The Private Charter

We hosted another Private Club from Aspen recently on an epic adventure through our beautiful country, South Africa. The journey started with a fantastic tour of Pretoria and we got on-board the Rovos Rail Luxury train to head for Belfast for an overnight stop.

Rovos Rail is the most luxurious train in the world. I have been with the company for nearly 14 years now and every time get on board the train I am just overwhelmed by the luxury level and the gracious hospitality of the train’s amazing team. Every room on the private charter was a Deluxe Suite. Learn more about the luxurious room here.

On the first day of golf we played the incredible Highland Gate Golf Club. It’s a relatively new club in South Africa. It’s got the Big Easy signature on it and is an absolutely breathtaking golf course. The course has a Stroke Index One Par Five. It’s not crazy long but it’s rather tight. You need to stripe a low iron off the tee, dead center, or pay the price of losing a ball and dropping as there is no semi-rough. It’s either clean or lost. The leisure guests had a great day at the Birds of Prey Sanctuary and the tranquil town of Dullstroom treated them for high tea, cultural shopping and beautiful views.

One the next day we went to the incredible Leopard Creek. The course is the host of the Dunhill Championship. It’s the 2nd rated course of South Africa and right on the border of the Kruger National Park, home of the Big Five. Leisure guests enjoyed a safari in the Kruger while we were trying to navigate ourselves around the course. It was an incredible day. We even spotted some of the Elephants in the Kruger from the signature hole, number 13. It’s a special place indeed. There are the most amazing statues of Dylan Lewis found all around the course. The represent a day in the life of a Leopard. Really amazing pieces of art.

After the final evening on the four day private journey on the train, we disembarked at Hazyview train station to be transferred to Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge. It is one of the most exclusive and luxurious lodges in the heart of the Kruger’s Sabi reserve. We spent three nights at the lodge. It was an unbelievable time. At arrival we were met with a heard of Elephants enjoying an afternoon drink right in front of the lodge’s welcome area. These are the kind of moments that make me so proud and privileged to live in this amazing country.

Every day is filled with game drives, walking safaris, amazing cuisine and ended off with a dinner in the bush around a massive fire while we hear the animals roar in the distance. The safaris were all private and we do a stop now and then for a quick tea and we’re off to see the Big Five again. have a look at Sabi Sabi for more info. Rovos Rail offers exclusive access of the lodge with our private charters.

We took a short drive to Kruger International Airport for a flight to Cape Town. The flight time is only two hours and suddenly we’re in the Mother City. Cape Town does not need an introduction. It’s simply one of the most amazing cities to visit and a MUST when you come to South Africa. We stayed at the One & Only located in the V&A Waterfront and enjoyed the best of the city – Table Mountain, Robben Island, Groot Constantia, Chapman’s Peak Drive, the V&A, Bo-Kaap, Green Market Square and much more.

After the to nights at the One & Only, we took a short drive to the wine region of the Cape. The tour through the wine valley also took us to our final destination, Mont Rochelle by Sir Richard Branson.

We played Pearl Valley and Arabella Golf Club in this region, both also on the top ten of the SA Rankings list. The wine farms we visited were Tokara, Antonij Rupert, Boschendal, Ken Forster, Vergelegen, Lourensford, Simonsig and also a few smaller boutique ones in the Hemel & Aarde valley, Sumaridge and had an amazing lunch at La Pentola. have a look at Mont Rochelle’s website here.

The journey was 12 days in duration and we are looking forward to host the club again in 2021.

Thanks for your time and we look forward to hosting your club in South Africa.

Alwyn Vorster, Head PGA Professional, www.rovos.com