Where to stay in S.A.

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Issue 31

There’s no shortage of great places to stay in South Africa. In fact, there’s an abundance of hotels. An embarassment of lodges. A profusion of game parks. There’s everything under the sun. How on earth are you going to choose? Justin Fox and William Gray know the Rainbow Nation inside out – so we asked them for some personal recommendations. Getting set by Justin Fox If you’re looking for somewhere special to stay, South Africa spoils you for choice. So much so that, when deciding which type of accommodation to choose, which regions to visit and which time of year to go, the sheer volume and variety of options can seem quite overwhelming. South Africa caters for all budgets, but finding an itinerary that’s perfect for your taste and pocket requires careful research. Some tourists, like Jonas Kjellqvist from Sweden, return to the Cape every year. “I enjoy adventure activities, stuff that gets my blood pumping”, he says. “I base myself in a small hotel in Cape Town, because I love climbing Table Mountain and doing cycle tours like the Argus in March. This year I learnt how to kitesurf at Langebaan. Next year it’ll be bungee jumping off Bloukrans Bridge!” Of course the rest of the country has much to offer, too. Your choice of transport will be a major factor in deciding where you stay: many visitors opt to travel by bus or overland safari truck, or to take internal flights, choosing their accommodation accordingly. But you might prefer to hire a car and explore one of the popular touring provinces such as the Western Cape or Mpumalanga. Self-drive touring is a good plan if you want to get a feel for South Africa’s immense diversity. Keith Gower, managing director of Cape Town’s Getaway Travel, comments: “Tourists are getting far more confident and consequently there’s a move away from guided bus tours. Apart from the obvious Cape Town, Garden Route and game park self-drive itineraries, we’re finding that KwaZulu-Natal’s north and south coasts are becoming increasingly popular.” New Zealand couple Sue and Brian Pratt gave it a go: “We flew into Durban, hired a mobile phone and car at the airport and spent a week driving down to the Cape through the Transkei and along the Garden Route. We bought a copy of Portfolio’s Bed and Breakfast Collection and simply phoned ahead when we’d decided where to stay the night. It was so simple.” The more intrepid visitor might want to tackle one of South Africa’s long driving trails, such as the Ivory Route. This extends some 1250 miles through Limpopo Province in a great arc. It’s a self-drive wilderness-and-culture trail that in part follows the course of the Limpopo River. Along the way are some excellent value self-catering camps. South Africa’s top hotels and lodges are of a very high standard. Some establishments may seem pricey at R1500-R7000 ( £125- £580) a night, but places like these are world class: they’re regularly voted best in their category in leading international magazines. You do, generally, get what you pay for. At a top-end lodge, you’re guaranteed an exceptional wildlife experience, designer accommodation (often with an impeccable sense of style) and delicious bush cuisine. Sacrifice any one of these elements and the price will drop accordingly. A burgeoning guesthouse, B&B and backpacker industry makes for a wide range of much more affordable options with varying degrees of comfort, faithfully price-linked. If it’s camping, caravanning or self-catering you’re after, the list is almost endless. Then there are the national parks, great value for money and better managed and run than any in Africa. South Africa has more than two dozen major parks. Their rest camps provide simple, affordable accommodation ranging from rondavels and campsites to large family cottages. They can be spartan, but the surroundings and the wildlife are usually spectacular. At the end of each day you can sit round a fire outside your thatched chalet, meat sizzling over the coals, and listen to hyenas howling in the dark as an African moon unpicks itself from the thorn trees. While not as famous as the bushveld parks, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Kalahari Desert offers a unique wilderness alternative. With white sand roads, lonely windmills, iconic gemsbok against red dunes, and simple guest chalets, it’s a wild and spellbinding place. Apart from the national parks, there are many excellent reserves run by local government, such as Madikwe in Northwest Province, which is a community and conservation success story. It started life in the 1990s as a bleak, farming wasteland and has been transformed into a top-notch, malaria-free reserve – with some interesting places to stay. For a more exclusive safari, there are dozens of private lodges throughout the country. The best are usually sympathetically designed in such a way as to enhance the visitors’ experience of the natural environment. Each region boasts distinctive styles, ranging from variations on the old Dutch motif in the Cape to luxurious ‘tribal’, tent and tree-house themes in the bushveld. Justin Fox Recommends: CAPE PENINSULA & ENVIRONS Arniston Hotel Best for - Beaches and photography Appeals to - Romantic couples and beach lovers Added extras - A massive sea cave, picturesque fishing village and endless dune fields Arniston is my favourite seaside village and has so far, touch wood, escaped the horror of major holiday developments. Arniston Hotel is set beside Kassiesbaai, a charming 200-year-old fishing hamlet where rough-plastered, whitewashed cottages perch on a bluff overlooking a colourful fishing harbour. It’s a windswept, evocative spot. The hotel is relatively small, a family-style place with a boat-inspired theme. A lawn extends down to the sea, and the rooms are bright and