South Africa

• The Cape Escape - Cape Town
• My Mountain High in Cape Town - Cape Town
• The Drop Zone - Cape Town
• On the trail to true adventure - Johannesburg
• The great es-Cape - Cape Town
• Come into the Garden - The Garden Route
• My Zulu Extravaganza - Durban
• Up Close and Personal - South African Safari
• Tracking Big Game - Kruger National Park
• Sleeping with the Lions - South African Safari
• A Safari with real pride - South African Safari
• Where the Lion King comes to Life - South African Safari
• Our guide to the top 10 safaris - South African Safari
• A Roaring Success - Victoria Falls
• Come into the Garden - The Garden Route
• The Worlds Most Beautiful Road? - The Garden Route
• Zipping off to Zanzibar - Zanzibar, Kenya
• Africa's catch of the day - Mozambique
• The Cape escape… and it was right up my Street - Garden Route: South Africa
• The nation kissed by a rainbow - South Africa
• Our wild silver wedding! - Kenya
• The chic side of this Rainbow Nation - South Africa
• The Cape escape - South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA HAS WONDERFUL memories for me – even though I spent a lot of my time there getting kicked by oversized rugby players.

One particularly good night followed Rob Andrew’s late drop goal that beat the Australians in the quarter-final of the 1995 World Cup, something we celebrated in style (well, high spirits) around the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. But it’s great to return to spend more time travelling and less time training.

For me, there are two compelling reasons for a holiday here: Cape Town and going on safari. On this trip I managed to do both, accompanied by my wife Lisa and our two children, Jack, eight, and Mimi, who is five.

In Cape Town we stayed at the Table Bay Hotel, a brilliant location for enjoying the Waterfront. And it’s within easy distance of the city’s best restaurants and bars. It’s also in the shadow of Table Mountain, where we ventured one afternoon on a trip organised by the ever smiling concierge at the hotel.

I’m not a great one for heights, but the views from the top on a clear day are staggering and it was good to see the children were in awe of the setting, too. Cape Town lacks the tension of some South African cities, but we took the advice to stick to the beach areas and the Waterfront.

The best experience we could have hoped for

The hotel offered the biggest breakfast we had ever seen, and Lisa maintains that she had her best ever massage in the spa.

We spent a great afternoon at Camps Bay, a 20-minute car ride from the hotel. The children loved charging in and out of the sea, dodging sharks – in their vivid imaginations. The numerous Atlantic beaches, the likes of Clifton, Bakoven,Llandudno and Hout Bay, have shops and cafés either on the beach or a short distance away.

Rugby fans shouldn’t miss a visit to Cape Town’s NewlandsStadium, rated by many players as one of the best because the crowd is so close to the pitch.

Speaking of being so close to wild beasts, we felt privileged to find ourselves in such close proximity to some of South Africa’s prized animals when we moved north for a safari at Londolozi, in the Sabi Sands among the driedout river beds and scrubs of the African Bush. It borders the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga, and was the best experience we could have hoped for.

The passion that flows through it is palpable

The lodge is family-owned, and, as a result, the passion that flows through it is palpable and the service manages to balance attention to detail with relaxed informality.

It began more than 80 years ago when two friends, Charles Varty and Frank Unger, stood for the first time on the banks of the Sand River. The concept they both saw in the then untouched Bush turned out to be as solid and as enduring as the granite rocks anchored in the river.

For two generations the family played host to presidents, princesses and film stars – and sacrificed its wild beasts to the hunter’s gun. The latter practice came to an end almost 40 years ago when it passed into John, Dave and Shan Varty’s care.

The farm is named Londolozi, from the Zulu word ‘to protect’. The name symbolises the family’s aim to provide a sanctuary for all living things and is the flag-bearer for safari lodges Africa-wide.

Reneus, our tracker, was born on Londolozi’s land – how special is that? We saw lions with a fresh kill, leopards with the same; we saw hippos wallowing in mud pools and both black and white rhinos; and last but by far the most memorable, we spent a magical hour watching a herd of more than 50 elephants as they slowly moved past our vehicle, close enough to touch.

In fact, Jack developed a huge respect for elephants during our time at Londolozi. We had a young bull in our boma (the area where you eat), and Jack was suitably in awe, as he was later that day when a bigger bull elephant flapped his ears at him from only ten yards.

We watched buck and deer drink from the river below us. The joy of watching your children staring in complete silence at these wild animals is hard to explain.

One evening, as we arrived back from another bewitching safari, we were welcomed by the glow of lanterns surrounding the pool and dinner table.

We had to pinch ourselves that this was real

This was the real deal – dinner by candlelight in the middle of the African Bush. The following day, Jack and Mimi spent late afternoon swimming in the pool near our room – the perfect way to cool off.

There are a variety of rooms available at Londolozi, from the stunning granite suites to the more traditional Founders camp. But all are gorgeous, some with outside showers and baths, others with fires.

Leaving the Londolozi is also a unique experience as you take off from its own personal air strip in the middle of the Bush. Out Of Africa becomes reality. We had to pinch ourselves that this was real life.