Take a walk on the Wild Side, go online and view the North West gallery! To see more of the North West Province visit the picture gallery at SellingLongHaul.com


Image Conscious Clockwise from top: All smiles before the zip-wire at Sun City; the spectacular


Palace Hotel, Sun City; Water features prominently at Sun City; Faces for the ages at Maropeng Visitor Centre, the Cradle of Mankind; Shawu, the life-size bronze elephant at Sun City is modelled on a real elephant; A European bee-eater builds a nest


One of the activities on offer at Sun


City is ballooning over the adjoining Pilanesberg National Park. Guests are woken by an early-morning alarm call – at 04.30 – and are met in the hotel lobby by local adventure operator, Gametrackers. As we drive away from The Palace


the wind starts to pick up and our ranger tells us our balloon flight is in doubt. We continue to the launch pad in the park, with the early-morning chill cutting through our blankets. The first rays of sunlight over the top of the ancient volcano spires of Pilanesberg brings us some welcome warm relief. As we sit in a hide, looking out over a lake filled with colourful birdlife, we get the news that the balloon flight has been cancelled. Driving back to the hotel we spot


more rhinos, which emerge from the gun-metal dark bush with attitude, several giraffes and more impala. Five-star lodges in Pilanesberg include Ivory Tree Lodge. After a site inspection of the chalets, positioned in the grassy foothills, the spa and rock pool, we enjoy another great buffet lunch that includes ostrich and kingklip (a tasty South African 'white' fish).


DAY EIGHT High and Mighty "It was a pity we didn't get to go up in a balloon, but we certainly tried! Seeing the park from the air is a great way to look for the animals in Pilanesberg. There are lots of other fun activities at Sun City, like the Valley of the Waves and the now


infamous zip slide!" Annette Ross, Travel Stop


The final day of our fam once again sees us up before the aardvarks and long-eared bats have retired for the day ahead, to give the ballooning another go. Alas, this time before we even enter Pilanesberg the wind whips up and again defeats us. Advise guests wanting to enjoy this


"South Africa is a country I have always wanted to visit and the North West Province was a fantastic place to start! It opened my eyes to the fact that there is more to South Africa than Cape Town and the Garden Route" Louise Bridges, Miles Morgan Travel


activity to sign up at their earliest opportunity. After another patio breakfast, set against the backdrop of sounds of The Palace's waterfalls, streams and chirping birdlife, we say our goodbyes and begin our journey back to the airport. With most UK-bound flights leaving Johannesburg in the evening, there is plenty of scope for suggesting an activity or two to avoid the last day of the holiday being merely a dead 'travel day'. We drop in at one of South Africa's World Heritage sites, The Cradle of Mankind. The first stopping-off point here is


the Maropeng Visitor Centre, where visitors learn all about the development of mankind, how fossils are formed, the importance to the planet of 'sustainability', and see stone tools more than a million years old. There are interactive attractions – including an underground boat ride through the 'bowels' of an earth which embraces the four elements of ice, fire, water and earth. At the end of the


exhibition is a fossil display featuring several unique and priceless exhibits. The site includes The Maropeng Hotel, a four-star boutique hotel with great views over the Magaliesberg mountain ranges. The hotel, with an excellent restaurant called Tumulus, is just an hour or so from the airport and a good recommendation for a first or last night in the country. Close by and part of the same World


Heritage site complex, Sterkfontein Caves is world-famous for its fossil finds and several discoveries that changed the way we view humanity and the history of human development. Tours of the caves, which start above ground and then take visitors deep into the belly of the caves, run every half an hour seven days of the week. "My highlights were many: the pack of wild dogs and roaring lions we encountered in Madikwe, the 120kph zip line – the most thrilling two kms of my life – and feeding those gentle giants at The Elephant Wallow" Amy Victor, Africa Collection


www.tourismnorthwest.co.za 11


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