2025 Trip to South Africa!

---

Based in Benmore Gardens, the landmark @Sandton Hotel and lifestyle precinct is a mixed-use development, with @Sandton Hotel providing a luxurious experience for discerning guests seeking a “Single Window” experience in the South African hospitality space. Once you have arrived, you will find everything you may need including food offerings from restaurants and on-site deli and liquor store as well as a gym, spa and business center. High-speed Wi-Fi allows for seamless connection in our rooms and public areas across several devices.

The Apartheid Museum opened in 2001 and is acknowledged as the pre-eminent museum in the world dealing with 20th century South Africa, at the heart of which is the apartheid story.

The Apartheid Museum, the first of its kind, illustrates the rise and fall of apartheid.

An architectural consortium, comprising several leading architectural firms, conceptualized the design of the building on a seven-hectare stand. The museum is a superb example of design, space and landscape offering the international community a unique South African experience.

Soweto, urban complex in Gauteng province, South Africa. Originally set aside by the South African white government for residence by blacks, it adjoins the city of Johannesburg on the southwest; its name is an acronym derived from South-Western Townships. It is the country’s largest black urban complex. 

The townships constituting Soweto grew out of shantytowns and slums that arose with the arrival of black laborers from rural areas, in particular in the period between World Wars I and II. Growth was haphazard, and the emerging township lacked municipal services and government. Slum clearance and permanent-housing programs began there in 1948, at which time local as well as national authority was established.

The Nelson Mandela National Museum (Mandela House), is dedicated to the preservation of the history, heritage, and legacy of the Mandela family. Former South African president Nelson Mandela and his family lived in this Johannesburg house from 1946 to the 1990s before dedicating it to the Soweto Heritage Trust.  

Pilanesberg Safari

As a Big 5 Reserve – only 2.5 hours from Johannesburg – the Pilanesberg National Park is the perfect destination for travellers wanting a safari experience, but who are pressed for time. Our One Day Safari allows you to enjoy two scenic game drives punctuated by a light lunch before you’re transported back to the city. Pilanesberg is home to more than 7,000 animals, including the Big 5, and 360 species of birds and promises thrilling game viewing in a malaria-free environment.

The Cloud 9 Boutique Hotel and Spa, located in the charming Tamboerskloof neighborhood of Cape Town, is a luxurious yet inviting retreat that combines modern elegance with classic Cape Dutch architecture. Nestled at the foot of the iconic Table Mountain, this boutique hotel has become a favored spot for both locals seeking a stylish getaway and international travelers looking for an authentic Cape Town experience. Cloud 9 seamlessly merges five historic properties, blending heritage charm with contemporary design, creating a unique ambiance that resonates throughout its well-appointed rooms and shared spaces. 

Mistakenly cited as the point where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, Cape Point is, nonetheless, a place like no other. (Incidentally, the two oceans’ meeting point is at Cape Agulhas). At Cape Point Nature Reserve, the mountain and ocean meet in a thunderous clash of water against rock, producing a dramatic landscape inhabited by an incredible diversity of life. As the tip of land juts out like on outstretched arm, the ocean swells around it, and multitudes of birds flock to its pristine beaches and rugged cliffs.

Cape Point is a wonderful day-trip destination for locals and tourists alike.

It’s no secret that Cape Town is home to some of the most beautiful wine estates on the planet, dotted around the peninsula beckoning wine lovers to come and savor the world-class nectar they produce. With more than 300 wine farms in the Western Cape – spanning Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, Constantia, Paarl and Hermanus – wine-loving visitors might feel burdened by the agony of so many options.

This scenic guided tour will take you through magnificent mountain landscapes and rolling vineyards to the heart of the Cape Winelands.

 Table Mountain is the most iconic landmark of South Africa. 

Table Mountain is proud to be one of the official New 7 Wonders of Nature, and the only one to be located in an urban area, making it highly accessible. Competing against major international attractions, Table Mountain made it to the top seven after a campaign that attracted more than 100-million global votes. 

Take the five-minute cable car trip to the top of Table Mountain, 1 089 meters above Cape Town, and explore the summit 

(The Cable-way is wheelchair accessible, and yes, some parts at the top are too). 

Robben Island was used at various times between the 17th century and the 20th century as a prison, a hospital for socially unacceptable groups, and a military base. Its buildings, and in particular those of the late 20th century maximum security prison for political prisoners, testify to the way in which democracy and freedom triumphed over oppression and racism.

The symbolic value of Robben Island lies in its somber history, as a prison and a hospital for unfortunates who were sequestered as being socially undesirable. This came to an end in the 1990s when the inhuman Apartheid regime was rejected by the South African people and the political prisoners who had been incarcerated on the Island received their freedom after many years.

Racial segregation and white supremacy had become central aspects of South African policy long before Apartheid started. The notorious 1913 Land Act, passed three years after South Africa gained its independence, marked the beginning of territorial segregation by forcing the majority of Black South Africans to live in reserves and making it illegal for them to work as sharecroppers. The Land Act prohibited Africans, except those in the Cape Colony, from buying or renting any land except in the restricted areas that were reserved for Africans in the form of reserves. The government wanted African farm laborers to work for cash wages as quickly as possible, rather than squatting or share cropping. There were small groups of Blacks who temporarily escaped this fate, living in small spots of land (black spots) in the White areas which they had bought before the Land Act was passed. In 1939, the other law aimed at removing these black spots was passed and all Black occupants were relocated to the reserves.

From 1948 through the 1990s, a single word dominated life in South Africa. Apartheid  - Afrikaans for “apartness” kept the country’s majority black population under the thumb of a small white minority. It would take decades of struggle to stop the policy, which affected every facet of life in a country locked in centuries-old patterns of discrimination and racism. Segregation began in 1948 after the National Party came to power. The nationalist political party instituted policies of white supremacy, which empowered white South Africans who descended from both Dutch and British settlers in South Africa while further disenfranchising black Africans. The system was rooted in the country’s history of colonization and slavery. White settlers had historically viewed black South Africans as a natural resource to be used to turn the country from a rural society to an industrialized one. Starting in the 17th century, Dutch settlers relied on slaves to build up South Africa. Around the time that slavery was abolished in the country in 1863, gold and diamonds were discovered in South Africa.

South Africa was introduced to the world stage through a man by the name of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.