Sea or bush: choose your luxury spoil
CAROLINE WEBB finds a special new place has popped up at her favourite beach in Cape Town
Tintswalo at Boulders SIMON’S TOWN, WESTERN CAPE
I admit there’s a feeling of delicious superiority that comes with staying at Boulders. While the tourist masses visiting the penguin colony pass by on the boardwalk, and stay for maybe half an hour before getting back on their buses, you, the ‘local’, can take a quick shot-left through a garden gate and up to your villa for tea.
In the morning, before said masses arrive, you can pop down to the beach – around
630 steps (I counted) in the opposite direction – for a swim in relative privacy, and to stake your claim on the small patch of sand, because if the weather’s good you’ll want to stay a while at this most charming of Cape Town’s beaches.
In contrast to Tintswalo Atlantic across the peninsula near Hout Bay, this is smaller – but still a grand, three-level holiday home. Like its sister, it has a mesmerising sea view; the whole of False Bay lies before you in blue splendour. Here, it’s the sunrise that steals the show.
Inside, it’s beautiful too – there are three living rooms with fireplaces, fascinating artworks (historical maps, botanical prints, paintings and models of ships), two balconies (lovely for breakfast or a candlelit dinner) and an inner courtyard with a firepit. The cinema room has those giant beanbags you feel might swallow you up.
There are eight bedrooms, named after famous ships – super-spacious and filled with luxurious touches. I stayed in Mayflower, a corner suite on the ground floor (all the better to hear the sea at night). If you’d like a grand four-poster bed, ask for Mary Rose; if you want ultra-privacy and don’t mind giving up a sea view for your own garden courtyard, book Victory. On the top floor, Drommedaris and Water Witch have direct access to the rooftop deck with its small raised pool overlooking the ocean. It would be no effort at all to float away a hot afternoon in this perfect cube of water.
Tintswalo at Boulders is run as a B&B, but it’s also ideal for exclusive-use groups. Gracious villa supervisor Stanford Ndebele and manager Tatum Ehrenreich are on hand to turn your every wish into reality, and can book outings such as sea kayaking, guided snorkelling and trips to Cape Point, all in the immediate vicinity. Seaforth Beach and Simon’s Town’s quaint shops and cafes are an easy stroll down the road (no need to find parking – a real bonus on weekends).
BEST FEATURE The views and privacy. It’s a dream seaside villa in a special location.
COST From R1 250 pp sharing B&B, including afternoon snacks; from R24 000 for the whole place (sleeps 18 adults plus two children). The opening special – book for two nights and get the third free – is valid until 31 March 2019. CONTACT 011-300-8888, tintswalo.com
Jock Safari Lodge KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, MPUMALANGA
‘So, have you ever seen this on a trip from an airport?’ asked head ranger Lazarus Mkhonto, stopping the vehicle in a dry riverbed. He pointed to a leopard sitting on a shady rock. Not just a leopard, we soon noticed – a leopard with a cub. Lazarus added a herd of ellies mud-bathing and two rhinos before we pulled up outside Jock Safari Lodge. And this was just the midday transfer from Skukuza Airport.
What a pleasure it was to fly in from Cape Town, touching down directly on hallowed Kruger soil. Jock was the first private concession granted in the national park back in 1982. Now under new ownership, the lodge underwent a major refurbishment by international
design company Luxury Frontiers and reopened late last year.
In the new ‘arrival tent’, iced cranberry juice awaited among safari-style vintage furniture and leather travel trunks. The main-deck swimming pool is now heated – but in the 38˚C heat, that didn’t make an impression. What did blow me away were Main Lodge’s 12 suites, each with an extensive timber deck and plunge pool overlooking the riverbed – and so private you can have a romantic candlelit bath in the Victorian tub with nobody but a kudu bull smirking at you.
Best of all are the salas (netenclosed day beds) on the deck. Just say the word and the staff will make one up as a tented bed for the night – a bush sleepover with bubbly and towelling robes to hand. Camping’s evolved somewhat since Sir Percy’s day.
The lodge is, of course, named after SA’s favourite dog, whose owner, Percy Fitzpatrick, penned the story of their travels back in the 1880s. The Staffie cross was, in fact, born under a tree not far from where the lodge stands. Situated at the confluence of the Mitomeni and Biyamiti rivers (mostly dry), Jock Safari Lodge has exclusive traversing rights over 6 000 hectares of prime Big Five country.
I was staying a short gameviewing walk down the river at the satellite camp, Fitzpatrick’s at Jock – and Percy and Jock were very much present in the books, photos, old wagon wheels, Sir Percy’s tin trunk and other memorabilia. The revamp here has created a familyfriendly lodge (complete with TV lounge) for just six people. Two of the three suites are interleading, and open onto a deck with a plunge pool and views of elephants.
And the game viewing? Phenomenal – whether on twice-daily drives, walks or from the outdoor shower. In that respect, nothing’s changed since Jock and Percy lived off the land here.
BEST FEATURE The food is first-rate divine; do book for a Riverbed Dining Experience. COST R8 960 pp sharing, all inclusive (even the drinks). CONTACT 013-010-0019, jocksafarilodge.com