Luxury Safaris to South Africa tend to conjure up pictures of people in 4×4 vehicles with nothing more dangerous than a digital camera in their hands. However, we do get requests for hunting safaris where a gun is used to shoot plains animals such as bok, kudu, warthog and blue wildebeest.
What are your views on this sport?
Pezula Resort Hotel & Spa, which features on the front page of my website Tailor Made South Africa Travel has won the travel industry’s equivalent to the Oscars by taking “Africa’s Leading Spa Resort” and “South Africa’s Leading Spa Resort” titles.
No small feat with over 165,000 travel agencies and professionals in over 140 countries worldwide voting for their leading travel destinations, airlines, hotels and companies around the world.
What makes it even more remarkable is that Pezula first opened it’s doors in February 2005 and has gone on to win a host of accolades such as Robb Report’s one of the World’s 100 Best Places to Stay in 2006, plus other highly prestigious awards from the world’s luxury travel media.
Situated on the edge of the wonderfully pretty Garden Route town of Knysna, it lies within the Pezula Resort, which rambles over the Noetzie Headland, down to the breathtakingly, secluded beach of Noetzie itself, which is wholely worth a visit in its own right, but I’ll tell you more about Noetzie another time.
The golf complex winds its way across the headland with incredible views of the Indian Ocean on one side and the Knysna Heads and Lagoon on the other. The “Field of Dreams” sports complex along with a private residential estate and the hotel and spa complex is tucked into the ancient indigenous forests yet maximises the breaktaking views across the golf course.
Having spotted that Pezula had won these awards, I was reminded that Roger Federer spends time here.
Needless to say that in a family with very strong tennis credentials and a complete love of all things South African, this ranks highly on our list of places to visit!
In fact, Roger’s mother is South African and Roger himself supports, through his Foundation the superb project situated in the Eastern Cape, IMBEWU, helping disadvantaged children achieve a better life for themselves.
Take a look at the photo gallery and see the wonderful display of sheer enjoyment, as they play tennis and other sports on the sports complex that Roger has taken an active part in realising.
  
  
I find it hard to believe, or understand why a country like South Africa having made the commitment to bid to host the Football World Cup now appear to be dragging their heels when it comes to providing the facilities and infrastructure necessary. They have finally received the spotlight they desire, now the hard talking has to be put into practice.Â
They know this, I am sure. I don’t need to teach my Grandmother to suck eggs, but (there’s always a but …) in typical “African” traditions, speed appears not to be of the utmost urgency.
Once again, leaders in the world of football are muttering dark forbodings for the year 2010. Franz Beckenbauer, Germany’s mastermind organiser of this years World Cup claims that “The organisation for the World Cup in South Africa is beset by big problems”.
How does he know these things? Is he just making mischief or are there real and justified concerns that prompt these statements?
Sep Blatter, Fifa president, is due in South Africa to urge the powers that be to speed up building work, saying that he would meet with President Thabo Mbeki and “explain the value of the World Cup” to the country’s parliament.
It’s those sorts of comments that surely cannot be helpful. If there was doubt that the country couldn’t showcase the World Cup in sufficent time or with the correct infrastructures in place, why did they give the country the (perhaps) poisoned challice to spend it’s hard earned cash fulfilling the requirements necessary to host the tournament?
Please South Africa, having made the commitment to the World Cup, keep that promise to your people to host this famous tournament in the best way you possibly can, starting right now. As a country you have so much to offer and to show the rest of the world. Don’t let us down.
