Travel Agent Central Coast

Johannesburg - March 2010

I have been lucky enough to fulfill one of my dreams and Travel to South Africa.

On Arrival staying at the WestCliff Hotel in Johannesburg, such breathtaking views. Rooms were very spacious in size and the hospitality and food were awesome. Catering from the business traveller with excellent facilities, to the Single or Family Traveller. For the security conscious, the whole hotel is fully fenced with guards.

There are 11 official languages of South Africa and Johannesburg has 9 districts each with their own character. Visiting the jail where Mandela was and hearing the history really puts into perspective the harsh life that was led and the strength it took for some of the great men and women that lived there. Day trips around the city are certainly recommended with a guide.

A 2 hour bicycle tour through Soweto was certainly an experience not to forget. The hospitality of the South African's was so welcoming and sharing the local brew in a shebeen with the locals in a callabache and have a general chat with them, certainly changed your outlook on these people which were very caring and giving. Our guide was a local and very knowledgeable and offers many trips around the city including visiting orphanages. We also visited the site of the 1976 student uprising and the Hector Pieterson Musuem.

With the upcoming FIFA cup it was so great to see the stadium and have a tour around the whole facility, to touch the grass before it has been played on and to visit the change rooms. It is shaped in the tradition and colours of Africa like a giant cooking pot, and the fencing around the whole complex with the colours representing the flames of the cooking pot. You certainly imagine and wished you could return to experience the atmosphere.

Limited time took us away from Johannesburg to head into the mountains and then onto the game drives, but certainly a town worth exploring further. Great history, shopping and people.

Only hours away in the south to Kruger National Park or North to some of the best Private Game Reserves.

But our next stop was Mount Grace and Spa Resort. The Mount Grace Country House Hotel and health spa is only an hour from Johannesburg and Pretoria - a gem in the beautiful Magaliesburg Mountains. The hotel and spa are set in 10 acres of exquisite gardens and are a haven of tranquility and beauty, offering the best of South African rural life.

For either business or pleasure you can find it here. Relax and be pampered before the conference meeting. Or just a great escape from the hussle and bustle of the city, and a perfect stopover before heading to Morukuru and Madikwee private game reserves.