airy with long, blue views. The atmosphere is very informal. Fresh fish comes off the boats every day and the hotel duly serves up the catch: delicious. From R550. The Cape Grace and the Radisson Best for - Elegant cocktail evenings on the deck Appeals to - Those who like glamorous living beside the sea Added extras - Sundowner cruises on a catamaran Cape Town’s famous Waterfront area – a bit Disneyfied and sometimes overrun with tourists – has a number of good hotels. My two favourites (by a long shot) are both right on the water, a rarity on the Atlantic seaboard. The first is inside the harbour with water on three sides, the second is perched on the rocks. The Cape Grace is one of South Africa’s most exclusive hotels – even the Clintons stay here. It retains a family-hotel atmosphere and has a French-inspired design with elegant, warm interiors. The water-level bar is one of the coolest spots in Cape Town for a sundowner. Kids are welcome here too (see page 56). From R3380. The moment you step into the Radisson Hotel lobby – with its brass binnacle, metal wind-rose and light shades in the shape of sails – there’s the sense of boarding a ship. I love the fact that waves surge against the breakwater just below the spill-pool deck where sunbathers lounge late into the summer evenings. Comfortable, nautical-themed rooms overlook a private marina on one side and the Atlantic on the other (you might have a surfer racing along a wave past your window). From R1200. Kagga Kamma Game Reserve Best for - Wilderness experience Appeals to - People in search of ancient San culture and arid mountainscapes Added extras - San rock art, desert wildlife Kagga Kamma is situated in a wilderness area of the Cederberg Mountains, three hours north of Cape Town. What makes this reserve unique is its links with Cape San culture. Visits are conducted to beautiful rock-art sites where rangers describe the iconography and history of these hunter-gatherers. The reserve’s Bushmen Lodge lies beneath a series of rugged rock formations with a pool and lantern-lit, reed-enclosed restaurant. Accommodation is in cave-style suites set against a cliff face and designed to be almost invisible from a distance. The setting is quite remarkable and when the sun goes down, the ancient rock glows red – it’s utterly spell-binding. After dark a powerful telescope is set up on the lawn for hours of stargazing. From R980. Other places to try… Birkenhead House Elegant guest house with the best location in Hermanus, South Africa’s whale watching capital. From R1900. THE GARDEN ROUTE Tsala Treetop Lodge Best for - Tree-house elegance Appeals to - Romantic couples Added extras - Forest walks The approach is enchanting: the timber path leads through a garden of cycads and ponds to a wood-and-stone structure. Beyond, through a blackwood colonnade and past a Japanese-style water feature, lies the forest, falling away into a valley. Tsala’s design is wonderfully organic and eco-friendly, blending the lodge into the landscape with minimal disturbance to the forest. To reach your suite-cum-tree-house, you take a raised walkway which snakes through the branches of established trees to your private courtyard with its pool and gushing spout – all this, twenty feet above the forest floor. The interior is tree-top chic. Tsala has an African theme, with a vein of southern Asia in the furnishings. There are armchairs to lose yourself in and wraparound glass walls that let the forest inhabit the interior. From R1145. The Lodge on the Bay Best for - Design excellence Appeals to - Art and design conscious travellers Added extras - Spa and rooftop jacuzzi The Lodge on the Bay is arguably the most stylish establishment on the Garden Route. Its design is modern and elegant, the décor minimalist in muted tones. Very Scandinavian, very feng shui. Here you’ll find impeccable attention to detail. There’s a spa, library and a roof garden with bubbling jacuzzi; some rooms have pools, others have long views over Robberg Beach. The books and magazines on offer relate to art, architecture and contemporary design. All in all, it’s an island of good taste along a strip fast becoming a place where the tastelessly wealthy are living out their architectural fantasies. From R1400. Other places to try… Plettenberg Park An elegant lodge in a private reserve on the lip of spectacular cliffs. From R1590. EASTERN CAPE Addo and Shamwari Best for - Elephants and Eastern Cape wildlife; malaria free Appeals to - Families (Addo) and eco-conscious travellers (Shamwari) Added extras - The Big Seven The Garden Route is one of the most popular tourist itineraries and many visitors try to add a game reserve to their meanderings. Although nothing quite beats the great parks of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape does have a few decent options. At the budget end is Addo Elephant National Park, famous for its pachyderm herds; at the super-luxury end is Shamwari. Addo has recently acquired Big Seven status by incorporating a marine area into the park, thus adding whales and great white sharks to the usual list. The accommodation is national-park style – simple but comfortable rondavels, cottages and family chalets. From R125. Shamwari Game Reserve is the Cape’s answer to the more famous lodges in the northern and eastern parts of South Africa. There’s luxurious colonial-style accommodation in Long Lee Manor and a number of elegant, smaller lodges sprinkled through the reserve. Long Lee is a restored Edwardian manor house with two lovely pools and a spa. Shamwari cultivates an eco-friendly ethos and houses the Born Free Animal Rescue Education Centre. From R2560 all-inclusive. Other places to try… Tsitsikamma National Park Accommodation in an ancient forest on a dramatic coastline. From R240. Umngazi River Bungalows The best family-holiday spot in the Transkei. From