Sun City, South Africa
In 2009, the Association South African Travel Agents (ASATA) met in Sun City in conjunction with ASTA’s International Destination Expo. We joined in meetings, evening functions and participated in the ASTA trade show. The interaction and the networking on issues of common ground was amazing and the line up of speakers was exciting! I met a few of the American travel agency owners at JFK airport, where we checked in with South African Airways for our flight to Johannesburg!
South African Airways Business Class boasted their flatbed seats, their exquisite a la carte menu and skillfully selected wine list! This made a huge difference on this long haul flight from JFK to Accra with a fuel stop, and then on to Johannesburg. We stayed a night in a hotel before we got on a coach for a safari to The Kruger National Park.
The Kruger National Park (Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces) was on the itinerary for the next day. The largest game reserve in Africa, the park boasts its high density of wild animals including the Big 5 - lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and buffalos. We were just in awe of this tour and stayed two nights in a lodge. Luxurious accommodations have set up in the area and offer some of the most exclusive lodges in Southern Africa. From Budget to Classic and Combo, Kruger Park Safaris are available with a choice of accommodations inside Kruger, Greater Kruger, Hoedspruit, Sabi Sand and Timbavati.
Sun City lies 185 km away and a coach ride from Johannesburg brought us to our hotel ‘The Palace of the Lost City’, a 5 star grand hotel with unforgettable maple paneling, delicately coloured ceiling and stunning views over the Lost City!
The man made beach at the Valley of Waves is worth a visit and so is exploring the The Maze of the Lost City! ASTA had arranged a safari for all the participants to Pilanesberg Game Reserve, well known for its Big 5, and every wildlife enthusiasts dream!
The options for participants after the conference was Madikwe Game Reserve and some flew to Cape Town to see the the ‘Gem of South Africa’ I call it, and the city under the shadow of towering Table Mountain and washed by two oceans! I was in awe of the beauty and tried to soak in as much as possible in the week I spent there. The first morning we covered the view from atop Table Mountain just before the cloud cover known as tablecloth forms. The coastal drive to the Cape of Good Hope took us through the most beautiful seaside suburbs and beaches, then into rather wild shoreline to the tip of the Cape Peninsula.
Our hotel was on V & A Waterfront so we always came back in good time to enjoy the cuisine, the local wines and mingle with the local people.
I was very excited to go to Robben Island and we took the ferry from the waterfront and saw the prison island that Nelson Mandela and other members of the ANC (African National Congress) were incarcerated. I had a special interest in this trip to Robben Island as you will find in my book “Life Actually, by Nargis Gercke-Bhatia” on page 118, I worked with one of the exiled members of the ANC in Dar-es-Salaam, Dr Frene Ginwala, who worked closely with ANC members assisting in the release of political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela.
A scary but sad feeling touches your heart as you near Robben Island and you hear the story of the imprisonment of the very first democratically elected president in 1994, none other than Late Nelson Mandela. He served 27 years imprisonment and out of that 18 years were here in this prison located on Robben Island in Prison Number 7. Many other political prisoners were here and they used this island for imprisoning those who showed resistance towards their rule.
Former political prisoners are guides for the walking portion of the tour and our guide was imprisoned here but he was released at the end of the Apartheid. Some of them are still a part of the community living on the island. When I saw Mandela’s tiny cell which housed pain, I marvelled at this man’s devotion to serve humanity! Obviously, he was a visionary and could see the big picture and he stayed strong with his vision to free his countrymen! With a heavy heart, we continued the tour which included a trip to the lime quarry where Mandela and others were forced to work for long hours over the course of many days under tragic conditions.
It was well worth the visit as it is an important experience necessary to continue to share the story and teachings of South Africa’s history and to be sure it is never repeated!
A wine country tour is an absolute must if you are in Cape Town. We chose the Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek and explored a few of the well known wineries. Walking through small cities with their distinctive Dutch colonial architecture is breathtaking! Situated 50 km east of Cape Town along the banks of the Erste Rive at the foot of the Stellenbosch mountain, it is the second oldest European settlement after Cape Town. If you are into wines, you will find good red Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinotage and Shiraz.
We drove inland to Paarl which has a warmer climate and the producers of world class sweet wine. They also had Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling besides a couple of Craft breweries, olives and olive oil.
Compared to Stellenbosch, which is a real city with real city problems, Franschhoek is beautiful and well worth a visit and much more authentic. The fertile Franschhoek Wine Valley is home to some of South Africa’s cultivars and classic styles. Their wines range from superb whites to the full-bodied reds.
There was still one more tour that I wanted to do which included a visit to District Six, a poor area of the city center where mostly coloured residents were evicted, when the Apartheid government declared it a ‘white zone’ only, and then to the Townships, which was one of and a local school. The shanty town ‘Crossroads’ was near the airport. No words can describe the sadness of seeing fellow human beings living in such conditions and with a high level of poverty.
The visit to the local school with happy and smiling children was a pleasant change and I have to say, it made my day!
On the day of departure to return home, I woke up to a blaze of fire on Table Mountain, and of course fear struck us that the airport would close and we would miss our flight that day. From my hotel room balcony, I could see a lot of smoke in the distance and there was an uncomfortable and eerie stillness in the sky! We arranged for a taxi to take us to the airport earlier than planned in case there be road closures. It was a shame that our wonderful trip would have to end with such an incident! be road closures. I was sad to leave this beautiful country so close to my childhood home in Tanzania!