over 350 spe­cies of bird­life, includ­ing a num­ber of inter­est­ing rap­tors ... Continued