R395. KWAZULU-NATAL Didima Camp Best for - Hiking to rock-art caves Appeals to - Visitors who like rambling and the outdoors Added extras - An excellent interpretation centre with information on San culture and way of life If you want the Alps in Africa, look no further than the KwaZulu-Natal escarpment. Didima Camp is set below the imposing Cathedral Peak and takes as its inspiration the culture of the San (Bushmen) people. The chalets have a curious, tapering shape. Step inside and it feels like you’re in a cave – indeed these dwellings aim to replicate the homes of the San. Emerging from your ‘cave’ into crisp mountain air you’re surrounded by peaks and you’ll be striking into the hills before you know it. This region was home to the San for thousands of years. Pack a sandwich and go exploring the overhangs in the surrounding hills. Many are decorated with delicate rock paintings, the only vestige of the San’s long custodianship of this mountain realm. The place seems charged with the presence of shaman trance dancers, rainmakers and a people whose connection with the land and the spirit world was umbilical. From R330. Other places to try… Coral Divers Simple accommodation and budget diving in Sodwana Bay, home to South Africa’s finest coral reefs. Tents from R90, cabins from R150. Cleopatra Gourmet, alpine lodge in the Drakensberg. From R995 including dinner. Fugitives’ Drift Beautiful pioneer-style lodge packed with Anglo-Zulu War memorabilia. From R1450. MPUMALANGA Kruger Park and Sabi Sand Best for - South Africa’s finest game viewing Appeals to - Family bush experience (Kruger) or couples wanting a stylish safari (Sabi Sand) Added extras - Game walks, night drives, meals in the bush This is South Africa’s principal wildlife region. Kruger Park is larger than Wales and has a myriad of camps. It’s difficult to pick a favourite spot, but of the larger camps I’d choose Lower Sabie for its river-bend location and Olifants for its cliff-top setting. Of the smaller camps I like Tamboti for its secluded wooden chalets on stilts. Accommodation is national-park style and rates start from about R300. The Sabi Sand complex of private reserves includes the country’s finest game lodges, including Mala Mala, Londolozi, Sabi Sabi, Singita and Leopard Hills (R2000–R7000 including activities). Accommodation here is of the to-die-for variety and ranges from en suite, safari-style tents to tree-house apartments. I still rate the oldest and most famous, Mala Mala, for its experienced rangers. They seem to have leopards at their beck and call (I’ve had four different sightings on one game drive). But Singita tops my list for its superb bush architecture – rough-hewn timber meets leather, stone and thatch – and it keeps picking up international awards. Other places to try… Walkersons Scottish style trout-fishing inn on the misty escarpment. From R990 including dinner. LIMPOPO AND NORTH WEST PROVINCE Ivory Route Best for - A blend of wilderness and tribal culture Appeals to - Travellers who like to rough it a bit Added extras - Learning about local myths and legends The Ivory Route is a self-drive trail that gives visitors a taste of the wilderness as well as the region’s rich cultural heritage, such as San rock art, archaeological sites and Venda tribal crafts. The trail is all about back routes and remoteness, so it’s best to have a registered guide with you. There are two varieties of self-catering camps: with tents, or with traditional huts. The tents are large, simple safari-style affairs on stilts while the mud huts vary from region to region. Generally they’re thatched rondavels set in a circular kraal with goats and chickens scuttling about. You’re made to feel ‘part of the clan’. You can book any section of this route that interests you (allow about 12 days for the full trail). Regular cars can access many of the camps, but a 4x4 is recommended for parts of the trail. From R75. Madikwe Game Reserve Best for - Malaria-free game viewing Appeals to - Anyone from families wanting a bush experience to top-end safari clientele Added extras - Game walks, great birding The accommodation at Madikwe ranges from budget Big Five at Mosetlha Bush Camp to big-budget Big Five at Madikwe Hills. At Mosetlha, the feel is ‘pioneer’ with canvas-walled wooden cabins, lanterns and do-it-yourself bucket showers. It’s a rustic camp with excellent bird-watching opportunities. From R795. Madikwe Hills, set high on a koppie overlooking a waterhole, has some of the most spacious accommodation you’ll find in the bush with inter-leading lounges, bedrooms and bathrooms. The ten suites each have their own swimming pool and outdoor shower. It’ll set you back a cool R4400. Other places to try… The Palace of the Lost City Las Vegas in Africa: highveld kitsch at its most compelling. From R1940. NORTHERN CAPE AND FREE STATE Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park Best for - Desert wilderness Appeals to - Family or budget game-park experience Added extras - Famous desert lions The park’s three main rest camps – Twee Rivieren, Mata Mata and Nossob – are outposts in a sea of shifting sand. Constructed from white boulders, the chalets and cottages look like pimples on a lunar landscape. They’re comfortable enough, but in most camps you’ll have to cook your own meal over an open fire with only the jackals for company. Don’t worry, you’ll learn to love the icy desert nights. And maybe when you wander down to the hide after supper you’ll spot a pride of the park’s magnificent, black-maned lions which prowl the dry river beds with the swagger of ownership. From R190. Other places to try… Golden Gate Highlands National Park Rondavels beneath sandstone cliffs. From R300. Augrabies Falls National Park Chalets beside an awesome desert waterfall. From R350.

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