Beyond the fairway
Nobody flies to Africa only for the golf. These are the afternoons, the mornings off and the extra nights we build around your tee times — every one of them sits inside an itinerary we already run.
01
Escarpment, trout water and Big Five country — the richest non-golf days we run.
WildlifeThe Big Five hour, straight after your round
Open-vehicle drive out of Skukuza or a private concession as the heat drops. Lion move onto the roads, elephant come down to drink and the spotlight goes on for leopard and hyena on the way back. Sundowners in the bush are part of the deal.
SceneryBlyde River Canyon, God's Window and Bourke's Luck
The drive between Dullstroom and the Lowveld is one of the great scenic roads on the continent — the third-largest canyon on earth, waterfalls at Lisbon and Berlin Falls, and the potholes at Bourke's Luck carved out where two rivers meet.
WaterTrout water at 2,000 metres, ten minutes from the first tee
Dullstroom is South Africa's trout capital and Highland Gate has still water on the estate. Guides, rods and flies are arranged; catch-and-release is the norm. Add a whisky tasting in the village afterwards.
WaterHippo, crocodile and the river that runs through the golf
The Sabie River edges the Sabi River Sun fairways and carries on into Kruger. Walk the banks with a guide, or take a boat stretch where hippo pods sit up in the shallows and fish eagles work the channel.
WildlifeBig Five country on foot, with armed rangers
Two rangers, six guests, no vehicle. Tracking is the point — dung, prints, alarm calls — and the encounters you do get, with rhino or buffalo at ground level, land completely differently to a drive.
02
Malaria-free game viewing, water parks and balloons, all within an hour of the tee.
WildlifeAn extinct volcano full of game, 20 minutes from Sun City
Pilanesberg sits in the crater of a 1,300-million-year-old volcano and holds all of the Big Five in a malaria-free reserve. Morning and afternoon drives both work around a tee time at Gary Player CC or Lost City.
AdrenalineWave pool, slides and the Palace after dark
Non-golfers get the best of this one — the Valley of Waves water park, the Palace of the Lost City, casino floors, spa and a zip line over the valley. It keeps a mixed group happy while the golfers finish 18.
Wildlife38 Nile crocodiles below the 13th at Lost City
Not an excursion so much as a rite of passage. The par-3 13th plays over a hazard shaped like Africa and stocked with live crocodiles. Bring a provisional and let someone film it.
AdrenalineLift off over the Magaliesberg before your tee time
A dawn launch over the Magaliesberg valley and Hartbeespoort Dam, champagne breakfast on landing, and you are back at the course for a mid-morning start.
03
Whales, lagoons and winelands strung along the coast road from George to Cape Town.
WildlifeSouthern right whales, often from the cliff path
Hermanus is the best land-based whale watching in the world. In season the southern rights come into Walker Bay to calve and you can watch them breach from the cliff path, or go out on a permitted boat.
SceneryOysters on the water between two sandstone cliffs
A boat across the lagoon to the Heads, oysters and a cold Chardonnay at the featherbed side, then back up to Pezula for a clifftop nine. Add the Knysna forest or a Tsitsikamma canopy walk if you have a spare morning.
Food & wineThree estates, one long lunch, a driver who knows the back roads
Pearl Valley sits inside Val de Vie, so the winelands are on your doorstep. We build a route through Stellenbosch and Franschhoek — old-vine Chenin, Cape Bordeaux blends and a lunch table booked for as long as you want it.
04
Table Mountain, Soweto and Test rugby — the urban half of an African trip.
SceneryCable car up, Chapman's Peak, penguins at Boulders
The classic Cape day: cable car to the top of Table Mountain, the drive around Chapman's Peak to the Cape of Good Hope, African penguins at Boulders Beach and back through Constantia for a late tasting.
SportRugby's greatest rivalry, from a seat you'd choose
Springboks against the All Blacks at Ellis Park and Cape Town Stadium. We hold category seating and hospitality, and pair each Test with a round at a nearby championship course either side of match day.
CultureVilakazi Street, the Apartheid Museum, Maboneng
The city most golfers only see from the airport. A guided half day through Soweto and Vilakazi Street, the Apartheid Museum or Constitution Hill, then dinner in Maboneng or Parkhurst.
Tell us how many days you have, which courses you want to play and which of these you cannot leave Africa without doing.
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