Tuesday, 30 July 2013

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South African Airways is the national flag carrier and largest airline of South Africa, with headquarters in Airways Park on the grounds of OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. After a pleasant, uneventful flight (they could do better with younger cabin crew staff though…), we arrived in Johannesburg at approximately 1915 hours, transfer and overnight stay at The Maslow Hotel.

THE MASLOW HOTEL

Situated in the central business district of Sandton, The Maslow Hotel, Sandton is 10 minutes’ walk from Nelson Mandela Square and Sandton City Mall. It offers luxurious accommodation with free Wi-Fi and a swimming pool.

You can dine at The Lacuna Bistro where an à la carte breakfast is served in addition to lunch and dinner, with a variety of sea food and South African wine. The Lacune Bar serves comfort food and alcoholic beverages.

Featuring a contemporary décor with carpeted floors, all accommodation at The Maslow is furnished with warm colors. Each suite offers a panoramic city view and comes with a kitchenette, a living room and a private bathroom.

Gautrain Sandton Station and Sandton Convention Centre are each a 10-minute walk from the property. Wanderers Cricket Stadium is 12 minutes away by car. The tour desk can arrange local excursions.

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Wednesday, 31 July 2013

After breakfast and hotel site inspection, check out for the airport to catch the 1255hours flight to Durban. Here we meet Bonakele (from Sun International) who is our guide for the rest of our visit and she ensures that we are all set for a great time. We arrive at King Shaka International Airport at 1400hours and take a two hour bus ride to the Wild Coast Sun Hotel.

WILD COAST SUN HOTEL
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The Wild Coast Sun Hotel in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is situated on an unspoilt beach within 750 hectares of natural bush between the Umtamvuna and Mzamba rivers, providing beautiful views over the Indian Ocean. It is approximately a 1 and a half hour drive from Durban to the Wild Coast Sun. The Wild Coast Sun Hotel has become a popular family destination due to its unique location in the secluded wilderness, it’s exciting and glittering casino facilities as well as its numerous entertainment options.

The Wild Coast Sun Resort is located only a few meters away from the Indian Ocean. An endless beach with incredible surfing options and a comfortable climate all year round complement the entertainment, water sports and golf courses, which are found here. The golf course at the Wild Coast Sun Hotel is one of the best championship golf courses in South Africa. Guests can enjoy magnificent walks along the beach, hikes in the lush green nature, deep sea fishing, surfing, body boarding and scuba diving.

Overnight: Wild Coast Sun Hotel

Thursday, 01 August 2013
After breakfast and hotel site inspection, we are transferred to the Water world (which was unfortunately closed for renovations), it’s a small version Disney World, great for kid’s entertainment.
Lunch at the Fishmonger Restaurant was awesome, as is expected from any ‘a la Carte’ restaurant, needless to say, I took a 2 hour nap after gobbling my lunch pictured below:-)
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Afterwards we all meet for “booze cruise” and this ends our stay in Durban with style, in a yacht that takes us round the hotel, a beautiful experience this was, with all sorts of alcoholic drinks on board (of course the soft drinks were only there for display or to be used as mixers!)

Dinner and Overnight: Wild Coast Sun Hotel    

Friday, 02 August 2013
After breakfast, we all check out for the airport to catch the 1800hrs flight to Cape town,

which arrives at 2030hrs. Transferto the Table Bay Hotel

TABLE BAY HOTEL

The Table Bay Hotel is a 5-star luxury hotel situated at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. It boasts beautiful views of the working harbor, Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean. It features a pool and a spa.

Each air-conditioned room comes equipped with a minibar, flat-screen satellite TV and tea-and-coffee-making facilities. The private bathroom includes a bath and shower with free toiletries.

Meals at the Table Bay can be enjoyed indoors at the stylish Conservatory or on the patio offering beautiful views of the harbor and Table Mountain. The Atlantic Grill serves daily breakfast and high tea is available in the afternoon.

The Camelot Spa offers a number of spa treatments, holistic care, laser therapy and a gym. A complimentary shuttle service is available to transport guests within a 5 km radius of the hotel.

Free Wi-Fi is available in the hotel rooms. The Cape Town International Airport is a 30-minute drive from the property.

Overnight: Table Bay Hotel
Saturday, 03 August 2013

After breakfast and hotel site inspection, may I say that it was time to SHOP! After long negotiations with the cab drivers (who even dared to ask us whether we were from Africa…) we are off to The Canal Walk for shopping, this is a huge mall that is built around a series of canals with many department stores, almost twice the size of Thika Road Mall, it was pure bliss to shop there, from MAC shops to Woolworths/ Truworths/Mr. Price and Payless, we (I) almost didn’t make it back for dinner!

Overnight: Table Bay Hotel
Sunday, 04 August 2013

Table Bay is adjoined to an alley of shops so we take advantage for that last minute shopping after breakfast (only 4 of us made it to the breakfast table, the rest of the crowd had gone back to Canal Walk and some had even discovered where China Town was situated:-)

Our flight back had been booked for 1400hrs, but for obvious reasons the shoppers at China Town misunderstood this for transfer time, I haven’t seen packing being done inside a bus but this did happen… we make it to the airport just in time to catch our flight to Johannesburg and onward to Nairobi.

Report by Jackie – Corporate Accounts Executive