Sub-Tropical Retreat on the edge of the warm Indian Ocean – Selborne Hotel, Spa & Golf Estate

This beautiful classic estate is only 30 minutes south of Durban in Kwa Zulu Natal.  Life’s frenetic momentum decelerates along this beautiful Sunshine Coast.  A temperate climate and lush country setting ensure exceptional leisure: swim with dolphins, horse ride on nearby beach sands, and enjoy birding, fishing and scenic walking trails, as well as swimming pools, floodlit tennis courts, and a resident Golf Pro at the dedicated indoor golf academy.

Selborne is famous for its large stately manor house and beautiful subtropical gardens that stretch to a private beach club that is only a few sandy footsteps to the beach.  Woven around the natural rock and verdant indigenous coastal forest, the estate itself is home to duiker, mongoose, bushbuck and over 160 bird species and offers unequalled natural beauty and tranquility.

Selborne Hotel is known for its discreet and personalized service, with an elegant lounge, friendly pub and two superb dining rooms.  The 49 rooms comprise of 1 Presidential suite overlooking the 18th green.  3 luxury double rooms in the main house, 9 private garden suites, and 36 individually decorated garden rooms.  Selborne is particularly proud of its reputation for providing creative cuisine, including authentic curries and the finest of seafood.

A variety of gourmet options await you, with fine dining in the elegant restaurant seducing with a fusion of flavors and fine wines, or casual al fresco lunches amidst the ambiance and beauty of surrounding gardens and trees.  While savoring pizza in the coffee bar or on the terrace, a loerie may serenade from the forests as a duiker passes silently by.

Selborne offers guests a number of facilities including:- Shuttles to Selborne’s Private Beach Club with sparking pool and shower facilities, floodlit tennis courts, a resident Golf Pro – based in a dedicated indoor golf academy, the magnificent championship golf course, and a fully equipped health spa, and a superb conference centre seating up to 80 delegates.  Additional facilities include bird watching, walking trails, children’s entertainment centre, and the opportunity to dive off Aliwal Shoal; swim with dolphins, or horse ride on the nearby beaches.  Take up the challenge of one of the most spectacular 18 holes in southern Africa.  Wild coastal forest frames a superbly manicured course where the only disturbance may be one of nature’s many creatures.  Numerous water features demand accuracy but with the reward of breathtaking beauty at every turn.

With a wealth of top golf courses all situated within easy driving distance of Selborne the area has rightly earned the title “Golf Coast” of South Africa and which attracts players from all over the world, and as is one of the joys of this particular piece of paradise the weather is superb for most of the year, promising warm days and blue skies.

Stirred by the dawn, the forest beckons you to wake after a night securely cocooned in luxury.  The choice is yours… the stately Presidential Suite, a luxury Garden or Golf Course Suite, a standard luxury Suite or a privately owned, fully equipped self-catering Villa.  At Selborne, discreet but attentive staff will create “home from home” in Africa, pampering you with the personal service one can only get from a family run hotel.  Contact Road Travel Africa today to arrange your stay at this leading golf hotel.

Sea, Sand dunes and the ever changing Vlei

De Hoop Nature Reserve is one of the Western Cape’s best loved Nature Reserves, and with very good reason.  It lies on the southern Cape coast, and is renowned for its floral fynbos diversity, rich bird life, natural vlei and wild antelope.  It also provides the backdrop to some of the world’s best whale-watching possible.  Just 3 hours drive from Cape Town, and 50km east of Bredasdorp, it offers visitors the choice to explore a pristine coastline, a large vlei, limestone hills, extensive dunes and the Potberg mountains.

The De Opstal is close to the hub of central offices, restaurant, deli and shop and offers a variety of accommodation options.  Few other reserves offer as complete an outdoor experience as De Hoop – sea, sand dunes, the vlei, a floral sensation of rare fynbos plants, diverse antelope and the Potberg Mountains. Birders observe wading birds on the shores of the vlei while the Potberg Mountains are home to a colony of endangered Cape vultures.

Hikers and cyclists have close-up encounters with bontebok, Cape mountain zebra, eland, red hartebeest, baboons and ostrich.  The De Hoop Reserve is a safe, outdoor destination with almost year-round sunshine. Children of all ages will relish the freedom to explore the reserve. The endless beach, towering sand dunes, inter tidal rock pools and diverse fauna and flora provide a natural playground for kids to learn.

Activities are diverse and guests choose between various day walks, mountain biking along the many gravel roads or scenic game drives. Lazing on the beach and snorkeling in the many turquoise rock pools is simply another way to pass a rewarding day.  The Fig Tree Restaurant is open all day offering delicious local fare including picnic baskets for alfresco meals.

De Hoop Nature Reserve is a botanist’s dream, with 50 of its 1500 fynbos plant species found nowhere else in the world.  For animal lovers there are endangered bontebok and Cape mountain zebra, while baboons, ostriches, eland, grey rhebuck, duiker and steenbok are all common sights.

Known to amateur and working ornithologists alike, the De Hoop vlei is forever changing.  A wetland recognized by the Ramsar convention as being of international importance, the vlei’s uniqueness lies in its partial location in a gorge, while for the most it is a 16km-long lake, blocked off from the sea by coastal dunes.  It draws a variety of birds during the year, especially waterfowl and waders.  De Hoop’s marine reserve is the breeding ground for 40% of the worldwide population of Southern Right Whales.  Dolphins, seals and other sea creatures abound in the waters at Koppie Alleen.

Hikers have close-up encounters with bontebok, Cape mountain zebra, eland, red hartebeest, baboons and ostrich.  De Hoop Coastal Trail – this gentle linear trail begins at Koppie Alleen.  Enjoy either a beach walk or an exploratory ramble along rocky shores.  Klipspringer Trail – hike 6 km (about 2 hours) in the Potberg Mountains in the north-eastern section of the De Hoop Nature Reserve with views of the Breede River valley, the Cape vulture colony and gorgeous floral fynbos.  Vlei Trail – starts near the reserve office with three variations to the trail and hikers may walk the entire 15 km to Die Mond or cut their walk short by circling back along either one of two jeep tracks.  All three variations of the Vlei Trail are well sign-posted.  Cyclists are welcome to use any of the gravel roads laid out in the western sector of the reserve as long as they take care not to trample the natural vegetation.

De Hoop is a unique and romantic location to celebrate a wedding and honeymoon.  With almost year-round sunshine and spectacular natural beauty, the reserve is a memorable and special place to exchange wedding vows.

De Hoop offers some of the best and most accessible whale-watching opportunities in the world.  Seven whale species have been recorded in the waters off De Hoop but it is the southern right that is most common.  Other less common whale species are the Bryde’s whale and the rare humpback.  Contact Road Travel today to experience this magnificent and magical piece of South Africa.