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Newsflash: three new properties have opened in South Africa perfect for the ultimate, indulgent malaria-free safari and wine experience. If you like some extravagance with your game viewing, and a taste of the highlife with your wine tasting, this is the trip for you.
safari like royalty
giraffes grazing in madikwe
First up: be treated like a king in the bush. You’ll be collected from Johannesburg airport and swept to the elegant Jamala Lodge in the malaria-free Madikwe game reserve for three nights. Arriving through the lodge gates you’re likely to be greeted by giraffe: this is a royal fanfare safari-style. Up each morning from your polished wood four-poster bed, you’ll be seamlessly scooped up by your own open-top private game viewing 4×4 to head out into the savannah. You have 75000 hectares on untamed grassland to explore, so keep your binoculars at the ready for the big five, elephant, leopard, buffalo, rhino, lions, brown hyena, oryx, springbok and the elegant spiralled horns of the kudu. Your expert rangers will give you detailed insight into the reserve, known for re-establishing over 20 endangered species back into the wild.
lions enjoying a drink in madikwe
By night, after a dip in your private rim flow pool, you’ll dine al fresco. The food here is exquisite: the finest culinary delights will be freshly prepared for you by award-winning chefs, and served on an antique table surrounded by flaming torches. Washed down with fine international vintages, this is the crème de la crème of bush dining experiences.
city and winelands in pure style
Once you’ve had your fill of safari (if that’s possible), you’ll be flown down to Cape Town for yet another super luxurious new property, the Taj Cape Town, and spend a couple of days exploring the cosmopolitan city. The in-the-know Black Tomato concierge will point you in the direction of the chicest venues for sipping cocktails at sunset, the most authentic shopping experiences, and the hippest restaurants (Sushi? Steak? Whatever you want: we know the best) so you’ll never be without a glamorous setting to head.
the stunning helshoogte pass
And when the city has been thoroughly shopped, you deserve a break. The brand new Delaire Graff lodge is in a league of it’s own in terms of view, service and spa. Spend three nights here in the Helshoogte Pass between Franschhoek and Stellenbosch valleys: one of the best wine tasting locations in the world. Your suite will contain art from the personal collection of diamond entrepreneur Laurence Graff himself, and your food will be prepared by South Africa’s finest chefs.
The overwhelming feeling here is space. There’s masses of it. From the space between each of the ten lodges, to the space between each sofa on the decking to admire the valley views at night. Luckily, though, there isn’t too much space between your bed and your private heated infinity pool. Or your room and the spa, for that matter. So relax. Pamper yourself with a ‘wine’-based treatment before sipping some of the good stuff created in the vineyards in front of your very eyes. Now you know why you chose stylish South Africa.
