Luxury Travel Review
Waterberg rental home offered creature comforts, safe safari environment
Photos by Gary Cox
A welcome sign
Dung beetles
Bird spotting and identification was a common way to enjoy game drives
At Jembisa there was time to observe the little creatures too
A view from the gardens of the back of Jembisa
A predator with wings
A tasty lunch with a bush view at Jembisa
Jembisa, a private rental home with staff within a bush reserve, is in South Africa’s Waterberg region a short drive from Johannesburg. During our team’s stay at the former family home they focused on the charms, large and small, of bush living. They spent their days relaxing in the comfortable six-bedroom exclusive use house, playing with one of three resident dogs, going for a stroll, enjoying a home cooked meal made by local staff and exploring the plant and animal life in the area during guided game drives with their enthusiastic guide. Click here to read about our team’s impressions of Jembisa.
Secluded camp offered timeless safari magic in the Kalahari Desert
Article and photos by Josette King
Jack's Camp was an oasis of luxury in the Kalahari
With my recent visit to Botswana came the opportunity to explore some of the many faces of the Kalahari Desert. Derived from the Setswana word kgalagadi usually interpreted as “the great thirst,” or “thirstland,” the Kalahari is a mantle of sand that covers roughly 70 percent of the country. My Kalahari experience began with a bush plane flight from Maun, the main gateway to Bostwana’s safari areas. For almost an hour, the plane droned on and the sun-baked emptiness below never seemed to change. Then suddenly the swirling horizon of dusty sandbars and gleaming salt pans was interrupted by an incongruous line of fan palm trees. “Jack’s Camp,” the pilot announced with a nudge in the direction of the palms.
The library at Jack's Camp
My tent had a view of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans
Located in a remote oasis overlooking the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, Jack’s Camp was a magical place reminiscent of the grand East African safaris camps of a bygone area. The spacious tents were decorated with antique furniture and oriental rugs, their interior draped with faded chintz and their en-suite bathrooms featuring indoor and outdoor showers with flawlessly polished copper fixtures. Service was commensurate with the elegance of the camp. But the superb accommodations and service were but a prelude to the outstanding quality and variety of activities provided by the expert guiding staff of Jack’s Camp.
A meerkat emerges from its burrow
A nature walk with Cobra, a Zu/’hoasi bushman elder
The sun sets over the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans
I spent a delightful morning standing among a colony of meerkats (although wild, these squirrel-sized mongooses were sufficiently habituated to humans that they were unconcerned by my presence). I marveled at the daily sight of hundreds of zebras and wildebeests arriving from the Boteti River to the west for their yearly migration to the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. I went on a nature walk with a Zu/’hoasi bushman elder who showed me the plants that had ensured the survival of his ancestors for millennia. I rode a quad bike ride deep into the Pans to watch the sun set and the moon rise over their blistered infinity. Click here to read more about the many unique experiences of my stay at Jack’s Camp.
KwaZulu Natal lodge offered creature comforts, good game viewing
Article by Elena del Valle and photos by Juan Cooper
We saw lion several times and cheetah once during our stay
The Jacuzzi at my luxury one bedroom suite
We enjoyed good game viewing and many of the luxury features of Amakhosi Safari Lodge, a family friendly property with minimal malaria risk in South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal region. Although this area of the country, located near Durban in the east, has not been well known by safari oriented international visitors in the past this may change in 2010 with the added traffic from the FIFA World Cup games.
A few minutes walk down the main path led to my quiet and very private honeymoon suite
We much enjoyed the creations of the lodge’s young chef and her team
The lodge faced the Mkuse River, affording guests river fronting meals and accommodations in spacious suites with a water view. We liked the friendly and service oriented staff, gourmet meals and snacks, good game viewing, and lovely river facing honeymoon suite with private Jacuzzi plunge pool and riverside deck. Click here to read about our visit to Amakhosi.
Pretty Johannesburg boutique hotel, spa in quiet residential neighborhood
By Elena del Valle and photos by Gary Cox
The Fairlawns pool
One of the first things we noticed on arriving at the Fairlawns Boutique Hotel & Spa in an upscale residential neighborhood of Johannesburg, South Africa was the scented saringa flowering tree at the entrance. Once cleared through the obligatory guarded gate we were surprised to find a quiet property dotted with manicured gardens. In addition to spacious and luxuriously appointed one-bedroom suites, the growing hotel (a new building was under construction) had meeting rooms, a work out area, a swimming pool, a restaurant and spa on site.
Reception and the restaurant were in a single story main building. Within a two-minute walk several separate two-story buildings housed the spa and fitness area and guest suites. After checking in we were led past the restaurant and central gardens to our respective suites within one of the two-story new looking buildings. Our ground floor one bedroom suites, suites 13 and 15 named for Emily Hobhouse and Nelson Mandela respectively, were spacious and handsomely decorated, each one with a different interior design style (during a second visit we stayed upstairs in the Oppenheimer Suite).
Living area of the Emily Hobhouse Suite
Living area of the Mandela Suite
The suites were well appointed including complimentary WiFi Internet access and spotlessly clean. My favorite, suite 15, was divided into three distinct areas, a living area, a sleeping area and a bathroom. Decorated in an Africa theme it had animal print accents and a comfy sofa facing a fireplace (underfloor heating kept my suite toasty too). For the media minded there were two television sets, including a large flat screen television and DVD player across from the king bed in the bedroom.
The Jacuzzi bathtub in the Mandela Suite
The bathroom too was spacious with marble counters and floors, twin sinks, shower, water closet with bidet, and Jacuzzi bathtub. Tall built-in closets with an ironing board and electronic safe took up one entire wall opposite the sinks.
Additional amenities included fresh flowers, complimentary fruit bowl, complimentary in room sherry, Irish Duke and Forsyth travel size toiletries (conditioning shampoo, shower gel, body lotion, nail kit, shower cap and soap) and, at turn down, a small bottle of water and a nougat. The ambiance was serene although there were meeting guests at elegant hotel, owned by John and Anna Thacker.
Inside the Fairlawns Spa
The spa building, across the lawn from our building, had a work out room accessible at guest convenience with the electronic room key. I was pleased to be the first to arrive, at 6 a.m., for an early work out although I was soon joined by others. The spa itself was mostly in an adjacent walled garden area next to, and separate from, the swimming pool. The shady spa garden was filled with private corners and treatment rooms. In spite of our arrival in the late afternoon (spa treatments were available until 5 p.m.) we were in time to enjoy side by side massages in one of the loveliest and largest treatment rooms in the far corner of the spa garden.
The breakfast buffet at the Fairlawns Boutique Hotel & Spa
While were were there we sampled a couple of items from the room service menu and dined in the outdoor area of the restaurant. Mornings were my favorite meal time at the Fairlawns. There was an ample breakfast buffet with cereals, fruits (fresh and dried), cheeses, deli meats, cold fish, and varied delicious homemade pastries to compete with the made to order breakfast menu. Sitting in the restaurant patio under the shade of large umbrellas we enjoyed the placid view of the nearby pool and flower filled gardens. We look forward to revisiting the Fairlawns Boutique Hotel & Spa, Alma Road, Morningside Manor, Ext. 6, Sandton, Johannesburg, fairlawn@fairlawns.co.za, +27 11 804 2540/1/2/3, http://www.fairlawns.co.za/
Thamalakane River Lodge, bucolic tranquility on the outskirts of a Botswana boomtown
Article and photos by Josette King
Thamalakane River Lodge lounge
Thalamakane River Lodge dining room
As the gateway to the main safari areas in Botswana, Maun is often referred to as the tourism capital of the country. Its busy airport brings in passenger planes filled with tourists, most of whom are efficiently greeted at the exit gate by personnel from the various safari companies operating in the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari Desert. They are then handed over to the charter flight operators who take them to their ultimate bush destination. The same friendly greeters are there on the return to make sure that “their” tourists get on the correct flight to begin their journey home. That’s all most safari travelers see of Maun. For those who venture outside the airport grounds, the colorful chaos of an African boomtown awaits. The large African village that has been, for almost a century, the tribal capital of the BaTawana people (a predominantly pastoral society) and hub of the local cattle ranching industry, is morphing into a dynamic 21st century town.
Elephants abound in the nearby Moremi Game Reserve
In that still mainly roadless country the size of France, the broad, newly paved road that crosses the town on its northeastern way to the Moremi Game Reserve is a major lifeline. It is lined with new buildings freshly stuccoed in creamy shades of fruit sorbets. These are the offices of the numerous safari and air-charter operations that run trips into the Okavango Delta; or small strip malls catering to tourists, now the town’s main source of revenue. Flashy four-wheel drive vehicles zip through the bustling crowd. However, a few blocks in any direction from the airport and town center, the traditional southern African circular rondavels under peaked thatched roofs still hold their ground. Donkeys quickly become a primary means of transportation along the dusty dirt paths; and an invasion of goats stubbornly insist on their right of way.
Sunset on the Thamalakane River
Around town and along the banks of the nearby Thamalakane River, a number of lodging options have developed to cater to visitors. There are mainly camp grounds or efficiency facilities for self-drivers, the hardy souls who rent four-wheel drive cars and set out on their own to explore the nearby game areas. Then, for the not-so-hardy souls who feel more at ease exploring in the company of an experienced safari guide, and like a lovely abode filled with creature comforts to welcome them at the end of the day, there is the Thamalakane River Lodge. I unabashedly declare myself in the latter category of travelers, and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the lodge.
Ideally located an easy 20-minute drive from Maun Airport, Thamalakane River Lodge was a secluded haven of tranquility nestled in a grove of mature riverine trees on a bank of the river. My well-appointed stone and thatch guest chalet had a private veranda with a sweeping view of the river, as did the main lodge. The dining room offered a varied à-la-carte menu of well-prepared dishes. The staff was warm and attentive. It was a delightful place to come home to after days spent visiting the Moremi Game Reserve or the watery world of the Okavango flood plain. Click here to read more about my visit the southern-most part of the Okavango Delta and the Thamalakane River Lodge.
Succulent seafood at Hermanus hotel restaurant
Grilled langoustines at SeaFood
Bunny Chow, a Cape Malay seafood curry at The Marine Hermanus
Major Moyo, manager, and Delia Harbottle, chef, at SeaFood
Traditional snoek paté with crisp bread and chutney
Malva Pudding at SeaFood
Situated in front of the Raed Na Gael Mountains and within the picturesque seaside village of Hermanus in South Africa The Marine Hermanus hotel faces a bay where, during the season, southern right whales are often seen. Our team was there in hopes of spotting some of the whales and discovering the renovated historic hotel.
They especially liked SeaFood, an informal restaurant near the entrance of the hotel serving contemporary sea fare with an emphasis on fresh catch from Walker Bay. It was established after the hotel owner, Liz McGrath, paid a chance visit to the seafood counter at Harrod’s in London.
The restaurant, open for lunch and dinner, had an open kitchen and contemporary décor including a floating glass wall panel with a wave design, subtle warm lighting, bold graphic pots, black and white photography, and a glass sculpture. Click here to read our dedicated article on The Marine Hermanus.
